Dodgers News: Walker Buehler Already Recruiting Astros Star to Red Sox
01/05/2025 06:30 PM
After seven seasons as a Los Angeles Dodger, Walker Buehler signed with the Boston Red Sox last month.
The 30-year-old pitcher inked a one-year, $21.05 million deal with Boston after a regular season in which he went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA across 12 starts. This was his first year back after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022 and missing the entirety of the 2023 campaign.
However, it is his 2024 postseason performance that will be fondly remembered by Dodger fans. In October, he made three starts, sporting an ERA of 3.60 with 13 strikeouts. He also had the World Series clinching save on two days rest, despite not having warmed up before it.
Now a member of the Red-Sox, Buehler has made a pitch to free agent Alex Bregman, who has played for the Houston Astros since 2016.
"I have certainly made a pitch all over the place for him to come to Boston," Buehler said Friday on a Zoom call with reporters. "He and I have been buddies for a long time. We played on Team USA together a little bit in college."
According to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the MLB stars “co-own a 3-year-old colt, March of Time, who won a race Friday at Santa Anita Park.”
Speier added: “Red Sox manager Alex Cora, in a radio interview in Puerto Rico shortly after the agreement with Buehler became public, identified the Sox's top priority as a right-handed-hitting second baseman — a not-thinly veiled reference to his ongoing interest in bringing Alex Bregman to Boston.”
Boston was in on the Juan Soto sweepstakes. They were also hoping to land Teoscar Hernández, but were unsuccessful in both pursuits. The right-handed Bregman would be a good fit for the Red Sox, as they need another big bat, and he had 26 home runs last season, his highest year-end total since 2019.
A large reason the Dodgers did not bring back Buehler was the blockbuster signing of Blake Snell last month. He joins a jam-packed rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani, who is making his long-awaited return to the mound.
Another pitcher expected to re-sign with L.A. is the longest tenured Dodger, Clayton Kershaw.
Although Dodger fans and the front office alike would have loved to bring back Buehler, there does not appear to be any bad blood from the team. In addition to the statement thanking Buehler for “seven incredible seasons in Dodger blue,” the team posted a video of some of his best moments for the franchise.
Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-MLB
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