Rich Hill believes the Red Sox knocked it out of the park with one of their most notable offseason additions.
After losing J.D. Martinez in free agency, Boston effectively filled the void with veteran third baseman Justin Turner, who joined the club on a one-year deal with a player option for 2024. Turner obviously is past his prime, but he's the type of player who can help bridge the gap to the next era of the organization.
Hill, who played alongside Turner for three-plus seasons in Los Angeles, had nothing but positive things to say about Boston's likely designated hitter when he chopped it up with WEEI's Rob Bradford on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast.
"I love guys who love to play the game and he loves to play the game," Hill told Bradford, as transcribed by WEEI. "He posts every single day, comes to the field, and is a winner. You can say that about a lot of guys but his dedication and his aptitude, his baseball IQ is up there with the best of them. I think again, you're bringing a leader into the clubhouse for the Red Sox and they're definitely lucky to have him."
The new Pittsburgh Pirate added: "I think he can come in and be one of the leaders. If you look at the back of his baseball card he's had a tremendous amount of success so coming into a locker room with that type of gravity, that ... puts you in that category already."
Turner recently revealed he was "heavily" recruited by the Red Sox in free agency, so Boston clearly views the two-time All-Star in the same light as Hill.
