The World Series ended shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday. When the sun came up, the offseason business of baseball officially got started.
The Red Sox exercised their 2017 contract option on Clay Buchholz and will retain him for $13.5 million. They declined their $3.75 million option on catcher Ryan Hanigan and will instead pay a $800,000 buyout.
Buchholz was 8-10 with a 4.78 earned run average last season and made 16 appearances in relief. He had a 2.86 ERA in his final 17 games, a revival that led the Sox to keep him for at least one more season.
With the retirement of David Ortiz, Buchholz has the second-longest tenure on the team behind Dustin Pedroia. He made his debut with the team in 2007.
As a formality, the Red Sox also exercised their 2017 contract option on Ortiz. That retains him as their property.
Hanigan, 36, appeared in only 35 games last season and had a .468 OPS. He hit .219 in two seasons for the Sox after being acquired from San Diego. With catchers Sandy Leon, Blake Swihart, and Christian Vazquez on the major league roster, Hanigan was expendable.
Swihart, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, righthander Carson Smith, and righthander Brandon Workman were reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and returned to the 40-man roster.
Infielder Josh Rutledge also was reinstated from the DL, then outrighted to Triple A Pawtucket.
Infielder Aaron Hill became a free agent, along with righthanded relievers Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, and Brad Ziegler. Monday is the deadline or free agents to receive qualifying offers for next season. But none of those players will merit the $17.2 million commitment.
The general managers meetings start Monday in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Winter Meetings are Dec. 5-8 in National Harbor, Md.
Promotions made
The Red Sox made a series of promotions and additions to their baseball operations department.
Jared Banner was promoted to vice president of player personnel. Brian Bannister was promoted to vice president of pitching development and will have the additional title of assistant pitching coach.
To assist Bannister, the Sox hired former major leaguer Dave Bush as pitching development analyst. Bush, 36, appeared in 211 major league games from 2004-13. He has worked for MLB International the last two years and will be a pitching coach for China in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Ben Crockett (player development), Gus Quattlebaum (pro scouting), Mike Rikard (amateur scouting), and Zack Scott (baseball research and development) all were promoted to vice president.
Scott, who was director of major league operations, will oversee the team’s analytics department.
Frank Wren was named senior vice president of player personnel, attaining the same level as Allard Baird. Both report directly to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Blair Henry and Tim Huff were named major league scouts. Henry has been with the Sox since 2006 as an amateur scout. Huff was with the Angels the last four seasons as a special assistant to the GM.
Mike Regan was promoted to assistant director of baseball administration. Paul Toboni, a scout in Texas and Louisiana, was named assistant director of amateur scouting.
On the medical side, head athletic trainer Brad Pearson was named director of sports medicine service. He will absorb the duties of Dan Dyrek, who resigned after the season.
Jon Jochim, who was with Triple A Pawtucket for seven years, was added to the major league training staff. He has been with the Sox since 2005.
Dubon a Star
Infield prospect Maurico Dubon was voted into the Arizona Fall League All-Star Game. The game is Saturday at 8 p.m. and will be on MLB Network. Dubon, 22, finished last season in Double A. Sox pitchers Trey Ball and Michael Kopech also are in the game . . . The team’s annual “Winter Weekend’’ at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., will be Jan 20-22 . . . Samuel Adams Beer is releasing 541 bottles of “Big Hapi’’ brew on Friday. The mango-infused double IPA will be available only at the Sam Adams Boston Brewery. All proceeds will go to the David Ortiz Children’s Fund. Doors open at 4 p.m., with the line forming two hours earlier. There is a limit of one bottle ($29.99) per person.
Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.
