Former Red Sox reliever Adam Ottavino is returning to the Big Apple, as the free agent reliever has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the New York Mets that includes an additional $1 million in performance bonuses. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman was the first to report the details of the contract.
Ottavino, 36, spent just one season with the Sox after being acquired from the Yankees alongside pitching prospect Franklin German in a surprising trade made last January.
Following a two-year run in the Bronx, Ottavino played out the final season of his three-year, $27 million contract in Boston. Across a team-leading 69 relief appearances in 2021, the veteran right-hander posted a 4.21 ERA and 3.96 FIP with 71 strikeouts and 35 walks over 62 innings pitched. In postseason play he yielded just one run in four innings of work.
Though suiting up for the Red Sox allowed Ottavino to reconnect with his alma mater in nearby Northeastern University, it seems apparent that the Brooklyn native enjoys pitching close to home since he has signed with a New York-based club in his only two stints as a free agent thus far.
While the Sox may have lost a veteran presence like Ottavino in free agency, they did reportedly add two other free agent relievers in left-handers Matt Strahm and Jake Diekman on Sunday.
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