Buchholz had trade anxiety, ready for 'do-or-die' year with Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox exercised Clay Buchholz's $13-million option for the 2016 season last November, but he still felt uneasy after the club signed southpaw David Price to a mammoth seven-year, $217-million deal the following month.
"Yeah," Buchholz said bluntly when asked if he thought he'd be traded this offseason during a radio appearance Wednesday. "Whenever you go out and get someone like David (Price), that's putting a lot of weight on his shoulders for reasons that are apparent. He's the horse that every team wants to have on their staff. But given you do have someone like that, there obviously has to be one person that's out of the mix. I was actually on the phone with Wade Miley talking about the whole Seattle thing, because my name was involved in that, and obviously his name. There were times I was unsure what was going to happen, you can't lose sleep over it."
Buchholz was limited to 18 starts in 2015 due to a right elbow injury, finishing the campaign with a 7-7 record and a 3.26 ERA over 113 1/3 innings. The oft-injured hurler has never thrown 190 innings or more in each of his nine big-league seasons, but he showed flashes of brilliance in 2013 when he posted a 12-1 mark with a sparkling 1.74 ERA in 16 starts. Boston holds a $13.5-million option on the 31-year-old for the 2017 season, but the thought of potentially becoming a free agent this fall is putting the pressure on Buchholz.
"Maybe a little bit because it is the final year of that contract so it's more of a do-or-die type of thing and that's why it was important to be in the gym this offseason, get the work in and try and prepare myself to the best of my capabilities and be ready," Buchholz said. "Once you get here there's really no looking back on what you could have done, or what you should have done, or what's going to happen. I'm looking forward to playing ball, getting on the mound, and being around the guys."
Buchholz, a first-round selection of the Red Sox in the 2005 draft, will join Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, Joe Kelly, and Price in Boston's rotation this season.