The Red Sox renegotiated Tim Wakefield's annual option today. Wake had been working off an auto-renewing option locked in at $4 million, but the aging knuckleballer struggled with injuries in 2008 and 2009, forcing the Sox to tweak the deal for future years:
Extra Bases: The Red Sox did some cost-cutting with Tim Wakefield today according to sources. Rather than pick up his $4 million option for 2010, they signed him to a $3.5 million deal. He also will get a $1.5 million deal for 2011 that includes incentives. This replaces the perpetual $4 million option Wakefield had. So instead of the knuckleballer costing $8 million over the next two seasons, it'll be $5 million. The incentives could add another $2 million.
Bottom Line: Wake continues to be the ultimate team player. Knowing that he will be fighting for playing time in 2010 (unless the Sox do nothing to deepen the starting rotation, see Harden, Bedard, etc.), Tim also took a pay cut. Wake was on his way to 15+ win in 2009, and had he remained healthy, he would have been a steal at $4M... let's hope he can stay healthy in 2010 and be even more of a bargain.
