The Boston Red Sox are in agreement with outfielder Adam Duvall on a one-year, $7 million contract. Performance bonuses could increase his salary to $10 million.

Duvall played 25 games for the Sanford Mainers of the NECBL in 2009.

Pending a physical, this will be Duvall’s first foray into the American League. The 34-year-old spent the first nine years of his big-league career in the National League, debuting with the San Francisco Giants in 2014, and then playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, and then Braves again. He was an All-Star with the Reds in 2016 and won a Gold Glove and World Series ring with Atlanta in 2021.

Throughout his career, Duvall has shown a propensity to strike out significantly more (28.5%) than league average (21.9%) and is well below average at drawing walks (6.7%). However, he’s hit 30+ home runs three times in nine years, most recently in 2021, when he set a career-high 38.

Defensively, Duvall ranked in the 67th percentile or better in speed since Statcast began tracking the metric in 2015. His arm strength, a newer stat, ranked in the 77th or 78th percentile in each of the last three seasons, and he’s been in the 88th percentile or better in Outs Above Average four times in the last six years.

PROSPECTS: At 29, with seven professional seasons under his belt in Japan, Masataka Yoshida isn’t a prospect in the traditional sense, but the outfielder/designated hitter who the Red Sox signed this offseason hasn’t played in the majors yet so he was eligible for Baseball America’s 2023 Top 100 Prospect Rankings. At No. 87, he’s one of five Red Sox on the list.

Advertisement

Marcelo Mayer, Boston’s high-ceilinged 20-year-old shortstop, was the highest-ranked Red Sox on the list at No. 10.

Triston Casas, projected to be Boston’s Opening Day and everyday first baseman, shouldn’t take long to play himself out of prospect status, as a full-fledged Major Leaguer.

But Casas starts the year as the Red Sox No. 2 prospect and the No. 29 prospect on the list for Baseball America, who likes both his plate discipline and power potential.

Ceddanne Rafaela, whose status as a prospect continues to grow, checked in at No. 71. Baseball America gave him an elite 70 rating for his defense (on the 20-80 scale) and wrote:

One spot behind Yoshida is Miguel Bleis, who despite being just 18, is at No. 88.

LUXURY TAX: The Los Angeles Dodgers were hit with a $32 million luxury tax for the second straight season, among six teams paying a penalty as baseball payrolls rebounded after the lockout to a record $4.56 billion.

Advertisement

The New York Mets set a luxury tax payroll record at $299.8 million, topping the $297.9 million of the 2015 Dodgers, and will pay tax for the first time since the penalty started in 2003, according to final figures compiled by Major League Baseball and obtained by The Associated Press.

NL champion Philadelphia, the New York Yankees, San Diego and Boston also exceeded the $230 million tax threshold. The total tax of $78 million topped the previous high of $74 million in 2016, when six teams also paid.

The Dodgers, assessed at a higher rate because they exceeded the threshold for the second straight year, owe $32.4 million on a luxury tax payroll of $293.3 million. That was down slightly from their $32.6 million penalty for 2021.

BREWERS: The Brewers agreed to a $3.5 million, one-year contract with former Miami Marlins third baseman/right fielder Brian Anderson, a person familiar with the situation said.

The person said Anderson could earn an additional $2 million in performance bonuses. The Athletic first reported Anderson had reached a deal with the Brewers. Sportsgrid first reported the terms.

Anderson finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and had an OPS of over .800 in 2019 and 2020, but he’s struggled at the plate while dealing with injuries the last two seasons. The Marlins opted against tendering Anderson a contract for the 2023 season, making him a free agent.

Advertisement

METS: The Mets have found their fourth outfielder.

The club is in agreement with Tommy Pham on a one-year, $6 million contract pending a physical, according to SNY. Outfield depth has been thin all winter and when Jake Mangum went to the Miami Marlins as the player to be named later in the trade for Elieser Hernandez and Jeff Brigham it got even thinner.

Pham has hit .259 with a .787 OPS and 114 home runs over nine major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds and Red Sox.

TWINS: Right-hander Chris Paddack and Minnesota finalized a $12,525,000, three-year contract, an agreement that allows the pitcher to earn an additional $2.5 million in the deal’s final season.

Paddack, recovering from Tommy John surgery, agreed Friday to a $2.4 million, one-year contract. The new superseding deal calls for salaries of $2.5 million this year, $2,525,000 in 2024 and $7.5 million in 2025.

In 2025, he could earn $500,000 each for 140 and 150 innings, and $750,000 apiece for 160 and 170. He also gets a hotel suite on trips in 2025.

Paddack, 27, had Tommy John surgery for the second time on May 18, after making just five starts for the Twins following his arrival in a trade with San Diego on April 7. Recovery typically takes at least a year.

Paddack is 21-21 with a 4.20 ERA in 65 starts and one relief appearance for Minnesota and the Padres, striking out 330 and walking 67 in 330 1/3 innings. He will provide rotation depth once he’s back, behind Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Tyler Mahle. Maeda is also returning from Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2022 season.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.