Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Reportedly 'Considering' Reunion With Free-Agent Slugger

Boston has a void to fill in the lineup
Scott Neville|
Red Sox Reportedly 'Considering' Reunion With Free-Agent Slugger
Red Sox Reportedly 'Considering' Reunion With Free-Agent Slugger

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Boston Red Sox

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.

It also allows Breslow to maintain payroll flexibility in case he somehow convinces ownership to let him sign a premium arm such as Jordan Montgomery.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly In Bidding War For Astros Esteemed Free-Agent Hurler

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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