Teoscar Hernández pouring salt in Red Sox wound again should be trade deadline lesson

It's been months since the 2024 MLB season began, but the Boston Red Sox are still getting burned by some past free-agent candidates.

A winter wound was recently reopened when 2024 Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernández discussed his free agency negotiations with Boston. The outfielder didn't mince words when he explained why he chose the Dodgers over the Red Sox.

"Obviously I was not going to go and spend my free agency trying to get a bad deal," Hernández said to Rob Bradford of the "Baseball isn't Boring" podcast. "Because, at the end of the day, I love the Red Sox. The Red Sox are one of my favorite teams, and I love playing [at Fenway Park]."

Hernández mentioned that the Red Sox offered him a two-year, $28 million contract, but he preferred to sign a one-year, $28 million deal to play alongside Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers — a no-brainer. Boston's whiff on Hernández should serve as a lesson before the trade deadline.

Red Sox should learn from Teoscar Hernández free agency mistakes, be aggressive before trade deadline

The Red Sox front office has been notoriously cheap in recent years. Its offer to Hernández wasn't a salary increase from his 2023 contract with the Mariners, which was nonsensical at the beginning of the season. Boston was expected to be a worse team than Seattle, and the front office caught a lot of heat for not offering him a raise.

Hernández is batting .261/.327/.475 with 19 home runs — his offense would have played well at Fenway Park. His defense leaves something to be desired, particularly among Boston's current outfield defense, but he would've brought some of the right-handed offense the Sox have been lacking. But the Red Sox have a chance to learn from what they missed.

Fans took issue with the front office's attitude toward spending over the offseason because people believed this version of the Red Sox needed just a few more additions to be competitive, such as a top-tier starting pitcher or power bat. Now that the Sox are competitive, the men in charge can make things right.

Boston still needs a boost in the rotation and a powerful righty bat. But many other contenders, which have shown more willingness to spend and make big trades, need the same things. The Red Sox front office needs to learn from its mistakes, such as letting Hernández sign with the Dodgers and not matching the Cubs' offer to Shōta Imanaga, and be aggressive before the trade deadline.

More Red Sox reads: