Boston has re-signed Mills to a two-year minor league contract, a source confirmed Sunday. The deal allows the rehabbing Mills, who underwent Tommy John surgery in July, to continue his rehab with the organization while keeping him under club control through 2025. While minor league deals are usually for just one season, teams sometimes give out multi-year contracts to injured players.
Mills, who turns 29 in January, didn’t pitch for the Red Sox after coming over in a December trade that sent relief prospect Jacob Wallace to Kansas City. Mills was expected to compete for time in the major league bullpen throughout the season but hurt his elbow in spring training and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery after other forms of rehab didn’t work. He’ll miss most, if not all, of the 2024 season. The structure of his new contract allows the Red Sox to see through the potential benefits of his rehab once he’s healthy in 2025.
Mills is a former third-round pick out of Gonzaga who owns a 6.21 ERA and 7.9 K/9 ratio in 42 major league innings with the Mariners (2021-22) and Royals (2022). At the time of the, trade the Red Sox were intrigued by him as a buy-low candidate with a similar profile to John Schreiber, a fellow side-winder who enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2022. Mills has a unique delivery from a lower slot and three pitches (a four-seamer, two-seamer and slider) that the Red Sox believed could be especially tough on right-handed hitters. The early returns during spring training were strong (10 strikeouts in 6 innings) before he was shut down
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