The Red Sox have gotten a jump on their offseason business, reportedly agreeing to a one-year contract extension with utilityman Enrique Hernández. The deal guarantees the Wasserman client $10MM for the 2023 season.
Hernández had been slated to hit free agency this winter, but he’ll bypass that opportunity for a third season in Boston. The longtime Dodger first hit the open market over the 2020-21 offseason, when he signed a two-year, $14MM pact with Boston. It was a surprisingly strong multi-year arrangement on the heels of back-to-back down seasons at the plate, but it quickly looked like a coup for chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and his front office.
The Puerto Rico native posted arguably his best season to date in 2021. He tallied a personal-high 585 plate appearances and connected on 20 home runs and 19 doubles with an overall .250/.337/.449 slash line. Hernández walked at a robust 10.4% clip, only struck out 18.8% of the time and made a strong impact from a power perspective. Altogether, by measure of wRC+, his offensive production checked in nine percentage points above league average.
Hernández paired that well-rounded hitting output with his typically strong defense. As he has throughout his career, Hernández proved willing to bounce between the infield and outfield. He spent the bulk of his time in center field and at second base, with public defensive metrics placing him among the league’s best at the former position. On the heels of that strong first season in Fenway, Hernández deservedly earned Boston’s Opening Day nod in center field this year.
The 31-year-old hasn’t managed to replicate last year’s production though. He slumped to a .193/.266/.325 line through the season’s first month and has never fully gotten back on track. While Hernández has improved upon that particularly tepid early-season output, he’s posted below-average numbers at the dish in each month when healthy. He also lost a bit more than eight weeks to a strained right hip flexor that sidelined him from early June until the middle of August. Altogether, Hernández has gotten into 68 games and tallied 304 plate appearances, compiling a meager .219/.283/.354 showing with just six longballs.
Some of Hernández’s underlying numbers have correspondingly gone in the wrong direction. His walks are down to a below-average 7.9% clip, while his rate of hard contact has plummeted from 43.2% to 34.4%. Perhaps the Red Sox are willing to attribute the offensive downturn, at least in part, to the hip issue through which Hernández was battling. Disappointing as his 2022 work at the plate has been, he has continued to rate as an above-average defensive center fielder. If he can recapture something resembling league average offense, Hernández would still be a valuable contributor — either as the regular center fielder or in a utility role that sees him bounce more frequently between the dirt and the grass.
Presumably, Hernández will get the first crack at an everyday outfield role again. The Sox don’t have much in the way of established in-house alternatives, with former top prospect Jarren Duran struggling to a .218/.269/.355 line with bottom-tier defensive metrics through his first 90 big league games. For a Red Sox team that is looking to immediately return to contention after a disappointing 2022 campaign, penciling the 26-year-old into the Opening Day lineup is probably too risky. If Duran plays his way into an everyday job, Hernández could slide into a superutility capacity.
One could argue Boston should’ve aimed higher than either Hernández or Duran and sought an external upgrade in center field. Re-signing Hernández doesn’t expressly rule that out, although it’d seem to alleviate the pressure on Bloom and his staff to dip into very thin waters at the position. Aaron Judge, of course, is the top free agent who’ll be available but looks likely to command a salary approaching or exceeding $300MM. Aside from Judge, Brandon Nimmo is the only clear above-average center fielder who’s slated to hit the open market. The Rays are certain to buy out defensive stalwart Kevin Kiermaier (with whom Bloom is plenty familiar from his time in the Tampa Bay front office), but Kiermaier’s coming off a shaky offensive season of his own and recently underwent season-ending hip surgery.
The trade market may not offer many solutions either. Teams are sure to try to pry Bryan Reynolds away from the Pirates yet again, but no team has been successful (or seemingly even come close) to doing so. The A’s will probably listen to offers on Ramón Laureano, but he’s arguably a cleaner fit in a corner outfield spot than up the middle. Other trade candidates include the Royals Michael A. Taylor and the Cubs Rafael Ortega, but it’s not clear either is an upgrade over Hernández.
It’s the start of what figures to be a busy offseason in Boston. The Red Sox are facing the potential free agent departures of Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill, among others. Assuming Bogaerts opts out of the remaining three years on his current contract, the Sox are slated to enter the offseason with a bit more than $70MM in guaranteed commitments for 2023 after accounting for Hernández’s deal. Rafael Devers headlines an arbitration class that’s likely to push that tally north of $90MM.
That still leaves plenty of room for a club that opened this year with a payroll above $206MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. They’ll need to overhaul the pitching staff, address a middle infield position if Bogaerts departs, and perhaps look for upgrades at catcher and in a corner outfield spot. There’s a lot of work to be done this offseason. Today’s agreement to keep around a familiar player whom the organization clearly expects to right the ship marks the first of many key decisions on the horizon.
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported Hernández and the Red Sox were in agreement on a one-year, $10MM extension.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Good fit for Boston’s plans next year.
No mention of what he did last postseason? Shameful.
Smart move by Boston. It probably cost them an extra couple of million to sign him for just one season (he probably would have signed another 2/$16M deal if offered) but this fits in with Boston’s plan of trying to field a semi-competitive team until their top prospects are ready to join the team by 2024 or 2025 at the latest.
