(Sept. 19, 2016 - Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America)
As if the Red Sox have not done enough today, according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, Boston is in agreement with first baseman Mitch Moreland on a one-year deal. The monetary value of the deal has not yet been disclosed, but according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the deal will be just north of $5 million. Moreland, who most recently played with the Texas Rangers, is a 31-year-old gold glove first baseman that has six years of MLB service time.
Last season, Moreland won the American League gold glove award at first base and swung a decent bat, mashing 22 home runs and driving in 60 RBI. Most importantly, Moreland is the lefty bat the Red Sox were looking for after dealing Travis Shaw earlier this morning for righty flamethrower Tyler Thornburg. Additionally, this deal almost certainly destroys any dream of Encarnacion-to-Boston. Furthermore, signing Moreland now gives the Red Sox some flexibility at first base. Boston can now move Hanley Ramirez to David Ortiz' vacant designated hitter role, a position that Han-Ram has excelled at in a small sample size. This is not a sexy move to bring in a bat to replace David Ortiz, but I think it gets the job done and improves this team. This numbers at Fenway don't hurt either...
In my opinion, the Red Sox are making the right move of not trying to replace David Ortiz. Dave Dombrowski is banking on the likes of Andrew Benintendi, Pablo Sandoval, and Blake Swihart to take significant steps forward offensively.
After this move, it appears as if the Red Sox are all but done making moves this offseason. The only other move I could see the Red Sox making is perhaps trading some of their back-end starting pitchers for another reliever. The two most prominent names, in my opinion, are Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez. While E-Rod would give you more of a return, I highly doubt the Red Sox will pay Buchholz $13 million to pitch out of the bullpen. Keep an eye on these two as the Winter Meetings progress. What a time to be alive! Pete Packowski @Pete_BBS
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