When it came time for teams to offer contracts to their players, the New York Yankees didn’t feel as though Alfredo Aceves was worthy of one so they non-tendered him. After all, he did only pitch 12 innings last season in the big leagues due to a back injury.
Of course, he didn’t help himself out too much by breaking his collarbone in a biking accident in Mexico in July. And after being thrown to the curb by the Yankees in November, they only felt he was worthy of a minor league deal to come back to the Bronx.
But obviously Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein doesn’t feel that way as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports that the Sox have signed Aceves to major league contract. According to Cafardo, the deal is worth $650,000 if Aceves makes the big league roster and $200,000 if he pitches in the minors. When the signing does become official, the Red Sox will have to remove someone from the 40-man roster.
Aceves made 59 appearances (three starts) for the Yankees during the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons and was 14-1 with a 3.21 ERA.
We all know the bullpen is already crowded as you already have Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard, Bobby Jenks, Dan Wheeler and Tim Wakefield down there for righties. And of course that doesn’t include the lefties, Dennys Reyes, Rich Hill, Andrew Miller, Lenny DiNardo, Hideki Okajima, Randy Williams and Felix Doubront, who will all be competing for the final two spots in the bullpen as well.
But it may appear the Red Sox see him as a starter as Dan Roche of WBZ tweeted earlier in the day that Aceves will be stretched out as a starter in spring training and then have his role determined at the end.
Of course given the fact that he was injured during the offseason, the Red Sox could very well start the season by putting him on the disabled list and letting him “rehab” with the Pawtucket Red Sox. But we’ve still got about six weeks before anything has to happen so we’ll just sit back, watch and see how the bullpen shakes out.
Photo credit: Reuters Pictures
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