Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is being removed from the Boston Red Sox starting rotation, per manager Alex Cora.
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Buehler is going to the bullpen and will not start Monday for the Red Sox. The right-hander is sporting a 5.40 ERA across 22 starts this season.
Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05 million with the Red Sox last offseason. The Dodgers did not tag Buehler with a qualifying offer, and let two starters in their rotation walk away in free agency.
The defending champions headlined the offseason by signing Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million deal. Then, the Dodgers also convinced Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki to sign with them.
The two new additions to the rotation meant there was simply no room for the Dodgers to bring back fan favorites like Buehler and Jack Flaherty. The right-hander recently spoke about his free agency process when the Dodgers played the Red Sox in July.
“It was an interesting situation,” Buehler to the Orange County Register. “There’s obviously two sides to that situation. We (Buehler and the Dodgers) had conversations about it. We talked through it. And they went and signed guys that they wanted to sign. And I signed with a place that I wanted to play. It kind of is what it is.”
While Buehler’s performance with the Red Sox hasn’t been picturesque, he revealed how much he’s enjoyed playing for Boston.
“I’m enjoying the s—t out of it,” Buehler said. “Our fans here are here long and loud. Kind of similar in a lot of ways to (Los Angeles). It’s been a really fun year, outside of some of the playing stuff for me.”
Perhaps the move to the bullpen could be beneficial for Buehler as he tries to get back on track.
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Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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3 Responses
Boston paid him too much. The dodgers made the right decision.
That’s one way of looking at it but not shared by all fans. Some of us appreciate what he’s meant to this organization, and even with a substandard year in a different ballpark and team, we still remember him as the only SP on both their WS winning rosters in 2020 and 2024. What he did to the NYYs was glorious. And the only reason Boston could afford to make this move is due to the ignorant LAD decision to let Dustin May go when they acted like sellers at the deadline. I mean, Kershaw is having a solid half a year and if LAD kept him around, why not Buehler? In 2023 postseason, Kershaw had a 165.0 ERA. Yes, you read that right. Should the organization have based their opinion on that for 2024 when he pitched in 7 games for a total of 30 innings and then again in 2025? Of course not.
With some of the worst decisions by AF and the all too often baffling managing by Roberts, this – THIS – is the hill you climb and defend as the “right decision”. No way we know if Buehler is pitching like this in LA, where he genuinely wanted to be. I’d want Bulldog Buehler in the starting rotation in the playoffs any day.
Not every fan agrees.