Moreland stays with Red Sox, gets $3 million contract

By Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — First baseman Mitch Moreland is staying with the Boston Red Sox, agreeing Tuesday to a one-year contract that guarantees $3 million.

Moreland gets a $2.5 million salary this year, and Boston has a $3 million team option for 2021 with a $500,000 buyout.

The 34-year-old hit .252 with 19 homers and 58 RBIs in 91 games last year, going on the injured list for a strained lower back and a strained right quadriceps. He batted .297 with six homers from Aug. 9 through the end of the season.

He was an All-Star in 2018, when he hit .245 with 16 homers and 68 RBIs for the World Series champion Red Sox. He had a pinch three-run homer off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Ryan Madson with two outs in the seventh inning of World Series Game 4, starting Boston’s comeback from a 4-0 deficit in a 9-6 win.

Moreland spent seven seasons with Texas before joining the Red Sox ahead of the 2017 season on a $13 million, two-year deal.

Right-hander Denyi Reyes was designated for assignment to open a roster spot.

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