If History Means Anything, Red Sox’s DH Decision Should Be Clear

The Red Sox have no shortage of needs to address this offseason, but one that has flown under the radar is how they’re going to fill the void left at designated hitter.

That’s kind of surprising, too, because it’s a pretty big one.

Boston has a tradition of excellence at the position, but it’s a toss-up as to what the Red Sox might do to fill the void this offseason. Justin Turner, who was the primary option in 2023, opted out of his contract and is entering free agency. That leaves the most likely internal options as Triston Casas, Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida, who all served in the role at different points last season.

It appears, however, that the Red Sox are looking for something different.

“I think positional versatility helps,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Tuesday, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “I don’t think it makes a ton of sense to kind of typecast that to a right-handed bat who can only DH, but I think we have to be open-minded about the ways to improve the team. Given that we’re pretty left-handed, it makes sense to set our sights on somebody who can hit right-handed.”

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Breslow’s pretty clear in the fact that he’d like to add a right-handed bat, but as he mentioned, he’d prefer someone who can also be used in the field to give respite to other players.

“We’d probably look to give (Red Sox manager Alex Cora) as much flexibility as possible,” he added. “Recognizing that it’s a long season and there will be times where he’s gonna want to get guys off their feet, but keep their bats in the lineup. I don’t think there’s one way to do it. Now, obviously, I’ve played with a guy who commanded the DH spot for quite some time (in David Ortiz) and was pretty successful doing it. I think short of that, having as many creative possibilities as we can arrange makes sense.”

Breslow seems open to either, but history suggests there’s a clear path he should take. The Red Sox have always been at their best when allowing one person to command the majority of at-bats from the DH spot, and the numbers back it up.

In the last 25 seasons, the Red Sox have surpassed 875 runs on seven different occasions (2003, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019). Ortiz and J.D. Martinez were the full-time designated hitters on those teams, combining to slash a smooth .307/.390/.594 and average 38 home runs, 121 RBIs and 40 doubles. Those are insane numbers.

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There doesn’t appear to be a player similar to what Martinez was when he joined Boston in 2018, but the free-agent class does have some intriguing options — including the man himself.

Martinez is coming off another stellar season, knocking in 103 runs while belting 33 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Could a reunion be in the cards? Turner’s another reunion that could be worth the money, as he belted 23 home runs and drove in 96 runs with the Red Sox. Rhys Hoskins is a right-handed bat who could be looking for a one-year prove-it deal coming off an injury. Teoscar Hernandez, Hunter Renfroe and Matt Chapman could also be of interest.

There’s that Shohei Ohtani guy, as well.

The Red Sox have roughly 1,000 ways they could go, but we certainly know what path we’d take.