Red Sox still have work to do ahead of spring training, could an Adam Duvall reunion make sense?
This offseason has been painfully slow, you could argue that watching paint dry on a wall would be more entertaining at this point. Despite that, the Red Sox have finally been active over the last week, signing Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal and trading for infielder Vaughn Grissom.
Even with those two moves, the Red Sox aren’t done and need to add more players to their roster.
Boston needs to replace Justin Turner’s bat and outfielder Teoscar Hernández’s name has come up as a potential replacement.
Hernández is the hot name and makes sense, he would provide the Red Sox with a consistent right-handed power threat in the middle of the lineup. He has averaged 26 homers in his last five seasons and owns a career OPS+ that’s 18 percent above the league average.
As of now the Red Sox outfield consists of Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Tyler O’Neill, Ceddanne Rafaela, Rob Refsnyder and Masataka Yoshida. Hernández offers the thump needed left behind from Turner.
The problem is the negotiations between the Red Sox and Hernández look like they’ve stalled and he doesn’t seem like a legitimate option at this point.
Boston could pursue a reunion with outfielder Adam Duvall who still remains unsigned. The slugger signed with the Red Sox last offseason on a one-year, $7 million pact.
Duvall had an interesting season with the Red Sox. After starting out red hot at the plate, the slugger broke his left wrist just eight games into the year.
He suffered the injury when he attempted to make a diving catch on liner that was falling fast in center field. The veteran wound up rolling his left wrist and suffered the fracture.
Duvall appeared in 92 games in total, he clubbed 21 home runs with 58 RBIs, 24 doubles, and a .247/.303/.531 slash line.
"None of Boston’s top three free agents have signed yet," said MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. "That could change quickly. (Adam Duvall’s) market has been quiet and it feels like he may be had for cheap late in the winter. He was a great fit for Fenway and could return as a (designated hitter) option.”
The Red Sox could also look to see if Duvall could play first base, which is something he did earlier on in his career. If he could offer additional versatility outside the outfield, Boston could consider him. Duvall could give rest to Triston Casas against select left-handed pitchers and would come back on a shorter term than the four-year pact Hernández is said to be looking for at this point.
The 35-year-old told reporters at the end of the season his priority this winter is find a team that is a contender. He also didn’t rule out coming back to the Red Sox.
“At this point in my career, I don’t know how many years God’s gonna bless me to play this game,” Duvall said. “I consider myself a winner. I enjoy winning. So that is a very high priority.”
Earlier in the offseason, the idea of Duvall returned back to the Red Sox seemed slim. He was connected to the Mets earlier on this winter, who also tried to sign Duvall last offseason.
The Red Sox still have time this winter to add to their roster. Craig Breslow is not done re-tooling the roster, but from the way it’s looked this offseason, the Red Sox aren’t treating next season as the end all be all and they’re still building for a longterm sustainable product.
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