I’d expect a bunch of 1-2 year deals for mid-level veterans this offseason. I’d love it if they could get Mitch Haniger or Trey Mancini to accept a 2 year contract but I think they will both be looking for 3+ year deals. Even with Kiké back in the fold, Boston still needs to add another 1-2 outfielders and a catcher. It will be interesting to see what they do in the middle infield as well should Xander end up leaving. Story can slide over to SS and Arroyo had played so well this season that I wonder if they’ll be content with those 2 as everyday starters and sign an established utility infielder to spell them or if they’ll go after a starting caliber 2nd baseman or shortstop to replace the X-Man. In a perfect world, they re-sign Xander (and Devers) but I don’t see that happening unfortunately.
The problem with Arroyo is staying on the field. I just want pitching and defense revamped.
10 million for what exactly? I guess versatility is nice but I don’t think I’d give that much money for just versatility.
Why wouldn’t they wait until the offseason is beyond me. He’s having a poor overall year. Just another example of wasteful spending by Bloom.
Kikè, when healthy, is one of the best defensive CFs in the league. He had a down year and signing him for a $10 mil extension is a smart move. Duran proved that he isn’t ready at the moment and Kikè is a versatile player that can play multiple positions. Glad they brought him back.
All these Blooms haters can gtfo. Bloom was given a roster of band contracts and no farm system. He’s helped turn the farm around and help make them competitive with an eye to the future. Obviously, there are some questionable moves but they are super easy to critique with hindsight. Injuries have killed the team this year and before losing 4/5s of their starting rotation, they were in the lead wild card slot.
Haters??? Relax. Pretty much everyone commenting here thinks that it’s at best a premature signing. What’s the hurry? He can probably get Keirmaier for a lot less than that. See what the market says.
One of the BEST CF’s in the league? Is he really that good of a CF?
Yes Trumbo he’s really that good defensively so if we are talking about defensive cf he’s easily one of the best “ defensively”
I’ll have to take a better look at him. I don’t remember him as a stud CF on the Dodgers. Pretty rare sort of occurence.
That’s because bellinger played in CF for the dodgers
He’s batting .222 this year??? Keep him…Good riddance.
Labrum surgery oin the hip for keirmaier…. He will not be a stud defender again.
Yes, he is really that good.
I think u figured out the reason why he was never a full time starter for la but people can have their own opinions like the guy that told us to gtfo if we don’t like bloom. This is a joke a big market club that have to play front office like a small market club like the rays
Ya cuz u know Pham and Hosmer r turning the farm around. Bloom has had some head scratching decisions pal he hasn’t done all good
Look I hate the Sox and I’ve trashed many of their decisions. But to blooms defense in regards to contract situation… lot of bad contracts clogged up and pushed them near luxury tax so didn’t have too much room to spend. However back to his mismanagement of money allocation… he over paid oin story. Story is good but not worth that contract not being able to play in coors 81 times.
alwaysgo4two
Pretty much everyone commenting here thinks that it’s at best a premature signing.
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And that cuts both ways. I’d have bet serious money that he’d have gotten at least a 2-year deal. I was actually hoping for a 2-year deal for the RS, albeit at a slightly lower rate.
Chris Taylor is a pretty similar player, and he landed a 4-year deal at an identical age. I think there was almost no chance that Kiki wasn’t getting multiple years,
Story is a steal at $23M. His bWAR/650 PAs this year is 4.68.
“This is a joke a big market club that have to play front office like a small market club like the rays”.
kmk1986;
Many Sox fans here have your viewpoint. Consider this……
The Sox are in last place (5th) in the AL East. They have the 6th highest payroll in all of MLB. Their SS – that can’t play a quality ML SS – wants a $10M raise…..as a part of a multi-year contract. Their young 3B is also offended that he’s not getting a long-term (guaranteed) contact at a much higher rate than his current salary. Red Sox fans think both “deserve” the money because the Sox are a large market team and the owner makes money hand over fist and has other investments and he’d better OR ELSE blah blah blah.
To review, the team is at 5th place in the ALE with the 6th highest payroll in MLB and their fans want them to go back into the Luxury Tax with the penalties – in addition to money – that it imposes.
Baseball keeps all of us young. But spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year as a billion dollar business is an adult world thing.
To review, the team is at 5th place in the ALE
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That’s not a proper review. It’s a bit like saying that KC, the Marlins, and Reds are having better seasons, because they are in 4th place, and we are in 5th. And The Cubs are having a great season, since they are in 3rd place, the .418 record.
The fact is, we’re 17th out of 30. A borderline .500 despite losing most of their rotation at one point or another. We’ve given 51 starts to guys that were not supposed to be in the original rotation. That’s almost impossible to survive.
Our designated SPs have combined for 30-20 with a 3.95 ERA. Our replacements have combined for a 9-20 with a 5.54. Some injuries have to be anticipated, but losing 4 guys at once, and losing your #1 for the season, and your #2 for 9 starts, cannot be replaced.
Agreed about story I would of rather had freeman
He’s been okay for the money, but ‘steal’? If he only had 1 AB all season and hit a homerun, would he be an even better steal? 23M in the first year of a long contract should get you 2.5 -3 WAR, regardless of games played.
Im not trying to be a criticize. Just pointing out the flaw in the logic.
