Ryan Dempster, Red Sox agree to two-year, $26.5 million deal - MLB

UPDATE: Rosenthal says it’s a two-year, $26.5 million deal, so by turning down the previous two-year offer Dempster gets a little extra cash and the Red Sox still manage to avoid a three-year commitment.

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Yesterday the Red Sox and Ryan Dempster were said to be in serious negotiations and now Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the two sides are “close” to an agreement.

No word yet on the money or years involved, but previous reports had Dempster turning down a two-year, $25 million offer from Boston.

If the Red Sox agree to give him a three-year deal it’s a big risk, as Dempster is 35 years old and got knocked around in his first taste of the American League following a midseason trade to the Rangers. For the most part, though, he’s been a solid No. 2 or No. 3 starter, posting a 3.74 ERA and 911 strikeouts in 997 innings during the past three seasons, including a 3.38 ERA in 173 total innings this year.

CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”