The winter meetings could have gone better for the Red Sox.
The outrage by the fan base was palpable after Boston let Xander Bogaerts leave for a 11-year, $280 million contract with the Padres. The difference in years between the Red Sox’s offer — believed to be for six years and $160 million — and the Padres’ left Bogaerts with “zero choice” but to leave Boston, The Boston Globe reported.
It is not the only decision over these last few days that left some in the baseball world scratching their heads. The Red Sox did not leave San Diego, which hosted this year’s winter meetings, empty-handed.
The team agreed to a five-year, $90 million deal with Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida on Wednesday night, which also included a $15.4 million posting fee.
ESPN.com ran Yoshida’s deal by those around baseball and they seemed less than impressed.
One said: “We thought he was worth less than half of what they paid.”
Another: “I have no words.”
MLB.com’s Mike Petriello was left similarly unimpressed. While he noted Yoshida’s superb contact skills, he questioned other parts of the 29-year-old’s game in his review of the deal.
“But most scouting reports highlight his lack of defense and speed, and if the power takes a step back, he might end up being a LF/DH type who relies entirely on batting average to succeed,” Petriello wrote. “It’s worth the risk, though one wonders if giving the same deal — or less, given the posting fee — to Willson Contreras might have been a better fit.”
