Red Sox Free Agent Targets: Top 5 available hitters
By Sean Penney
Moustakas’ teammate in Kansas City brings an entirely different dynamic. Hosmer isn’t going to flirt with 40 homers. He matched his career-high with 25 home runs this year, which is a fair target to assume he can continuing reaching. That total would have led the Red Sox this year but it’s not a significant upgrade over what they have. If power is what Boston covets most then Hosmer is not that guy.
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Yet Hosmer remains on the radar because even without the staggering home run totals he’s still arguably the best pure hitter on this list. Hosmer racked up 192 hits to rank fifth in the majors this season and his .318 average was eighth. Hosmer drew almost twice as many walks as Moustakas, leading to a far superior .385 OBP that places him 15th in the majors.
Hosmer also hit .333 with runners in scoring position, proving he’s quite capable of being a run producer even when he’s not hitting the ball out of the park.
The former Gold Glove winner is also a solid defensive first baseman. He could replace Moreland at the position to give the Red Sox an upgrade at the plate without taking much away defensively.