Story was paid in case Bogie leaves. Great athlete where the worry was injuries. As for Hernandez, it’s just one year and was a smart move. He can play so many positions above average. Priority spending after Bogie issue is resolved one way or the other has to be on pitching and defense.
Was never a consideration. Freeman was using other teams to get Atlanta to pony up. His back up was always his hometown Dodgers.
Joe;
Want to talk perspective?
MLB is a playoff league. The Sox are in the AL and vie for one of 6 playoff spots against 14 other teams. Furthermore, 2 of those spots are going to go to teams that win the AL Central and AL West. Here is who’s better than them this year – Yankees, Rays, Jays, O’s, Astros, Mariners……maybe Twins and Guardians.
Next year some of the above teams will be worse. Than again, some teams not mentioned will be better. We can’t project those teams at this point. What we can say is that the Sox are trying to bring their payroll down some, and they’re obviously overpaying for the results they’re getting. It’s also clear that the ownership group made a decision years ago to move in a different direction – away from endless spending for older players as well as numerous long-term contracts, most of which prove to be extremely bad investments that limit a teams future flexibility….and flexibility is a key to being a sustainable contender.
Will they try to make moves to compete for a playoff spot on 2023? Of course. Will they limit what they can do in 2024-25-26 in order to do that? I’m not in on the executive meetings, but I don’t think so.
One last point to keep in mind – MLB is a young mans game….always has been, always will be. Young players get injured less and recover faster when they are injured. Their salaries are lower. They generally play with more enthusiasm. Few teams win for long without a good percentage of young players on their roster. All these posters crying “spend more money” are asking to acquire older players at a cost other teams aren’t willing to pay.
Samuel – Again you and Joe are the only intelligent people posting. The average “fan” wants the Red Sox to spend $400,000,000 per year, and they exclaim “cheap” that there is not an all star at every position! They are also the $tupid people who retire on only social security as their only means of support, and claim the US government is cheap. Lol
@km1986 – Keep in mind that Boston’s CBT total for 2022 is ~$240M so they are in the Top 5 in ‘spending’ (some of this $240M is dead money), so they aren’t being cheap like Tampa. They have to get these bad contracts off the books and a lot of money frees up this offseason. While they will stay below the $232M CBT limit in 2023, they will have over $100M in available cash to spend this offseason so 2023 will be the first year since Bloom took over to see if they truly plan to be “cheap” or not.
The Red Sox plan seems pretty apparent to me. They are trying to field a competitive club with short term deals until their best prospects are ready by 2024 or 2025. So I’d expect a lot of 1-2 deals to be signed this offseason, some of which will seem like overpays but that’s the price they’ll need to pay to lure good veterans to only sign for 1-2 years. The true evaluation of the team’s long term success will begin in 2024. It will be interesting to see if Bloom can hold onto his job until then. He has to do MUCH better this offseason, especially with building their rotation and bullpen. If the pitching fails yet again next year then it very well may cost Bloom his job.
“The average “fan”……exclaim “cheap” that there is not an all star at every position!”
JC#1;
Yes, that’s exactly what Theo Epstein said when he was there. He also said it was impossible.
Coming from a fan base that thinks they’re so smart, one would think they’d figure out that players on a team have different roles to play, and that’s what Baseball Ops people deal with 24/7/365,
Dorothy_Mantooth;
Right on post, except……
I don’t think Mr. Bloom is in any danger of losing his job.
Ownership knew what they had to do when they hired Mr. Bloom, and it wasn’t just getting bad contracts off the books. They had to rework their entire Baseball Ops Department. It takes time to find the right people, develop them (as franchises have to develop players), and get them to work together. MLB is is not rotisserie league where a team acquires a player, sticks him on the field, and see how he does.
Oftentimes the longer a rebuild / restructuring takes, the more successful it is for a longer period of time.
The effect on the bullpen of losing all those starts destroyed the pitching staff.
Steal is a stretch. This is a 5 year deal for Story and he’s about 5% above the league average offensively playing 2B.
2.5 fWAR in less than 400 abs is not bad but certainly not a steal
Freemans .906 ops would look a lot better in a Red sox uniform than story’s .752 only a moron would choose story over freeman
Whining because hill sale paxton eovaldi missed starts yeah who woulda thought totally unexpected right. And the Yanks rays jays didn’t have starting pitcher injuries right? Cry me a river
Spot on Dorothy.
That’s not what people r saying we all know this. Kinda ignorant to think only 3 of u know baseball or claim your the only intelligent ones keyboard warrior
Dumpster diving. The thing is bloom knows these players r terrible and too promise kike a better team next year??? Why u promise him anythjn a .210 hitter and what is he gonna do. Bullpen and bloom did nothing to address bullpen
Have you seen what shortstops are getting right now? 200-300 million! Story getting 140 is a relative bargain compared to Seagar 325mil and Simeon 175 mil and Correa 105 for only 3 seaons.
Story was hurt, when healthy, he can hit outside Coors and Fenway is the second best hitting park outside of Coors so he is in the exact right place for him.
Perhaps they wanted him wrapped up before another team could negotiate with him.
One of Cora’s people. That makes him a priority.
Pssst, Cora is not the GM. And just because someone’s name ends in an -ez, doesn’t make him one of Cora’s people.
The Rocker’s of the world never change their tune.
He is one of Cora’s people but not just because he’s Hispanic. He mentioned when he signed for 21 that he wanted to play for Cora.
