Red Sox: Biggest need this offseason is power hitting
The Boston Red Sox are in need of one major thing this off-season. Hitting. Who should they target?
With the Boston Red Sox just one unofficial day out from losing Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees and losing out on Shohei Ohtani to the Los Angeles Angels, the team needs to focus again on one major thing during the offseason. Hitting.
Not adding a middle-of-the-order bat this offseason would severely hinder the Sox from looking threatening in 2018 and beyond. Who’s left? One name that comes to mind has been linked to the team for a few weeks now.
J.D. Martinez is going to get paid top dollar this offseason not only because of his skill set but because of who his agent is. Expect him to command well over $25 million annually and for five years minimum. Do the Red Sox want to commit that much to one player going forward? They might not have a choice. They need to stay hungry and they need to open up the wallet. The Yankees have reverted back to their old ways of buying titles and it started with the addition of Stanton. Rumors have been swirling that Bryce Harper might join the team in 2018.
Missing out on Martinez will only leave fans discouraged. After there was a small chance of landing Stanton, the team is left saddened to know that he left for their arch-rivals. The Yankees haven’t been threatening for a long time and this just made them dangerous.
Martinez offers power and hitting ability in addition to fielding ability at the corner outfield slots. Could the Red Sox make a trade involving Jackie Bradley Jr.? Could that be advantageous? What else does the team need to do in order to make a big deal happen?
Martinez slashed a .303/45/104/2 line in 119 combined games between the Tigers and the Diamondbacks. What’s nearly more impressive is that he almost doubled his home run total as a Diamondback in almost the same number of games. Martinez needs to be looked at as the best option for the squad going forward.
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Another player that management can consider is Marcell Ozuna. The Marlins just sent Stanton to the Yankees and it looks like they are in a complete sell now mode. Could Ozuna possess a future in Bean Town? After a couple sub-par seasons, Ozuna finally came to life in 2017 slashing .312/37/124/1. While the odds of him replicating those numbers aren’t a guarantee, the Marlins are NOT going to find a better time to move him. Ozuna is eligible for arbitration this season and next year as well. Knowing Jeter, he’ll ask for the moon but it’s someone to consider.
Another outfielder to consider is another Marlin who the team has under control until 2021. Christian Yelich. Yelich has had back to back great seasons in Miami and at the age of 25, it would not surprise me if he was also sent packing. In his five seasons in the bigs, only last season did he not hit 10 stolen bases. Yelich has also found his power swing over the last two seasons while also keeping his batting average at .290 over those seasons combined.
One final player the Sox need to consider targeting is Eric Hosmer. The power is there and his girlfriend works in Boston. If that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will. All jokes aside, Hoz offers something the Sox haven’t had since David Ortiz left at the conclusion of the 2016 season. A left-handed power hitter. Bradley had it briefly but then lost it in ’17. Hosmer would have to make some adjustments around Fenway but it could be a match made in heaven.
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If the Red Sox want to be taken seriously this off-season, they are going to have to sign at least one of these players. Anything short of that would be considered a complete failure. In a perfect world, where all the stars align, if the Sox can manage to lock up both Martinez and Hosmer, the team will look pretty good in 2018 and beyond.