The Boston Red Sox haven’t done much this offseason compared to what teams in the AL East have done. Toronto added Marcus Semien, George Springer, and Kirby Yates. The Yankees brought back D.J. LeMahieu and signed Corey Kluber before trading for Jameson Taillon.
Boston might finally make their biggest move of the winter: signing Jackie Bradley Jr.
Bradley is receiving interest from six clubs, but the Red Sox’s biggest competition, the New York Mets, just signed Albert Almora Jr.–a defensive-first center fielder to a one-year deal. That signing takes the Mets out of the Bradley sweepstakes, as New York now has an offensive minded center fielder in Brandon Nimmo and now a defensive center fielder in Almora.
Chaim Bloom has said that the Red Sox are interested in bringing back Jackie Bradley Jr., but it has to make sense in order for it to happen. What Bloom means by that is Boston probably isn’t in the market to sign him to a long-term deal like Bradley is expecting. A one or two-year deal would make more sense because Jarren Durran–Boston’s highly touted center field prospect–is coming up through the minors pretty quickly. Duran would be a cheaper option since he would be on a rookie contract for three years before arbitration.
The Red Sox should clearly have the upper hand in the Bradley sweepstakes, as he is familiar with the organization and would be getting back Alex Cora on the top step of the dugout in 2021. It’s hard to imagine who else has strong interest in adding Bradley with less than two weeks before Spring Training camps open across Florida and Arizona.
For example, the Houston Astros might want him, but it’s unclear how much they want to spend with Carlos Correa hitting free agency after this season.
Time is ticking for Bradley’s free-agency decision and it should come soon.
(Photo: Michael Dwyer/AP)