There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage. Both Kiké and Cora are Puerto Rican and definitely have a bond because of that. With that said, it’s not the reason why Boston signed him; they like his versatility and overall talent when healthy. $10M is a lot of money but if he’s healthy for a full season next year, he should earn that money. He definitely outplayed his 2021 $8M salary, especially in the playoffs. He was a monster for them and one of the main reasons they made the ALCS last season.
No but both coming from pr does make him one of coras people no matter what you woke snowflakes say.
It is a bit weird to get a raise after a down year. I’m thinking they know more about that hip problem and it was really bothering him this year and they expect a turnaround
ohyeadam
It is a bit weird to get a raise after a down year.
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It’s only a raise because the $7M we were paying him was a steal. $10M was slightly high, but you have to pay a premium to keep the contract to one year.
It’s remarkable how much this skill is underrated by fans even when they can see it’s so clearly prized by teams. I also found where the article referred to his “willingness” to move around the field to be kind of humorous. This is his stock and trade. He’s more than willing. Versatility is the reason for his value.
Great teammate and he did some big things while with LA. At the end of the day though, he’s still a utility guy. That being said, ten million is a nice payday. But I’m sure that he’d rather swap last years season with this one
Looks like an overpay to me.
He’s a center fielder for Boston and defensively a really good one but I would of waited until the off-season to sign him. I get there isn’t a lot of outfield options this off-season but Boston really needed to upgrade the outfield perhaps they are thinking of seeing if Conferto is a good fit in right maybe they have already talked to him and feel bringing Kike back is the best option for outfield. I don’t know but this will make it so the have 102 million in guaranteed salaries with probably like 30 million more in arb salaries and the like. I hope they will make a serious run at Xander then Devers then use the rest to upgrade pitching. I really don’t know how to about this signing is the free agent centerfield class really that bad they need to make a preemptive strike. One. Things for sure Duran is as good as gone.
What stings bad and worse this offseason is the giveaway deal to Milwaukee last offseason of Hunter Renfroe for JBJ and 2 middling prospects. Renfroe continued his power bat and JBJ his floundering ways. Both kids look like little received, just a giveaway of Renfroe, who the team could not replace with nothing close in the pipeline at the time, other than hoping Duran was for real. Poorly thought out all the way around.
Bloom, for that reason had little choice but to strike early if possible with Kike. Pham isn’t a keeper. Next year they will start with just Verdugo and Kike. 2 OF’s, but really.. How weak of an OF are those 2? Wouldn’t the power bat of Renfroe have been nice, had it not been given away for nothing?
The team was hoping for a JBJ rebound (he did hit great at Fenway) and needed to improve their team defense. HR has an amazing arm but overall his outfield work in his lone Boston season was inconsistent.
Dewey -Agreed, Renfroe hit HRs, but his defense was terrible. JBJ hits at home and not at all on the road. It was a gamble all-be-it a bad percentage risk.
In 2022 some of the AAA guys have taken a step forward and Red Sox will be able to start to build around them. Bello will join Sale, Pivetta, maybe Whitlock, and a free agent (maybe re-sign Wacha), will be joined by a bunch a AAA prospects to make what should be a decent.
I just love people who evaluate a trade without letting the chips play their way in or out in a couple of years. Only exception being 18. As Eovaldi and Pearce
I just love people who evaluate a trade without letting the chips play their way in or out in a couple of years. Only exception being 18. As Eovaldi and Pierce were key contributors, Boston did not lose those trades.
I think 10 million is an overpay. I just don’t see his 2022 platform translating into 10. However, he is versatile and we are woefully short in the outfield. Will Bloom overpay for his guy Pham now?
I hope Boston doesn’t bring Pham back next season. While he provided a nice spark for them in the first couple of weeks after the trade, as of late he’s been settling into his true talent level (average at best OF with an inconsistent bat). I’d really like to see Boston go after Mitch Haniger this offseason, so long as he’s willing to sign a short term deal. Haniger would bring them the power they need from an outfielder and he can play a decent LF for them too. If Haniger wants a longer term, then I like the idea of going after Conforto on a one year ‘prove it’ deal with a mutual option for year 2. That would shore up their 2023 OF without blocking their up and coming prospects. I would like to see them bring back Refsynder as a 4th / 5th OF option too.
After doing this, they can pivot to catcher and more importantly their pitching staff (both starters and bullpen arms are sorely needed).
Alex Anthopolous should be paid in large sacks of gold.
It’s interesting that out of the Jared Cosart, Colin Moran, and Marisnick trade, Kike became the best player.
Life long Red Sox fan living in LA & have had the opportunity to watch Kike quite a bit over the years. He gives 100% every time he’s on the field can play multiple positions & play them well has a good arm smart base runner & great in the clubhouse… Wish they included an option yr. Congrats to Kike!!!
Waste of money
CF is such a terrible position league wide right now keeping Hernandez is probably a smart move. Better to do it now than wait til everyone has a chance to negotiate with him
Agreed. Sox original plan was Duran but he’s clearly not a center fielder.
This mean Yung Joc gets a 3 yr 35mil deal?
