Pitcher Ervin Santana turned down a qualifying offer from the Atlanta Braves worth $15.3 million. Instead the 31-year-old pitcher will try his luck on the free agent market for the second offeason in a row knowing that he is tied to draft pick compensation.
By offering Santana a qualifying the Braves will earn themselves a draft pick from whomever signs the right hander.
Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports that one team that could have interest in Santana is the Boston Red Sox nothing that they scounted him “the whole year.”
Source: Red Sox yet to check in on Ervin Santana, but they were scouting him "the whole year." In next tier behind Scherzer/Lester/Shields.
— Brian MacPherson (@brianmacp) November 10, 2014
There are other free agent hurlers on the market so Santana could be more of a fallback option for the Red Sox. Max Scherzer and Jon Lester are the cream of the crop this year while James Shields is destined to be overpaid after getting massive amounts of post season coverage with poor results.
In 31 starts for the Braves, Santana had a 3.95 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP across 196 innings of work.
