Chaim Bloom made bold promise to convince Kiké Hernández to stay with Red Sox
How the Red Sox convinced Kiké Hernández to sign his 2023 contract extension
Kiké Hernández is the first big signing the Boston Red Sox made for 2023, but it took the front office making him a big promise for the two sides to come to terms.
On Tuesday, Hernández told reporters that what convinced him to stay in Boston was a guarantee from Chaim Bloom that he’d build a better team this offseason than he did last.
That’s a tall order.
Hernández will be the first of many offseason moves by the Sox, as several key players are set to reach free agency, including JD Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi. The front office has to replace (or extend) almost their entire starting rotation, a significant portion of their bullpen, and make some pricy decisions when it comes to Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers.
Quality must be a focus along with quantity this offseason. Bloom’s 2022 roster construction has been met with heavy but deserved criticism. While the Sox spent over the luxury tax threshold, they didn’t spend well. Some risky trades and poor free-agent decisions culminated in an underwhelming and injury-laden season.
Hernández was among those who missed significant time this season, though it wouldn’t be fair to count his original two-year deal among Bloom’s mistakes, considering how vital he was to the team’s unexpected 2021 success. In his first season in Boston, Hernández hit .250/.337/.449 with 20 home runs and a career-high 35 doubles in 134 games. In the postseason, he homered five times, matching David Ortiz’s record. However, he’s only been able to play 69 games so far this year, and he struggled at the plate before and after his lengthy stint on the Injured List.
It’s encouraging to hear that the Chief Baseball Officer made these assurances to Hernández, but it’s also classic Bloom to give a short-term deal to a player coming off a lengthy injury, banking on a bounce-back season. If Hernández can return to form in 2023, his $10M salary will be a steal. But what the baseball world wants to see this offseason – and what the Red Sox need – is for Bloom to finally deviate from his pattern of inking players with ‘upside’ to short-term, low-risk deals, and finally sign and extend the type of high-caliber players Boston has become accustomed to over the past two decades.
The farm system is finally yielding strong players like Brayan Bello and Triston Casas, who are years away from costing the Sox significant money, and there’s plenty of space under next year’s luxury tax threshold.
It’s time for quantity with quality.