Wouldn’t mind if the Sox brought renfroe back lest u get 30 hrs with him
Hernandez had more than a hip flexor.
nesn.com/2022/08/kike-hernandez-details-traumatizi…
I like this move. My ideal offseason: Bloom
gives QO to Bogey, Wacha and Eovaldi while making an actual attempt to resign Wacha and Bogey. Also, be active in trades for guys like Murphy and Laureano from Oakland to sure up defense and add some pop. Maybe we can dump Sale and add a couple serviceable arms rather than bet on what Chris is gonna be when he gets back. I know it’s not flashy but this team isn’t as far away as many think and if we can shore up our pitching and stay healthy we can compete next year. Bloom cleared our payroll and gave us an above average farm, time to see if we can now sustain success like his guy Friedman in LA. Let’s go Sox!
No one will pay Wacha near QO money for next year. He’s on a 5.3 million contract now. 7-10 should get it done
Agreed but after this year, it will take a three year or more deal. Wacha supposedly wants to stay.
Do you think that the Sox are willing to go three years on Wacha where Bloom is a draft and develop guy, look in another direction, or just keep the Mass pike open and funneling players back and forth? Perhaps they give him a one year deal at a significant raise ala Kike?
Wacha is getting paid $7M this year. They structured some of his compensation as a signing bonus, so while his salary is only $5.3M, he’s earning a total guaranteed $7M this season and he’ll be due for a big raise after his 2022 performance. A fair deal for him would be 3/$36M or 2/$26M with some type of option attached for year 3 that would guarantee him another $2M if he’s bought out.
Thanks for clarification on his deal. Do you think they pony up to keep Wacha?
Wacha will probably accept a QO. I think it’s probably a close call whether they offer or not.
Realistically I think Wacha could get a 3 year deal in that 11-12 million dollar range.
I’m struggling to imagine Boston going the QO route with Wacha. No doubt a back of rotation guy, but close to 19mil for one season?
He is sporting a sub 3 ERA in over 100 innings.
With a strong finish—-I think it’s a close call for a large market team like the Sox. But I think they won’t and try to hammer out an extension if they want to retain.
I’m not so sure waiting was a better choice like some posted, It’s a one year deal. 1 WAR costs about 5 mil in baseball, which is about where he will probably end up this year (1 WAR). But he was a 5 WAR player last year. So, if he lands somewhere in the middle, it is a deal for the RS. If he produces only another 1 WAR or lower, then, not a good deal, but you also have to consider the premium of not being locked into a long contract…
I agree 100% Chaudk. Allowing Kiké to go to free agency would have been a dangerous decision by Boston. With such a weak free agent class of CFs, Kiké would have easily found a multi-year offer elsewhere. A team like Miami desperately needs a CF and would be willing to offer him a multi-year contract. He also would have been a great addition to an up and coming team like Baltimore. I’m not sure $10M is that much of an overpay either. While Kiké will never hit for a high average, he has surprisingly good power for a guy his size and has proven he can be a 4 WAR, 110 WRC+ player when healthy (see 2021). He is also a great teammate and clubhouse leader.
While he did have that hip injury this year, it wasn’t the hip that kept him out so long. It was a rather freak injury where blood was pooling in his muscles, causing him severe pain and the inability to load up on his right side. Once they found it and drained it, he was back to good health so there’s no reason to be concerned about his hip causing another 60-day IL stint in 2023. To me, this was a slam-dunk decision and thankfully, Kiké was willing to take a one year deal vs. testing the market. He must love it here in Boston to agree to this deal, and Boston fans love players who enjoy playing here as well.
Smart take. Only thing off is your take oin Kiki in Baltimore. Why Mancini was expendable. Our OF depth in the majors.. plus cowser oin track for next year. Yes Kiki could be used as infield. But again are in house options are solid.. If nothing cheaper and controllable. Os really need a very good right handed bat. And kiki main value is utility and defense.. not bat.
Locating a below the radar Center fielder will be a challenge for most clubs. Short of overpaying for a known commodity, it’s not everyday that one succeeds in Finding Nimmo.
No such thing as a “below the radar Centerfielder.” Below the radar= left fielder or right fielder.
You just said you didn’t know Hernandez was good defensively. So I think there actually is such a thing.
Plus Bellinger will be non tendered by the Dodgers. He d be a good corner piece or CF in Boston or teams in the AL East. Tampa? Yankees? I think he needs a change of scenery and moved back to the top of the order for a good amount of ABs. Plus with players around him to protect him instead of being dumped to the bottom of the order bat in LA. Who’s gonna protect him Lux? Taylor?Obviously LA s lineup is stout..you put him in a normal 1234 line up I think he has a resurgence, Muncy batting 6/7th Belli 8/9th unless it is the shoulder injury dislocation he sustained celebrating after the dinger he hit. Would love some thoughts..dont think he gets 18 million again. 10 mill max. Where did he bat in the order in his MVP Season and who was in front and behind him?
is it just this author or are people getting away from using That nickname in favor of calling him Enrique?
It looks bad in print. I’ve heard it on the radio broadcasts.
I hardly ever hear NESN or WEEI call him Enrique. I agree i just think it doesnt translate to text well.
Weird. I figured he’d be one of the ones let go to save some cash, but he gets a raise. Hmm…
Instead of overpaying a couple guys, Bloom likes to moderately overpay several players. Six roses or a half-dozen …
Like Michael Wacha, that was soooo bad.
