Plan B in Motion: Red Sox Shift Attention to Familiar Free Agent Target After Soto Sweepstakes
After failing to land outfielder Juan Soto, who agreed to a deal with the New York Mets late Sunday, the Boston Red Sox are targeting free-agent OF Teoscar Hernandez, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com.
Boston is familiar with Hernandez, whom they tried to sign last year but lost out to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed him to a one-year, $23.5M contract.
Before joining the Dodgers, the nine-year veteran played with the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays. Hernandez has a career batting average of .263 with 192 home runs and 572 RBI.
Hernandez has played well at Fenway Park. Per Browne, in his 45 career games against the Red Sox at Fenway, he has a .282 batting average with 14 homers and 44 RBI.
Last season, Hernandez helped the Dodgers sweep the Red Sox in a regular-season series July 19-21 at Dodger Stadium. In three games, he had four hits, two RBI and one home run.
Hernandez, a seasoned postseason veteran and a World Series champion, has experience that could help the Red Sox, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2021. Dating to his days with the Toronto Blue Jays in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, he has played in 20 playoff games (five home runs with 16 RBI).
Hernández was key in Los Angeles’ postseason run and 2024 World Series title. In the playoffs and World Series, he hit .250 with three homers and 12 RBI.
The Red Sox have a strong batting trio of 3B Rafael Devers, OF Jarren Duran and DH/LF Masataka Yoshida. Last season, they combined for 440 hits, 59 home runs and 214 RBI. The addition of Hernández — who hit .272 with 33 HRs and 99 RBI last season — would make the Red Sox even more dangerous.
Hernandez’s right-handed bat would also make up for the loss of OF Tyler O’Neill, who signed a three-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Though Boston lost out in adding Soto, the signing of Hernández would be a strong move and potentially put the Red Sox among playoff contenders in 2025.
