The Red Sox have decided not to tender a contract for 2012 to 31-year old lefty reliever Rich Hill, making him a free agent. He had Tommy John Surgery last June and that likely factored heavily in the decision for the Red Sox. Hill pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox last year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. He pitched in 15 games (0 starts) in two years with the Red Sox and he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Hill has now pitched in 93 games (70 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 22-20 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. The Red Sox won’t miss Hill, as he is going to miss at least half of the 2012 season.

UPDATE: (12/30/2011) - The Red Sox have re-signed Rich Hill to a minor league deal.

The Red Sox have signed 28-year old righty reliever/starter Doug Mathis to a minor league deal. Mathis pitched in 17 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Giants & A’s last year and he was 0-5 with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2010 for the Rangers. Mathis has pitched in 45 games (6 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 3-3 with 1 save, a 4.85 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Mathis will get a shot to win a job as the long man in the Red Sox’ pen next spring.

The Red Sox have signed 31-year old lefty reliever Jesse Carlson to a minor league deal. He missed all of last season as he underwent rotator cuff surgery last May. Carlson has pitched in 162 games (0 starts) in his first 3 years in the majors and he is 8-8 with 3 saves, a 3.63 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He has only given up 121 hits in his first 141 1/3 innings so far in his career, as he has good stuff when he’s healthy. This is a good low risk/high reward signing for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox have acquired 25-year old righty reliever/starter Marco Duarte and cash from the Astros for 22-year old switch-hitting infielder Marwin Gonzalez who the Red Sox picked in the Rule 5 Draft from the Chicago Cubs. The Red Sox won’t have to carry Duarte on the roster all season to keep him, so that’s a good thing. Duarte pitched in 23 games (19 starts) in Mexico last year and he was 12-4 with a 4.94 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He has now pitched in 126 games (42 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 26-17 with 1 save, a 5.07 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP.

36-year old lefty swinging DH David Ortiz has accepted arbitration, so he will be returning to the Red Sox for 2012. Ortiz played in 146 games for the Red Sox last year and he was 162 of 525 (.309 avg, .953 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 29 homers, 96 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 1,287 games in his first nine years with the Red Sox and he is 1,367 of 4,738 (.289 avg, .958 OPS) with 844 runs scored, 320 homers, 1,028 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Ortiz is now #4 in OPS in Red Sox’ history with his .958 mark. He is also #9 in runs scored (844), #7 in doubles (348), #5 in homers (320), #6 in RBIs (1,028) and #7 in walks (769) in Red Sox’ history. It was smart for Ortiz to accept arbitration as he is going to get paid big bucks by the Red Sox in 2012. The Red Sox are also happy that Ortiz decided to return to Boston for a 10th season, as he is still a very productive hitter.