The Red Sox didn’t waste much time in getting back to the drawing board following their World Series victory. In fact, the club started exploring external free-agent options right away.
Curtis Granderson, who just signed a four-year, $60 million contract, was formally introduced as a member of the Mets on Tuesday, at which point the former Yankee joked about real New Yorkers being Mets fans. Granderson also said Tuesday that the Red Sox expressed interest in his services before he opted to sign with the Mets.
“We did, early on, right after they ended up winning the World Series, ironically. You’d think they’d celebrate for a little bit,” Granderson said when asked if the Red Sox had expressed interest, according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “There were some initial talks right there. Then, as soon as [Jacoby] Ellsbury ended up signing, there were more. They decided they wanted to go with Jackie Bradley, who’s obviously a great individual and is going to go out there and do some great things for them. They had some other moves they wanted to go ahead and take care of first.”
Ellsbury signed a seven-year, $153 million contract with the Yankees this offseason, leaving the Red Sox with a gaping hole in the outfield. Both Ben Cherington and John Farrell have expressed confidence in Bradley, though, so it’s quite possible that Boston will indeed begin the 2014 season with the 23-year-old stationed in center field.
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