Sources: Tigers reunite with Boyd to bolster staff
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Jeff PassanESPN
Left-hander Matthew Boyd and the Detroit Tigers are in agreement on a one-year contract, sources told ESPN, reuniting the 31-year-old and the team with whom he spent the majority of his career.
Boyd’s deal, which is pending a physical, is expected to be for $10 million, sources said. Coming off flexor-tendon surgery last season, Boyd signed a $5.2 million deal with the San Francisco Giants, who traded him to the Seattle Mariners, where he put up a 1.35 ERA in 10 relief appearances.
Detroit intends to slot him back in the rotation, where he played for seven seasons. In his time with the Tigers, Boyd was a strikeout artist whose Achilles heel was the home run ball. He went 37-60 with a 4.87 ERA over 777.2 innings, punching out 752, walking 247 and allowing 137 home runs.
The deal reunites Boyd with Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, who, as general manager last year with the Giants, helped sign Boyd and bring him back from the surgery.
Injuries have bedeviled the Tigers’ pitching staff, with former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize undergoing Tommy John surgery in June, left-hander Tarik Skubal needing flexor-tendon surgery in August, right-hander Matt Manning being shut down in September for a forearm strain and right-hander Spencer Turnbull still recovering from Tommy John surgery in June 2021.
The Tigers signed left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to a five-year, $77 million deal last winter along with a six-year, $140 million contract for shortstop Javier Baez as part of an effort to contend in 2022. It did not work, as they went 66-96, the sixth-worst record in baseball.
Detroit figures to be busy this winter, with a strong bullpen that is eliciting trade interest from teams that prefer not to dabble in a free agent market with high prices for pitchers. While the Boyd deal isn’t expected to cause any sort of run, multiple executives believe what’s been a slow free agent market is about to pick up ahead of — and especially during — the Winter Meetings that start Sunday.
WASHINGTON — Brayden Schenn played his 1,000th regular-season NHL game when he and the St. Louis Blues beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Thursday night.
Older brother Luke played his 1,000th game Oct. 17 with the Nashville Predators. The Schenns are the eighth set of brothers to each reach that milestone and the first to do so in the same season.
“I’ve always said you don’t get there without the help of tons of people,” Brayden said after his team’s morning skate. “Family being one and coaches and players and teammates and people in the organization. Obviously, you have to embrace the day-to-day grind of the ups and downs and just how hard this league is, but, yeah, pretty special that we have best buddies that push each other every day and get to do it in the same year.”
Blues players celebrated the occasion with Schenn shirts and hats with the captain’s No. 10 on them. Father Jeff gave a pregame speech in the locker room after coach Jim Montgomery said, “Schenner and his bro both getting 1,000 games in the same season is a tribute to the great family raised by Jeff and his wife.”
Jeff Schenn said Brayden was his favorite player on the Blues and tied for his favorite overall, of course, with Luke.
“Honored and privileged and very proud to be part of the big day and the big journey that goes along with it,” their dad said. “You see the hard work and the dedication and the bumps and the bruises and everything you guys put into it. … Just so excited and happy to be here and awful proud of him.”
Montgomery said after the win that Jeff Schenn looked very comfortable speaking in front of the group.
“Jeff and his wife, Brayden’s parents, they raised four great kids and two have played 1,000 games in the NHL,” Montgomery said. “His message was well-received, and you could tell by our start that we wanted to play for our captain.”
Dylan Holloway, who scored twice, said because it was Schenn’s 1,000th game, the Blues “wanted this one bad.”
The Capitals acknowledged the milestone with a message on arena videoboards and an announcement during the first period.
Brayden getting to 1,000 comes amid talk ahead of the March 7 trade deadline that teams are interested in acquiring both of them in separate moves. The Blues are on the fringe of the playoff race in the Western Conference, while the Predators are far out of contention.
“The times I’ve gotten traded, I didn’t expect to get traded, so you really never know,” Brayden said, adding he has loved his time with St. Louis. “It’s a business and that just comes with the flows of kind of where we’re positioned, five points out of the playoffs. But it’s the trade deadline, so some people make rumors. … You just take it a day at a time and just focus on your game and play.”
Brayden, 33, has three years left on his contract at an annual salary cap hit of $6.5 million. Luke, 35, has one more season left after this one at $2.75 million.
The Schenn brothers have played together in the NHL before, spending 3½ seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013 to 2015. Brayden won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, then Luke back to back with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
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