The Red Sox assigned lefties Derek Holland into minor league camp earlier today but the veteran will not exercise the opt-out in his minor league contract with the team, NESN’s Will Middlebrooks (Twitter link) was the first to respond. A decision on this has not yet been made Travis Shawbut Shaw told Alex Speier of The Boston Globe (Twitter link) that he will not exercise the opt-out in his own underage deal since the infielder has been informed that he tends to break camp.
Holland further justified his decision his own Twitter feedwhich states that he “took the [Triple-A] Order because I only had two innings of current Grapefruit League action to offer. “It’s a great organization to be separate from so I want to stay and see where this path takes me. It’s going to be great fun with the boys.”
This is the third time in as many offseasons that Holland have signed a minor league deal, and his previous two deals resulted in some significant big league action. The southpaw threw 40 2/3 innings with the Pirates in 2020 and then 49 2/3 frames with the Tigers last year, while posting a 5.07 ERA for his time in Detroit. While Holland’s statcast numbers weren’t impressive in 2021, his 4.00 SIERA was well below his actual ERA, likely due to Holland being bitten by a .354 BABIP.
With lockdown preventing Holland from signing anywhere until March 18, it makes sense that it would need a bit more time to fully boot up rather than immediately jumping back onto the open market. MLB.com’s Ian Browne reports that Holland has another opt-out on May 1 if he hasn’t already been added to the active Red Sox roster.
While nothing is official yet, it makes sense that the Red Sox would keep Shaw as a left-handed complement to the potential first baseman Bobby Dalbec. While Dalbec ended the 2021 season in great fashion, the young slugger has been quite fickle in his 545 career record appearances, allowing Shaw to offer experienced support.
A familiar face in Boston, Shaw broke into the majors with the team in 2015-16 and then returned last season after being released from waivers by the Brewers in August. Over a small sample size of 48 PA, Shaw hit well, delivering three homers and a .238/.319/.524 slash on his return to the Red Sox. He also had a clutch pinch hit single in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the ALDS that advanced the eventual winning run to third base.