Red Sox agree to terms with all 4 arb-eligible players
The Red Sox on Thursday agreed to terms on one-year contracts with Nick Pivetta, Tyler O'Neill, Reese McGuire and John Schreiber, thus avoiding hearings with their four arbitration-eligible players.
Pivetta will earn $7.5 million this season, O’Neill agreed to a $5.85 million contract, McGuire is set for a $1.5 million salary and Schreiber’s agreement is for $1.175 million, sources told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
Thursday was the deadline for teams and arb-eligible players to exchange salary figures for the coming season, which typically leads to one-year agreements like the four the Red Sox reached to avoid the arbitration hearing process entirely. Boston previously tendered contracts to Pivetta, McGuire and Schreiber, while St. Louis did the same with O’Neill, and Thursday’s business set their salaries.
Pivetta and O’Neill are set to become free agents at the end of the season, while McGuire is in his second of three arb-eligible years and Schreiber is in his first.
Pivetta received a raise from his $5.35 million salary last year. The 30-year-old right-hander moved from the rotation to the bullpen and back again in a rollercoaster 2023, recording a career-best 4.04 ERA with a team-high 183 strikeouts in 142 2/3 innings over 38 appearances, including 16 starts.
O’Neill saw his salary increase after earning $4.95 million from the Cardinals last year. The right-handed-hitting outfielder, acquired from St. Louis on Dec. 8, hit just .231/.312/.403 with nine homers and 21 RBIs in 72 games last season. The Sox are hoping a healthy, motivated O’Neill can replicated his production in 2021-22, when he hit .262/.334/.491 with 48 homers and 138 RBIs in 234 games for the Cardinals.
McGuire earned a raise after making $1.225 million last year. The backup catcher hit .267/.310/.358 in 72 games last year, including 51 starts behind the plate. Schreiber, who made $750,000 in 2023 during his final pre-arbitration season, posted a 3.86 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 25 walks in 46 2/3 innings over 46 appearances last year.