The Red Sox had a busy week, making four trades on Tuesday and sending out some prominent names. On Friday, the team had decisions to make on a handful of players who could have been lopped off the roster, but instead, Boston kept all in place.
That’s because Friday was the non-tender deadline, at which time the Red Sox could have decided to cut loose players they did not want to keep around any longer. Instead, the Boston will tender contracts to all 26 players who were eligible, meaning no further moves will be forthcoming–at least, not likely for another couple of weeks.
The big decision the Red Sox faced at the deadline was Tanner Houck, who underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss all of 2026. The Red Sox could have cut him loose and let him become a free agent, maneuvers we’ve seen from other organizations. But the Red Sox are going to keep Houck in the fold as he rehabs and hope that he can be back on the mound in 2027.
Red Sox Got an All-Star Year From Tanner Houck
Houck was, of course, an All-Star in 2024, when he went 8-6 with a 2.54 ERA in 19 starts before the break. He struggled in the second half of 2024, and things spiraled in 2025, when Houck went 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA in nine starts before he was shut down this spring by the Red Sox. Multiple rehab efforts ultimately led to the elbow surgery, though.
“There were different opinions and different options, but that was the last one and Tanner decided to go with that one,” manager Alex Cora explained.
Cora added, “Tough year for him, tough year for us. But he’ll kill the rehab, he’ll do his job, and when he comes back, he’s going to be OK.”
Houck’s projected 2025 arbitration salary, according to MLB Trade Rumors, is $3.95 million.
2 Young Red Sox Pitchers Missed Most of 2025
The Red Sox did manage to thrive, from a pitching perspective, in 2025, with the addition of Garrett Crochet at the top of the rotation as well as the solid performances from Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito behind him.
It’s easy to forget that, during 2024, the team relief heavily on Houck’s breakout season, as well as a great year from Kutter Crawford, who was 9-16 but had a respectable 4.36 ERA across 33 starts. Crawford was 6-7 with a 3.00 ERA before the All-Star break and, like Houck, was a non-factor in 2025.
Crawford had a knee injury in 2024 and was rehabbing that in 2025 before he injured his wrist in a household accident and required surgery. Crawford is expected to be back and competing for a rotation spot in 2026.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Red Sox Make Final Decision on Contract for All-Star Pitcher appeared first on Heavy Sports.