The Boston Red Sox's hunt for a right-hander to slot into the lefty-heavy batting order has been far from fruitful. The Red Sox have also been searching for a competent outfielder to replace Alex Verdugo in right field, which they have yet to do.
Boston had both of those positions covered in Teoscar Hernández, and the team was a finalist for Hernández's services for the 2024 season. But they made him an embarrassing offer that the big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers blew out of the water.
Since signing in LA, Hernández has made some comments about his free-agent offers and options. They portray the Red Sox organization in a not-so-positive light, despite never naming the team directly.
Hernández told SportsNet LA in a TV interview that he desired to play for a team that would be competitive every year and "a team that can win." He's right that the Red Sox are in no place to promise that now, but ouch.
The right-handed batter also said that his free agency came down to "an easy decision," which should tell Boston fans and the Red Sox organization one thing; good players do not want to play for Boston in its current state.
Teoscar Hernández joins our studio crew to discuss why he chose the Dodgers and his excitement to play alongside Ohtani, Mookie, Freddie and the rest of the Boys in Blue. pic.twitter.com/goXGkNtmNv
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) January 17, 2024
The Red Sox organization is becoming a home for less-desirable players because it's clear that ownership does not want to pay any significant amount of money to make the team better. Players, and even front-office executives, do not see postseason success coming down the pipe for Boston, and Hernández's comments make that exceptionally clear.
Players like Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger, a free agent who has expressed that Boston is a top landing spot in his eyes, aren't the type of players that the Red Sox would have coveted years ago. Boston used to be regarded as a big-market team with high expectations of its players. Now, it's attempting to recruit players to come and play for a last-place team without even offering them a raise — the Red Sox's offer to Hernández was for the same amount of money per year he was making with the Mariners.
Teoscar Hernández's reasons why he didn't choose to sign with the Red Sox should be a warning to the club
Hernández also chose to sign with the Dodgers because of the players on the roster. Los Angeles has star power that Boston lacks. Shohei Ohtani is an extreme example of star power, but the Red Sox have just one player who cracked the top-100 players list of 2023, and that was Rafael Devers. For a team with as much historical success and acclaim as the Red Sox, that should be an embarrassment.
The front office should take Hernández's interview as a warning. The Red Sox name or the history of Fenway Park won't keep players wanting to come to Boston forever, and it seems that time has already come and gone. The Red Sox actually have to make worthwhile offers to be taken seriously in a market where players are being paid more and more every year.
The most upsetting part of the ordeal is that Hernández was right to deny the offer from Boston. Taking less money to play for a worse team isn't a viable option for players who wish to continue their MLB careers when they're through with the Sox. Boston should be making more of an effort to put itself on the other end of the "easy decision": the successful end.