This is just Chaim’s way of not admitting his own mistakes. He extended Hernandez hoping he will have a good season next year and so that his contract looks favorable in the eyes of Boston fans and likewise Chaim will look favorable too. Clearly he doesn’t care about winning
Higher postseason OPS than Error in Judgement and a pretty large sample, nearly 200 plate appearances. So there’s that. Plus, he’s versatile, plays the game well. helps the team. You know, all those intangibles that you can’t put a number on. But still, there’s that postseason OPS that’s higher than Mr. 54 home runs. That’s kind of nice when that’s what you’re team is about, winning more World Championships than anyone else in the new millennium.
Stop whining about Henry, Bloom and Cora, Red Sox “fans”,
I would rather pay Judge 60 mil a year for the next 12 to man center field than sign Enrique for ten mil.
At that kind of money, it would make more sense to just give him a share of the club. Probably less expensive too.
Guess why you aren’t running a mlb franchise and are still flipping hamburgers.
Big thoughts.
The only place the Red Sox have ever won a “World Championship” is in “Murica, F@#k Yeah!”
Get over it. If the name offends you, don’t watch it.
Pull that “World Championship” crap outside the US and the response you;ll get is “Ugly American”.
So what. Unlike you I’ve traveled extensively throughout the world and there are a lot of nationalities a lot uglier than Americans.
No you won’t.
And the only people that use the term “Ugly American” are Americans. I’ve been around, and people love America and Americans, even when they disagree with our government.
So I’ll call them Whirled Champions. There. See how I spun it?
Peas out.
I normally reserve judgement on roster moves, however, this one leaves me with some questions. The timing is peculiar with this. He has played elite defense…this year.
His OPS+ is 77, that’s pretty far below a league average hitter. In fairness it could be his production was curtailed by injury. Are they banking on a return to 2021 production? With a guy like Hernandez, playing 4.9 WAR in 2021 is more like a career year than normal expected production with all respect.
$10 million is still a pretty significant investment, especially for a guy that’s having a downturn in offensive production. No disrespect but eouldnt a guy from the farm be a lower risk to get similar production?
If Boston fans are happy with the signing then it’s all good, but it does seem like money spent prematurely. I don’t see other clubs beating his doors down for him.
10 million is pretty much average at this point for a ML veteran. The Red Sox are thin at outfield in the minors. even if someone takes a leap and gets promoted you need veteran backup. and Kiké plays elite CF defense. Even with the hip injury this year he’s in the 98th percentile for outfield jump. Last year when was completely healthy he was in the 99th percentile for jump and 89th for puts above average. His batting numbers are down but they’ll get better next year.
I’m with you on the cost of certain veterans and what not. My mental comparison to Hernandez when factoring in offensive drop off, elite defense, and similar salaries is Paul DeJong.
As Cardinal fans, we felt DeJong’s offensive fall off was a fluke last year, however, his bat has never recovered. His defense is still elite much like Hernandez. DeJong is still owed 9+ million for 2023.
At this stage though, it’s hard for most Cardinals fans to still put a good spin on his deal. Maybe some team might want to give DeJong that 2nd chance like the Sox are with Hernandez.
Kike was going to get paid. Either by Boston or one of the dozen teams that would have made offers the minute he became a free agent…
No way I’d do this deal if I’m Boston. It’s not a ton and it’s only a one year deal, so really no risk. But at the end of the day, money committed is money committed and I think they could find better value this off-season with that 10 mil.
That’s crazy numbers .. his stats are more borderline for release instead of a raise to 10 million.. just wacky nuts.. bet he couldn’t wait to sign that deal… lol
Just one season removed from a 4.9 WAR season. Dealt with a variety of injuries. Real question though is why does the CF position across MLB suck so bad right now?
His season has been two different worlds. Clearly he wasn’t right at the beginning of the season. Then went on the DL for 2+ months. He’s come back and been fine since, akin to 2021.
Top defensive CF, and a bridge until Raphaela is ready in 2024. Also, don’t understand comments saying they should have waited to sign him. They have exclusive rights now, why wait and compete with 29 other teams. CFers in FA are going for a premium right now, glad they got it done.
Spot on correct.
1-Had we waited, there is no doubt in my mind he’d have gotten a multi-year contract. Anyone here think the NYY aren’t looking for a CF? Or the NYM?
2-The folks that want to write him off because of an injury are forgetting he had a great year in 2021.
3-And. as always, there are few CFs available.
4-But my biggest underlying reason for liking this is that we need to make a lot of moves this winter. It’s like selling a house. Knocking off a few to-do’s makes the other projects easier to handle.
JoeBrady;
I would be surprised if the Sox were an AL East contender in 2023. Of course anything can happen, but I don’t see them better than the Rays, Jays or O’s.
I do think that at some point Bloom’s Sox explode and will catch people off-guard, as the O’s have this year.
The moves he’s making can go one way or the other. It’s foolish to predict or get bent out of shape over every one of them. The Sox will take off when a group of players come up from their farm system over a year or two and get some traction adjusting to ML ball….and I believe that’s the plan.
I don’t see them better than the Rays, Jays or O’s.
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This is part of the issue warping the opinion of some RS fans. As I mentioned above, even though we are last, we are still a good team.
And this was baked into the pre-season predictions as well. The O’s weren’t expected, but there was a real good chance that either the NYY, TB, TO or the RS were going to miss the playoffs, despite being good teams.
Our divisional opponents have a .563 record. No other division is close to that. Even if we were a .563 team, and playing .500 against our opponents, that means we start the season with a 38-38 record. In order to catch Seattle’s .projected 91 wins, then we have to play .619 against our non-divisional opponents.
Excellent analogy!
The Yankees won’t as they traded a quality lefty starter for a CFer. That move was more about 2023 because CFers are hard to find.
#4- Is a great point Joe
For every move a ballclub makes they are probably weighing B,C and D options
For a team needing upwards of 10 inks this offseason it’s just too many variables at play to try and wrap it all up (efficiently) in a short 6 weeks (ish) timeframe they have to maneuver within this winter
Somewhat of an overpay but a thin market for center fielders. Fills one spot but they still have a lot of work to do for next year.
Some folks think this is a bad idea? My takeaway is people don’t appreciate just how good Kike was in 2021. 4.1 fWAR made him a top 40 position player in MLB and tied with Arenado in WAR. He’s good enough defensively out there that he doesn’t need to hit much for it to be a good idea to retain him. When you factor in Duran’s inconsistency on defense and lack of alternatives in FA, it’s a no brainer to bring the guy back. If this is how the market is going to react to one year/half year of injury issues, Red Sox should make attempts to bring the majority of their FAs back.
With so many holes to fill on this roster, a one year deal for Kike is a score. What is a capable CF going to cost in salary or trade pieces? If they go out and trade for a major league ready CF, Kike can slide back into the super utility role originally envisioned. No brainer.
I find it interesting that Verdugo gets so much discredit. I’ll take a guy who hits .285 with maybe 12 homers and 40 doubles and 10 less rbi’s than Devers. If Renfro was still in the outfield and Schwarber still hitting 35 homers along with J.D. having a typical year, no one would be complaining about Verdugo. And he is a decent outfielder and doesn’t strike out that much. Of course he’s not Betts, and it is unfair to expect him to be.
No one is “complaining about Verdugo”. Where you getting your take from?
Also Schwarber? I noticed the 35 homers part, but what about the league leading 172 Strikeouts or Negative 11 Outs Above Average or his .215 Batting Average? There’s a reason why he only has 1.5 WAR and HRs isnt it. Honestly at 19.75M per year, he’s not worth the Return on Investment.
Agree Ray win Verdugo is a solid ball player there is a contingent of Red Sox fans who thinks he’s terrible. He isn’t he’s very solid player and ver good hitter. There are couple of RedSox fans that want him traded thankfully they don’t make the decisions. I would like to see the Red Sox now go out and get Conforto on a make good deal. The outfield market is very thin.
Verdugo is a nice player. He does everything well for the most part and would be a nice piece on most teams. Let us not blow him up into something he is not, which would be an elite type player, or even a great player. If you use the criteria of Trot Nixon, who was a nice piece to have on a ball club, you can see where Verdugo fits as a slightly worse hitter then Trot, with less power. Victorinoesque. No one thought Trot was an elite player. We knew he was solid not flashy, and a good bat that was a threat down in the lineup. The problem with having accumulated 3 nice pieces in our present outfield without an elite hitter out there with power is that it shines a spotlight on the three as a unit. As a unit our outfield lacks the kind of production you would expect in an incredibly hitter friendly ballpark. The fact it has middling power just makes it worse.
William I don’t think anyone is arguing he is an elite player just not a terrible player like some Red Sox fans seem to think. He’s a solid player who makes contact probably get 10-15 homers and hit close to .300. Nothing wrong with that that is a solid player.
Agreed. Point was to ground the view of the player in reality. He is a nice piece. Not elite, nor a detriment. The danger comes when you fill a lineup with mostly nice pieces and they have down years.
After perusing the outfield free agent market this deal makes more sense. In fact after perusing the free agent market next year overall I think that the free agent market has little depth aside from a few high end options.
Let’s also be real no way the Yankees let Judge get away right Yankee fans? He’s not really going to be available right? The guy might hit 65 homers this year. Even if he is no way Cohen doesn’t outbid every other owner for him. The bottom line he isn’t an option for Boston.
The sox win games 88% of the time when they score 6+ runs per game and only win 33% of the games when they score 5 or less. Pitching is the primary need this off season. Bloom shopping in the sale bin won’t get it done!
Have you looked at the free agent pitchers this year? There are a few high end guys that the Red Sox have no chance at they aren’t going to outbid for DeGrom so maybe they look to add Bassett but he is going to be in demand it’s a pretty thin free agent market this year.
Spot on. The high end guys are really going to cost. Trading for controllable starters and signing FA arms for the pen would seem a better allocation of funds. So many holes to fill this off season. Extending Kike at least gives them a flexible defender that can play center if one cannot be acquired over the winter.
I`ve seen Kike make some spectacular plays in CF including some great throws too!A player that plays this many critical positions well,,has a flair for the dramatic and is a great influence on these young players coming up,makes perfect sense to sign at a good price..
