Well, the Red Sox’s path to making the postseason just got a whole lot tougher, as the Blue Jays have added three-time All-Star George Springer on a 6-year, $150 million deal.
Springer isn’t going to be fun to watch hitting home runs off of Red Sox pitching, but what does it mean for the Red Sox this offseason? It all revolves around Jackie Bradley Jr.
Bradley is garnering interest from plenty of teams including one team that would have no problem with outbidding Boston. And that’s the Mets. New York needs a defensive-minded center fielder, as their current one is Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo struggled tracking down balls in center field last season, but he’s an on-base machine. The Mets would love to have the ability to shift him over to left field.
Steve Cohen has taken over the team and is willing to spend money. The Red Sox, on the other hand, don’t seem like they want to do much of anything this winter. Their biggest addition is Hunter Renfroe and that only happened because he was DFA’s by the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Red Sox’s chances of bringing back their longtime center fielder have gotten worse because Springer didn’t sign with the Mets. At the same time, he signed with a team in their own division who looks like they’re going to be in the postseason for a second consecutive season in 2021. Things aren’t looking too good right now for Boston.
(Photo: Julio Cortez/AP)