The fate of the last Boston Red Sox players with contract options was decided on Monday as the club announced that the team options of Scott Atchison and Dan Wheeler were not exercised.
Here’s the release from the Red Sox:
The Boston Red Sox today declined team options on right-handed pitchers Scott Atchison and Dan Wheeler.
The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.
The 35-year-old Atchison, who will remain on the club’s 40-man roster, made 17 appearances over six stints with the Red Sox this past season, posting a 1-0 record with a 3.26 ERA (11 ER/30.1 IP) and his first Major League save. He also pitched in 36 games with Triple-A Pawtucket, including one start, going 6-2 with five saves, a 2.64 ERA (18 ER/61.1 IP), 72 strikeouts and nine walks.
Signed by the Red Sox as a free agent on December 2, 2009, the right-hander has appeared in 113 career Major League games (one start) over parts of five seasons with the Mariners (2004-05), Giants (2007) and Red Sox (2010-11), tallying a 4.09 ERA (72 ER/158.1 IP) and 128 strikeouts while going 5-6 with one save.
Interestingly enough, Wheeler has been classified as a Type B free agent. The same goes for Jason Varitek. As expected, Jonathan Papelbon and David Ortiz are both Type A free agents.
So if the Red Sox offer both Varitek and Wheeler arbitration and they don’t accept it, the Red Sox would then pick up an extra supplemental pick. This will be interesting to follow as the odds are if you offer Varitek arbitration, he’s likely to accept it as he said he’d like to finish his career with the Red Sox.
For Cherington, if Tek isn’t in the team’s plans, then they most likely wouldn’t offer him arbitration. This will be something to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.
Wheeler had a tough year battling through injuries but started to turn around things late in the season. It’s the same situation for Wheeler as Tek. If he’s not in the plans, don’t expect arbitration unless he’s signs with someone else quickly.
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