The Boston Red Sox added to their outfield with the addition of Hunter Renfroe, but that move clearly wasn’t done in an effort to slam the door shut on a Jackie Bradley Jr. return.
Bradley Jr. was a homegrown talent that blossomed into one of the game’s premier defensive center fielders with an exciting, albeit inconsistent bat.
But he’s now a free agent for the first time in his career, and he’s yet to sign anywhere. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Wednesday on WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe” that a return for Bradley isn’t out of the question.
“We’re still in contact with him and have been consistently throughout the offseason,” Bloom said. “I know in the Globe recently he talked about it where that timetable is probably going to be a little longer. I would expect we’re going to stay engaged with him and hope it lines up, hope it makes sense for him and hope it fits our puzzle. You guys know and I haven’t been shy about saying it just in the short time I got to know Jackie, I just became incredibly fond of him. Obviously there’s business aspects of it too, for us and for him, but just emotionally speaking, I hope it works out.”
The Red Sox likely have to add another piece to the outfield this offseason. Right now, it consists of Renfroe, Alex Verdugo, Andrew Benintendi and J.D. Martinez, but the latter obviously fits best as the everyday designated hitter.
So if not Bradley, it will have to be someone else. And when assessing the options available, Bradley might honestly be the best choice.
