The Boston Red Sox were in search of a third outfielder this offseason to put alongside Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo.
Well, that search ended Wednesday night with the Red Sox reportedly signing Japanese star outfielder Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom holds Yoshida in high regard as the 5-foot-8, 176-pound corner outfielder projects as a leadoff hitter with terrific plate discipline. He also has some pop in his bat as Yoshida belted 21 home runs this past season with the Orix Buffaloes.
While Bloom must be thrilled to have landed what he called a “great talent,” the signing of Yoshida also got a seal of approval from Hernández.
Hernández went to social media after news of the deal broke and illustrated his happiness of having a new teammate by posting a dancing Yoshi caricature from “Super Mario Bros.”
Whether Hernández intended to or not, it seems like he created a perfect, and kind of obvious, nickname for the 29-year-old, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if it stuck once Yoshida plays in front of the hometown fans at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox were busy Wednesday as prior to reeling in Yoshida, Boston also reportedly inked All-Star closer Kenley Jansen, which came with Twitter reaction from Hernández. Hernández fired off another tweet poking fun at the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, who had quite the flub with a report on Aaron Judge on Tuesday, as he wondered what was going on with free agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
It was quite the day for Hernández on social media as his commentary provided a comical backdrop to a couple reported Red Sox signings. Hopefully Hernández will keep his phone on him throughout the offseason to give his two cents on anymore moves made by the Red Sox.
