Right-hander Walker Buehler and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a one-year, $21.05 million contract, sources told ESPN, addressing the dispute.

According to sources, the deal, first reported by Yahoo Sports, includes an additional $2.5 million in performance bonuses.

Buehler, a 30-year-old two-time All-Star who was one of the game’s best starters from 2018 to 2021, was one of the most intriguing free agents this winter. After a second Tommy John surgery in 2022, Buehler returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers and posted a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts.

He remained in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation and cemented his previously established big-game credibility by throwing four shutout innings in a National League Championship Series win, delivering five more shutout innings in a World Series win, and then returned to lockdown with a day of rest, defeated the Los Angeles championship in the ninth inning of a wild Game 5 against the New York Yankees.

Boston hopes Buehler can be just as good this October. The Red Sox, who scored the ninth-most runs in baseball last year and have the game’s three best hitting prospects in outfielder Roman Anthony, infielder/outfielder Kristian Campbell and shortstop Marcelo Mayer, went in search of pitching this winter. And although form has been slow to emerge, the Red Sox have managed to build top-notch pitching with little financial outlay.

A blockbuster trade netted them left-hander Garrett Crochet, who plans to be the Red Sox’s Opening Day starter for the next two years at low arbitration salaries. And they paid $18.25 million for two years for left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who is expected to return from Tommy John surgery in August.

Buehler has earned a reputation as the best kind of bully on the mound – someone who backs up elite stuff with presence and attitude to match. With a four-seam fastball that reached 96–97 mph and regularly painted the four corners of the strike zone, Buehler was able to win games using his heater alone. He also randomly threw a cutter, a curveball, a slider, a changeup and a sinker, which stunned regular batters.

His best year was 2021, a season after he helped lead the Dodgers to their first World Series title since 1988. Buehler went 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA in 207⅔ innings, striking out 212 and walking 52. He finished fourth in a closely contested NL Cy Young vote.

Elbow injuries sidelined Buehler for part of 2022 before undergoing a Tommy John revision with flexor repair. Players coming back from a second elbow reconstruction — Buehler had his first in 2015, right after the Dodgers selected him with the 24th overall pick — work on longer timelines than the typical Tommy John return. Buehler missed all of 2023 and returned in May of this year without his most explosive stuff. Before he went on the injured list in June with right hip inflammation, he had struck out just 31 times in 37 innings

When he returned in August, Bühler was no better. Injuries to the Dodgers’ rotation reinforced that he was an important part of their plans for October. Over his career, he had posted a 2.94 ERA and struck out 101 in 79⅔ postseason innings. His performance in the 2024 playoffs was far closer to Buehler of old than he had previously shown, and his willingness to sign a one-year deal rather than a multi-year deal suggests Buhler also believes the postseason was just a preview of what’s to come , what’s to come.

If Boston can get the best versions of Crochet and Buehler, as well as a healthy return from Sandoval, its pitching depth will be a clear strength. The Red Sox also return right-handers Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Lucas Giolito, with the latter also coming back from Tommy John surgery.