BOSTON - The Red Sox and newly acquired closer Andrew Bailey agreed to a one-year contract today, avoiding arbitration. According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, the deal is for 3.9 million with an additional 100,000 in incentives.
This announcement comes days after the Red Sox traded starting shortstop Marco Scutaro, freeing up over 6 million, and then subsequently signed free-agent outfielder Cody Ross. General manager Ben Cherington appeared on WEEI today to discuss the Red Sox current economic situation.
There's no mandate to be under the luxury tax this year, but we'll continue to look at our payroll and context of deals we may or may not make and just do what we feel put us in the best position to win this year and be flexible," he said.
The Red Sox have not had an arbitration hearing since 2002, but have David Ortiz and Alfredo Aceves still pending.