Red Sox Continue Embarrassing Trend Of Losing Out On Free-Agent Targets
The Boston Red Sox have had a longstanding reputation of being a big-market franchise willing to spend their way into contention if needed.
Lately, however, the Red Sox have failed to sign free agents at seemingly every position -- that trend continued to rear its ugly head Sunday. A day in which Boston lost out on two more potential fits it reportedly had some level of interest in.
Gold Glove catcher Roberto Pérez signed with the San Francisco Giants according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo.
"Red Sox made an aggressive bid and were a consideration at the end," Cotillo tweeted Sunday. "Ultimately, Pérez thought San Francisco represented a better fit."
Money typically wins out in negotiations, but the Giants were a much match for Pérez. Boston is far from having a loaded catcher group, but they do have Reese McGuire, Connor Wong and newly acquired Jorge Alfaro expected to compete for playing time.
In San Francisco, Pérez's only competition is Joey Bart, who has not come close to living up to his draft hype.
Just hours before the Pérez news broke, Josh Harrison -- a middle infielder/utility man -- agreed to join the Philadelphia Phillies according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman. The veteran has been regularly linked to the Red Sox since Trevor Story's surgery was announced.
Harrison inked a one-year, $2 million deal. The contract indicates that Boston must not have been highly interested -- likely offering a minor-league deal if any.
Regardless, the seemingly strong Red Sox fit heads elsewhere. Neither of the two losses are alarming by themselves, but it continues a scary trend.
Just this offseason alone the Red Sox were reportedly outbid for first baseman José Abreu, right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle, left-handed starter Andrew Heaney, outfielder Mitch Haniger, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and utility man Brandon Drury.
Right-hander Zach Eflin was offered the same contract by the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays -- he elected to head to his hometown Rays.
It should be noted that any active team in the offseason is going to lose out on multiple free agents for a number of factors -- most of which will be out of team control. Still, fans would like to see a higher conversion rate next offseason.
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