Despite having an injury-riddled 2020 MLB season, right-hander Jake Odorizzi reportedly isn’t ready to reduce his contract demands in free agency.
In a recent piece for The Athletic, MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal revealed that Odorizzi is asking for a three-year deal from interested teams. The 30-year-old also expects to command a figure between $36 million and $42 million overall.
Odorizzi played in just four games in 2020 and had a career-worst 6.69 ERA. However, he’s just one year removed from a career-best season in which he had a 15-7 record, 3.51 ERA, and 178 strikeouts.
While no team made a similar offer just yet, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported on Tuesday that the Boston Red Sox are seriously interested in Odorizzi and are making him one of their priorities in the free agency.
If Jake Odorizzi ends up in Boston, he would most likely be at the top of the team’s rotation. The Red Sox badly need a reliable arm for 2021 with the team ending 25th in the league in starter-ERA last season and 29th in innings pitched.
Odorizzi made his MLB debut with the Kansas City Royals in 2012, where he played for a year before embarking on stints with the Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins. He has a 62-29 record as a starter with a 3.92 ERA and 995 strikeouts.
