Friday marked the deadline for all MLB clubs to tender contracts to players still under team control, and any player who isn’t offered a deal prior to the deadline is considered “non-tendered” and made a free agent.
For the Red Sox, the day went exactly as expected.
The Red Sox announced they have non-tendered two players, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and right-hander Josh Winckowski, formally cutting both players loose.
All 26 other unsigned players under team control were tendered contracts.
Both Lowe and Winckowski had already been designated for assignment earlier this week to clear space on the 40-man roster for new additions, so their being non-tendered was a formality.
Lowe was entering his final year of arbitration, and according to MLB Trade Rumors’ arbitration projections he was expected to earn $13.5 million this coming season. That would have been a hefty overpay given Lowe’s underwhelming season, especially with fellow first baseman Triston Casas expected to return in 2026, so he had long been considered Boston’s most likely non-tender candidate.
This past season Lowe batted .228 with 18 home runs, 84 RBI, a .689 OPS and 0.1 wins above replacement in 153 games split between the Washington Nationals and Red Sox. The 2023 World Series champion performed poorly in Washington and was designated for assignment, but after joining the Red Sox in late August posted respectable numbers down the stretch to help Boston qualify for the postseason.
Winckowski was only projected to earn $800,000, slightly over the MLB minimum, but the right-hander also missed most of last season due to injury and would have faced fierce competition for a big league spot in spring training from the club’s other young pitchers.
Considering that he was out of minor league options, Winckowski’s time with Boston was likely running out whether he’d been tendered a contract or not.
Winckowski appeared in 121 games over four seasons with the Red Sox, posting a 4.20 ERA over 242.1 innings. His best season came in 2023, when he posted a 2.88 ERA in 84.1 innings and established himself as a valuable multi-inning weapon on that team’s bullpen.
The Red Sox got things squared away with several other players well in advance of Friday’s deadline too, reaching one-year deals with right-hander Cooper Criswell, outfielder Jarren Duran and catcher Connor Wong.
Criswell, who signed for $800,000 on Nov. 6, was considered a possible non-tender candidate and will have a chance to compete for a roster spot in spring training. Duran, who signed $7.7 million on Nov. 4, and Wong, who signed for $1.35 million on Thursday, were both arbitration-eligible, so their agreements allowed them and the club to avoid a pair of potentially acrimonious arbitration hearings.
The Red Sox still have four arbitration-eligible players remaining: right-handers Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford, infielder Romy Gonzalez and Casas. The deadline for players and clubs to submit salary figures for arbitration is Jan. 9.
There are also 22 pre-arbitration players with fewer than three years of service time whose contracts will be renewed in the coming weeks and who will mostly earn close to the MLB minimum.
As of today the Red Sox have 14 players under contract for 2026: Roman Anthony, Brayan Bello, Kristian Campbell, Aroldis Chapman, Cooper Criswell, Garrett Crochet, Duran, Jordan Hicks, Ceddanne Rafaela, Patrick Sandoval, Trevor Story, Garrett Whitlock, Wong and Masataka Yoshida.
