Red Sox Reportedly Leading Candidate For All-Star Outfielder Post-Alex Verdugo Trade
The most notable move of Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s short tenure was the trade of outfielder Alex Verdugo to the rival New York Yankees.
While starting pitching remains the top concern for the Red Sox, adding a right-handed hitting outfielder certainly has jumped up the priority list.
With that in mind, the Red Sox reportedly have shown the most interest in one of the top sluggers in the free-agent market.
Teoscar Hernández has received calls from the Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays according to baseball pundit Moises Fabian. He claims that the Red Sox have been the most persistent thus far.
Admittedly, this source carries far less weight than a report from one of the big guns but the move would make a lot of sense.
The 31-year-old hit .258 with 57 extra-base hits including 26 home runs, 93 RBIs and a .741 OPS in 160 games for the Seattle Mariners in what was his worst offensive season since his rookie year. With a career 118 OPS+, he’d likely mash in Boston but do so with a hefty amount of strikeouts.
Hernández has a bad reputation defensively due to some poor seasons as a young player but he’s worked his way into a league-average fielder. Still, I would be very hesitant to trust him to handle Fenway Park’s right field.
The slugger will have a very different offensive approach than Verdugo but should have a higher total output and can be safely deemed an impact, middle-of-the-order bat.
The loss of Verdugo will be lessened substantially should the Red Sox acquire Hernández this winter and likely move Masataka Yoshida to an everyday designated hitter role.
