Most Red Sox rumors this Major League Baseball offseason have centered around starting pitching.
Understandable. Boston’s rotation struggled in 2023 and several notable hurlers hit the open market shortly after the World Series.
But the Red Sox could use another bat, as well, hence their rumored interest in free agent outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported Sunday the Red Sox discussed potential contract parameters with Hernández, a two-time Silver Slugger recipient who spent 2023 with the Seattle Mariners. According to Speier, the Red Sox hadn’t made an offer as of Saturday night, but Boston’s engagement with Hernández reportedly picked up after Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto agreed to a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This isn’t to say Hernández is Boston’s Plan B after losing out in the Yamamoto sweepstakes. They’re obviously two very different assets — Yamamoto a 25-year-old pitcher arriving in the United States after a decorated professional career in Japan and Hernández a 31-year-old power-hitting outfielder with eight years of MLB experience — and the Red Sox absolutely need to address their starting pitching in some way, shape or form regardless of whatever augmentations they make to their lineup.
But Boston’s reported interest in Hernández speaks to the open-ended nature of the organization’s offseason plans. There are a lot of avenues the Red Sox could explore with an eye toward 2024 and beyond. Some obvious. Some not so much. And Hernández falls into the latter basket.
In fact, one could argue the Red Sox should prioritize signing Hernández for two reasons: 1) He’d supply a ton of right-handed power, which Boston needs even more with Justin Turner potentially leaving in free agency. And 2) His arrival, in theory, would give the Red Sox more flexibility in trades.
Boston’s outfield already looks somewhat crowded, with Tyler O’Neill recently joining a group that includes Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Rob Refsnyder and Ceddanne Rafaela. But that mix isn’t without questions: How will O’Neill fit? Should Yoshida serve mostly as the designated hitter? Can Duran put together a consistent season? Will Abreu and/or Rafaela — still-unproven commodities at the MLB level — develop into lineup mainstays?
Hernández, an All-Star with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, is coming off a down season by his standards, but part of that could be attributed to playing his home games at pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park. Hernández posted a .643 OPS and 71 OPS+ in 323 plate appearances at home last season. He was far more productive (.830 OPS and 128 OPS+) in 355 plate appearances away from Seattle and owns an impressive .950 OPS in 189 career plate appearances at Fenway Park. Throw in his consistently high exit velocities and barrel rates, and Hernández is an excellent candidate to bounce back in 2024, with 30 home runs well within reach.
That such production comes from the right side is a huge plus. Because not only are Yoshida, Duran and Abreu left-handed hitters. So, too, are third baseman Rafael Devers and first baseman Triston Casas, arguably Boston’s two best offensive players.
If the Red Sox signed Hernández, they’d instantly be more balanced offensively. And if they then leveraged their outfield depth in a trade for pitching, their entire roster would become more balanced.
Sounds like a reasonable gamble, even if Hernández’s price tag reaches or surpasses the four-year, $80 million mark that MLB Trade Rumors projected at the beginning of the offseason.
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