Red Sox Reportedly ‘Considering’ Reunion With Free-Agent Slugger
The Boston Red Sox are less than a month away from spring training games and have yet to fill some of their biggest voids on the roster.
While the addition of a quality starting pitcher remains the top need, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow also has been vocal about wanting to add a right-handed bat with positional versatility.
The designated hitter market is vast but Breslow’s desire to find a player who can improve the defense complicates matters. He does, however, reportedly have one potential solution in mind.
“The Angels and Red Sox are considering Adam Duvall,” the New York Post’s Jon Heyman wrote Thursday.
This is not the first time Heyman has linked Duvall to a potential bidding war between Los Angeles and Boston. Nothing appears to have changed for either side.
Duvall hit .247 with 47 extra-base hits including 21 homers, 58 RBIs and a 119 OPS+ in 92 games last season. The 35-year-old missed a good chunk of the season due to a wrist injury but was an impactful bat for the majority of the time he was healthy.
The addition of Duvall would allow Masataka Yoshida to take the bulk of the designated hitter reps, which likely is why Breslow has such a preference against adding a pure DH type.
Duvall’s bat has always played well in Fenway Park’s unique dimensions and there’s a good chance he could have a similar impact as Hunter Renfroe had in 2021.
The belief was that Boston was going to spend big this winter but that does not appear to be the case at all. With that said, Duvall will be affordable yet able to contribute in meaningful ways to the 2024 roster.
