Another good fit for the Red Sox has come off the board, and to little surprise, he won’t be coming to Boston.
Teoscar Hernandez is returning to the World Series champion Dodgers on a three-year, $66-million deal. Long rumored to be a potential target given his previously expressed interest in calling Fenway Park home, it seems the Sox never came close to a deal.
Dodgers, OF Teoscar Hernández agree to 3-year deal with a team option for 2028, per multiple reports including https://t.co/Z3s2EphcSH's @Feinsand. pic.twitter.com/nArqllUfux
— MLB (@MLB) December 27, 2024
According to multiple reports, Boston’s interest in Hernandez was lukewarm at best this offseason. That comes as a bit of a surprise to me given the team’s desperate need for a power-hitting, right-handed bat.
Hernandez was never the top option on the market, and that in part is what made him a more realistic fit than the Juan Soto types of the world. Ultimately, Hernandez didn’t wind up signing for a king’s ransom at an average annual value of $22 million.
That figure seems like it would be in the Sox’s ballpark — they had offered much more for Soto’s services, and they did just sign a top free-agent starter for about the same amount. But much like Walker Buehler’s deal, signing Hernandez was probably only going to be more realistic on a shorter deal.
I don’t imagine that Hernandez would have spurned L.A. had the Sox offered him the exact same deal. Whether we like to admit it or not, Los Angeles is a much more desirable location for a young multi-millionaire athlete. But had the Sox come in around $25 to $27 million on a one-year deal? I’d imagine there would have been a more difficult offer for Hernandez to pass up.
Had the Sox paid more to sign Hernandez for just one year, it would have at least made more sense from a team-building perspective. After signing Buehler to a likely one-and-done deal, the team’s sell to the fanbase could have been that they’re at least making significant shorter investments as the young prospect core continues to season.
Now, it seems the Sox’s best hope of coming away with that righty bat is signing Alex Bregman, who reportedly wants a deal around $200 million. It’s entirely possible the Sox feel good about their chances to sign Bregman, and given the option between him and Hernandez, I’d rather have Bregman.
Yet once again, the team is backing itself into a corner. And it isn’t like Bregman, or Pete Alonso, Anthony Santander, etc., will come cheaply. To not overextend themselves for Hernandez on a short-term deal is a gamble in its own right…
No Masa, No Casas…
The Red Sox could have wound up with a better starter than Buehler, but it would have cost them.
Boston had the opportunity to land three-time All-Star right-hander Luis Castillo from Seattle. The cost? It would have been promising young first baseman Triston Casas.
The Sox reportedly said no — that is, unless the Mariners were willing to take back a player in return. That player was none other than designated hitter Masataka Yoshida and his remaining three years at $18.6 million a pop. Unsurprisingly, Seattle also said no.
So instead of winding up with a 32-year-old former All-Star fireballer and down a starting first baseman, Boston maintains its power-hitting hopeful future face of the franchise and added a 30-year-old former All-Star fireballer instead.
My reaction? I say… bravo, Craig Breslow.
As much as I would have liked Castillo, I’ve long maintained that parting ways with Casas before you truly know what you have in him would have been a suboptimal outcome.
Were both in their prime, I would take Castillo over Buehler without question. But neither are, and Castillo has a couple of years on Buehler, so I think it comes out as more of a wash. Keeping Casas and adding Buehler is a better outcome, in my book.
Now, the opportunity to get rid of Yoshida would have been nice. But as evidenced by the Mariners’ trade rejection, it isn’t going to be easy for Boston to get right of their contact (only) hitting DH. At this point, it feels most likely that Yoshida will be around for the start of 2025 — an outcome I certainly did not think would be the case at the outset of this offseason…
No Sasaki?
Roki Sasaki probably won’t be walking through that door anytime soon…
The top Japanese free agent pitching target of the offseason will not be meeting with Sox brass, at least not in this go-around of initial discussions with teams per multiple reports.
There remains a possibility that Sasaki could circle back and meet with more teams, as is reportedly expected. But at this point, a Sox-Sasaki marriage doesn’t seem all that likely.
From a pitching perspective, he’d be a great asset and a piece to build your rotation around for years to come. But from a practical perspective, the Sox have just added Garrett Crochet and Buehler, and their rotation is effectively full.
Personally, I would move on from Kutter Crawford in favor of Sasaki without a second thought. Yet the Sox seem to really like Crawford, who will likely begin the season in the rotation until Lucas Giolito is ready to go.
For all intents and purposes, the Sox rotation seems set in stone and I would be surprised if they made any additional moves like bringing in Sasaki.
Fenway Bowl
While we wait for baseball to return to Fenway Park, at least we had the opportunity to watch some football at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark.
Those who watched this year’s Fenway Bowl on television even got the true Fenway experience…
In a curious move, the layout of the field for Saturday’s showdown between the future Bill Belichick-coached North Carolina Tar Heels and the Connecticut Huskies placed Pesky’s Pole right in the way of the red zone on the broadcast.
The Fenway Bowl is the first ever obstructed view broadcast, shoutout to @cfbcampustour pic.twitter.com/H8jb57cVZk
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) December 28, 2024
How the powers that be could not think of this is baffling. This wasn’t the first time that a football game has been played at Fenway — it’s happened before, and a lot.
It was a true John Henry special, alright. The fan experience, in the ballpark or at home on your couch, always takes a back seat to the dollars and cents.
And on that front, it was a successful day for Henry Corp. The announced attendance for the game was 27,900, a significant bump from years past and a record for the third-year bowl game. Last year, 16,238 fans attended the BC-SMU matchup and only 15,000 fans watched Louisville beat Cincinnati in the inaugural game in 2022.
In Henry’s eyes, the numbers that matter are trending upward. Viewer accommodations be damned…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter, Threads and Instagram.