I do not understand most of the moves anymore. I was hoping last off season was a brain fart. We have glaring weaknesses in multiple places that need tremendous upgrades at this point, or miracles from within our system, which we know is unlikely (if Casas were to be the next Babe Ruth instead of the next Dalbec the team would still be in serious trouble next year). They aren’t going to let us bat 3 or 4 guys and flip the order. MLB will still require us to bat 9 guys. Kiki is a nice super utility option, but if you were to have told me he would be starting anywhere other than second base the last two years, I would have predicted we were in fairly big trouble. Kiki being a starting center field showed how badly the Mookie trade trickled down. I like Verdugo, I like Kiki, I like Bradley, but we are trying to win ball games, and you can’t have all three starting outfielders be guys that are considered nice options to have on a roster. Our late season moves were suspect at best, and although we created another potential weakness at catcher, we managed not to upgrade with our other moves. If the end game wasn’t at least clear improvement, then why buy at all? Just dump and hoard prospects instead. We need a bullpen. Not a bullpen pitcher, not a couple arms, we literally need nearly an entire bullpen. We may potentially need 3 legit starters, 2 if you are planning on Whitlock entering the rotation (if you are disregard what I just wrote about the bullpen. We would need the entire bullpen). We have an outfield of mediocrity, an infield that many nights sports 4 players not playing the positions they should be playing, may potentially lose 2 of the 3 best hitters we have in a lineup that is dead from the 5 hole down, and lacks power throughout most of it..
William;
Here’s a totally off-the-wall suggestion…….
Instead of forever signing FA’s at bloated salaries along with expecting to trade garbage for quality players with other teams, have you (and others here) thought of the Sox bringing in players at a reasonable price that did not do well this year, and coaching them up? Lot’s of teams do that – almost all of the teams that win do that to at least some degree. The Orioles built an entire pitching staff like that; currently ranked 11th MLB-wide (by ERA) .
Heck, the Sox just did it with Michael Wacha. Maybe that’s what Mr. Bloom is doing….Duh.
That is an extremely viable thing to do for any and all teams regardless of place in the standings. I will give you an example of this happening 2 years ago. Kiki Hernandez. A middling player with flexibility coming off two disappointing years for the Dodgers who no longer saw him as a player that would start on their team or be an affordable option as simply a utility player. Wacha is a great example. most Red Sox bullpens in my lifetime would be other examples. Every team tries it., The issue for most teams is whether they can afford to gamble on it when it comes to the better players at a price level that assumes it works or spend less for players whose upside was never too great to begin with. Btw, Paxton. How is that going for this year for 10 million? Want to gamble again? We can keep him for 13 million. If that doesn’t pan out, we can try again in two years for another 10 million. That signing would have crippled some teams we all know possibly for years. If you can afford it, why not, if not, then avoid at all costs. Why? Because if it pans out and you reclaim an elite player, you spent that money 9 out of 10 times to create an elite player for another team so grab up. Example: Remember all those Pirates starter reclamation projects that worked for years, and were steals for that one year after healing before another team snatched them up?
That pretty much summed it up
Well with Chaim behind the driver’s wheel, it looks like this signing knocks us out of the Aaron Judge sweepstakes – lol
Thank god, right? Whoever signs Aaron Judge will regret it in 3 years. Besides many things we need more than a corner OFer at 30M+ a season.
ROI- Return on Investment. Judge is another Mike Trout.
I have to ask, aside from Whitlock and Drafting Mayer (which wasn’t rocket science) is anyone a fan of what Bloom has done since he has been in Boston?
Wacha was a great signing. Not to mention the Minor League affiliates are becoming stacked. I think he’s doing great. It all come down to whether you want immediate results by signing FAs, or building a team from within. I like this approach.
2024 is the goal here. Next year’s club should be better, but can it leap frog The four clubs ahead of them and stay under the CBT?
I’m on the fence with this. It’s not a bad move but we need guys who can hit. This guy was a monster in the postseason, but outside of that was nothing special. He plays great centerfield but if we don’t upgrade other positions and stay status quo, we’re not going far.
I don’t think Alex Cora is as good an in game manager as many think he is. The 2018 Redsox where arguably one of the best teams ever. Houston before that…well we know what happened there.
AC does many things well but IMO he fails to recognise when to make pitching moves & whom to go to of his available options often. One of the reasons here is that he does a poor job in establishing roles for his players, who comes in when its the 7th, 8th or 9th, who mops up way ahead, who should come in with a high leverage situation, also in the lineup & batting orders…who knew where they would be slotted or called upon this year from Alex? Not many players…extremely difficult for players & team cohesion to take place when any manager does this non role defining tendency. Players & their teammates hate this & while some amount of time is needed to establish these roles (aka spring training) & certainly changes with the removal or assignment in a role based on performance happen…they still need to be clearly done so the players know. I still have not seen Alex produce the current Redsox most optimized alinement for both offense & defense success this year even 1 game…not once. A poor in game manager but good in other areas. I hope he learns & improves or this transition will go nowhere.
Here is your 1st of many free hints: Christian Arroyo should be given a 5 to 6 year deal today Chaim Bloome for 10 to 12 million. If he is not given a starting job at a set position & is to remain a “utility” player he should be in the lineup somewhere 5 at a minimum to 7 games a week spelling all 4 infield position players for rest & both corner outfield spots. Way too valuable a player not to be. He needs a min of 450 plate appearences & is a stellar infielder! The 1st team to give him 550 ABs will be even happier than when The RedSox did it for Kike Hernandez!