Inside The Red Sox

Starting Pitcher Explains Why He Chose Rangers Over Red Sox Last Winter

Boston could have used the budding hometown hero
Scott Neville|
Starting Pitcher Explains Why He Chose Rangers Over Red Sox Last Winter
Starting Pitcher Explains Why He Chose Rangers Over Red Sox Last Winter

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The Boston Red Sox notably spent the majority of last offseason getting rejected in free agency, frequently finishing in second place when it came to acquiring new talent.

A huge part of the problem was former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom's unwillingness to slightly overpay seemingly due to fear of losing a negotiation. 

Another reoccurring factor was location. Many of the players the Red Sox were outbid for decided to play for their hometowns, including one hurler who currently is chasing a World Series Championship: Texas Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney. 

The 32-year-old spoke on the matter with WEEI's Rob Bradford prior to Game 3 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"I met with a lot of teams, did a lot of Zoom, FaceTime, type things," Heaney told Bradford while appearing on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. "I met with one of their (Boston's) medical staff guys. It was close. I think at the end of the day -- many of us would be happy to play for (any team in Major League Baseball).

"There's certain things that make it a bit easier. For me, this is pretty much my hometown team. (It's) somewhere I wanted to play, wanted to be at, here in Texas."

To make a long answer short, Heaney was likely offered similar contracts and elected to play close to home -- he's from Oklahoma City, a three-hour drive from Arlington. 

The southpaw posted a 4.15 ERA with a 151-to-60-strikeout-to-walk ratio, .251 batting average against and 1.38 WHIP in 147 1/3 innings this season. 

The Red Sox certainly could have used that production but likely would have had to pay extra to convince Heaney to pick Boston over Texas.

Heaney signed a one-year, $12 million contract that includes a $13 million player option for 2025. It would not have been difficult to top that offer.

More MLB: Red Sox Ownership 'Understands' They Need To Be More Aggressive In Free Agency

Published
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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