That's a good landing spot for him. Bummed he won't be a Red Sox anymore but he pitched really well for the Sox.

That's not very much money? I guess I've lost track of the Red Sox spending plans.

He got an opt out after 2023 so it’s a sweet deal for him. Gets paid well for two years. Dust settles on CBA and he hits market again without any Comp (presumably).

Good for him. I'm a bit ambivalent. When he came up I thought he was going to be a better pitcher than he's been but he's been pretty good. Every time it seemed like he was turning the corner and about to become a true ace he'd have a series of bad starts. Every time it seemed like he was falling apart so badly he'd have to be removed from the rotation he'd come through with some excellent starts.

I think it's a bit nuts how much flak he got for giving Correa his dumb watch thing back at him while Correa got none on his part.

Definitely nice that the Tigers are taking a step forward with this signing.

They look like an interesting option going forward in the AL Central, ESPECIALLY once they get the Miguel Cabrera contract off their books.

#3: Source? I can't find contract detail anywhere. The Athletic says it's got a NTC and bonuses.

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1460243780410515457?s=20

Eduardo Rodriguez Tigers deal: $77M, opt out after year 2, plus incentives

I really liked him on the Red Sox. The money seems on the slightly bargain side, but I assume the Sox didn't want to do the 5 years, but geez just over $15 mil per seems like good value.

Good for ERod - as a Red Sox fan, I was conflicted about the team prioritizing his re-signing. We got him for a few months of Andrew Miller at a deadline deal, and it was probably one of the better returns for a rental player in the last 20 years. He could be maddening to watch at times, because he would throw so many pitches early in games, and struggle to get through five innings, but then he would throw a game every month that would make you think he could be one of the best lefty starters in baseball.

He is really young to be a FA (28), and for a team trying to build something like Detroit, it is worth the risk, right? I like that Boston is getting another high draft pick out of it. They now have picks #24, #41, #57, and #70. If they sign a QO free agent, they lose pick #57, so not such a bad trade-off.

I am happy for Rodriguez. I enjoyed rooting for him and I'm glad he's getting paid.

I am happy for the Tigers. They're getting a good player, and signing him early in the offseason is enough of a signal to bigger free agents that they intend to compete. He's not the final piece of the puzzle, but he makes them better - and that's exactly what the Tigers should be doing right now.

I might also be happy for the Red Sox? I mean, they didn't opt to pay a pretty affordable contract to a guy I enjoyed rooting for, and that sucks on a couple of levels. But as SBPT indicates in his first paragraph Rodriguez is unlikely to be the guy he showed flashes of being. He's likely not to be able to give you 6 IP reliably, and frequently he'll cruise for 4 IP and then somehow not be able to get you 3 more outs. Boston should be pursuing someone better than that. While spending $80m to lock in a roster spot on that for 5 years isn't prohibitive - they have other roster spots! - it's not a great habit to get into when they can probably rely on Tanner Houck or Garret Whitlock to do that next year for peanuts. If the $80m they didn't spend outbidding Detroit for Rodriguez is put toward extending Devers that might work much better.

While spending $80m to lock in a roster spot on that for 5 years isn't prohibitive - they have other roster spots! - it's not a great habit to get into when they can probably rely on Tanner Houck or Garret Whitlock to do that next year for peanuts

I probably agree with your overall point, but the as a counter argument, entering his age 26 season (as Houck and Whitlock are doing) Rodriguez had put up just under 500 IP at a 108 ERA+. Yes, that was a bit up and down, but overall you sort of knew what you were getting. 2019-21 was similar for E-Rod - 350+ IP at 114 OPS, nothing fancy, but toss him in your 3 spot in the rotation and he's an asset. Whitlock and Houck very well could do better than that moving forward, but at around 80 IP for each of them, they are much more likely to be wild cards.

My guess is my beloved Detroit Tigers are hoping Ed-Rod pitches well enough in his first two years that he will exercise his opt out. Around here we're hearing the first two seasons are $14 million per, and by the time the opt out comes along the Tigers young pitchers should be entering their primes (health permitting, of course). That way Detroit gets two good seasons out of Ed-Rod at a very affordable price while developing their young talent. This Tiger team may not be postseason favorites this year but, if the young arms progress and Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson continue to develop as rookies, the second year of the Ed-Rod contract could be very exciting.

The downside, of course, is that Ed-Rod's arm falls off or he goes all Jordan Zimmermann on the Tigers, but that's the risk you run by signing any pitcher.