The Red Sox have officially agreed to 2 year terms with Japanese Right Handed Reliever Hirokazu Sawamura, which was first reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
The original deal was reportedly worth $2.4M, but the official deal is $3M, while pending a physical. The reliever can reportedly earn up to $7.65M on performance based incentives, Ken Rosenthal added. Hirokazu Sawamura also has an option for a third year (2023).
Sawamura, 32, has 352 career appearances in the NPB (Nippon Proffessional Baseball League) spanning from 2011-2020. 88 of them were as a starter. As well as 868 1/3 innings pitched.
Sawamura has 75 career saves, and a career 2.96 ERA in the NPB with a 0.71 WHIP. He spent his whole NPB career with the Yomiuri Giants, until being traded half way through the 2020 season to Chiba Lotte. With Chiba Lotte he posted a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings.
With this move the Red Sox had to cut Jeffrey Springs from the 40-Man Roster. 13 of the 23 pitchers who made a relief appearance for the Red Sox in 2020, are no longer on the 40-Man Roster.