Red Sox Free Agent Signs with NL West Contender to Boost Starting Rotation: Reports

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J.P. Hoornstra writes and edits Major League Baseball content. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors. 

Jon Paul Hoornstra

Contributing Sports Writer

Free agent starting pitcher Nick Pivetta is leaving the Boston Red Sox to sign with a National League West contender.

The San Diego Padres will add Pivetta to a rotation that was already strong at the top with Michael King, Dylan Cease, and Yu Darvish, and pushed the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink of elimination in last year’s NL Division Series.

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According to multiple reports, it’s a four-year, $55 million contract for Pivetta, who rejected the Red Sox’s qualifying offer last season to test the free-agent market.

Last season Pivetta went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 145.2 innings with 172 strikeouts and a 1.126 WHIP. In eight major league seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and Red Sox, Pivetta is 56-71 with a 4.76 ERA (92 ERA+).

Nick Pivetta #37 of the Boston Red Sox reacts as he is doused with water after pitching a complete game against the Houston Astros on May 18, 2022 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Pivetta lingered on the free agent market longer than his peers, in no small part because of the qualifying offer. The Padres will have to sacrifice a 2025 draft pick to sign the right-hander, while the Red Sox will receive a pick after the second round of the July draft.

The Red Sox pick for Nick Pivetta signing with San Diego will be at or around No. 77 in the July draft.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 13, 2025
If Pivetta had accepted the qualifying offer, he would have returned to Boston on a one-year, $21.05 million deal.

San Diego figured to enter camp with Matt Waldron and Randy Vasquez competing for the fifth spot in the starting rotation after King, Cease, Darvish, and Joe Musgrove. Now, Waldron and Vasquez figure to serve as reinforcements for a group that stands a better chance against the division’s deeper rotations in Los Angeles and Arizona.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, who was first to report the signing on Wednesday, Pivetta will earn a $3 million signing bonus on top of his $1 million salary in 2025, followed by $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027, and $18 million in 2028.

Nick Pivetta’s deal with the Padres has opt-outs after Year 2 and Year 3. The deal will pay him a $3 million signing bonus and $1 million salary in 2025, $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027 and $18 million in 2028.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 13, 2025
According to Passan, Pivetta can opt out of his contract after the second and third years.

The Padres were likely motivated to backload the contract to avoid paying a competitive balance tax in 2025. After this year, both Cease and first baseman Luis Arraez are eligible for free agency, which could allow San Diego to keep all their current players and stay under the CBT threshold.

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The backloaded deal also points to the importance of 2025 in the Padres’ quest to go on a long playoff run with their existing core. They fell to the Dodgers in a five-game NLDS after missing the postseason in 2023 and reaching the NL Championship Series in 2022.

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