The Red Sox have yet to make a splash free agency signing, but that hasn’t kept a pair of bats from making an attempt at recruiting stars to Boston.
Major League Baseball free agency is in full swing, with winter meetings taking place in San Diego from Dec. 4 to Dec. 7. Boston, much like all 29 other teams, has representatives in town in hopes to swing a few deals as it looks to return to contention in 2023. Red Sox manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke about what the team is looking to accomplish in terms of a possible reunion with Xander Bogaerts, while also leaking a small detail about Boston’s recruiting efforts.
According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, Cora told reporters in San Diego that infielder Trevor Story and outfielder Kiké Hernández have been on the recruiting trail for the Red Sox this offseason.
In the case of both Story and Hernández, there is quite the incentive to lure their fellow players to Boston. Story is locked into a long-term deal with the Red Sox after signing a six-year pact with the franchise last offseason. Hernández’s story is slightly different, as he’s only under contract for the 2023 season, but was promised by Bloom that the organization would have a better year in 2023 than it did in 2022, before agreeing to an extension in September. It’s only fair that the 31-year-old holds up his end of the bargain.
So far, the additions Boston has made haven’t been groundbreaking, but have followed a trend. The Red Sox have signed reliever Joely Rodríguez and pitcher Chris Martin, a former teammate of Story’s with the Colorado Rockies.
