A few teams, including the Royals and Cubs, inquired about Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. at the Winter Meetings only to be told that he was not available, according to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe. The 25-year-old Bradley (26 next April) posted a nice .249/.335/.489 bating line in 2015 and justified the considerable defensive hype that comes with his name, saving eight to 10 runs (based on his respective Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating marks) while logging a combined 608 innings across all three outfield spots. It’s no surprise that he drew interest and also not a surprise to hear that the Red Sox are choosing to hang on to him.
Here’s more from today’s column:
- The Red Sox and Royals also discussed Wade Miley before he was shipped to the Mariners. A big league source tells Cafardo that Boston asked KC for Kelvin Herrera while the Royals preferred to move Luke Hochevar. The Red Sox ultimately opted for the Mariners deal. Miley’s first season with Boston got off to a slow start, but the lefty rebounded from a ghastly 8.62 April ERA to 4.10 ERA with a 137-to-58 K/BB ratio across his final 178 innings of the 2015 season.
- It “appears that” Cody Ross’ career is over. The free agent outfielder suffered a bad hip injury with the D’Backs two years ago and he hasn’t been the same player since. The 34-year-old Ross was released by Arizona last season and later went 2-for-25 in nine games with the Athletics. Ross has played parts of 12 MLB seasons, suiting up for the Tigers, Dodgers, Reds, Marlins, Giants and Red Sox in addition to the Diamondbacks and Athletics, and hitting .262/.322/.445.
- Agent Joe Sambito tells Cafardo that free agent third baseman Will Middlebrooks has gotten inquiries from 11 teams. Cafardo speculates that the Brewers could bring Middlebrooks into their third base mix.
- Most execs and scouts that Cafardo spoke with at the Winter Meetings said that they wouldn’t give Jason Heyward a $200MM deal. Of course, the Cubs felt differently.