Red Sox avoid arbitration with 3B Rafael Devers, agree to $17.5M deal

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a one-year contract with two-time All-Star Rafael Devers, avoiding salary arbitration.

The deal is for $17.5 million, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not disclose the terms of the contract.

The 26-year-old third baseman, who made $11.2 million last season, will be on Boston’s roster for at least one season in his final year of arbitration eligibility before he can hit the open free-agent market.

Boston will keep one of its key contributors from last season in house after All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, slugger J.D. Martinez and pitcher Nathan Eovaldi all departed in free agency.

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The Red Sox’s biggest splash this offseason has been signing Japanese star Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal.

There are six remaining unsigned Red Sox players eligible for arbitration: Christian Arroyo, Ryan Brasier, Reese McGuire, Nick Pivetta, Josh Taylor, and Alex Verdugo.

Devers was the American League’s starting third baseman in the 2021 and 2022 All-Star games. In 141 games last season, he batted .295 with 42 doubles, 27 home runs, and 88 RBI.

The Red Sox are trying to bounce back from a difficult 2022 season in which they plummeted to a 78-84 and last-place finish in the AL East a year after winning 92 games, earning a wild-card postseason berth and making it to the ALCS.