1 week Ago By Kaley Brown
By Kaley Brown Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks seems to be heavily in favor of Boston signing baseball’s top free agent. Juan Soto, the 26-year-old slugger who’s poised to ink a massive contract this winter, has reportedly already met with the Red Sox. According to Sean McAdam of MassLive, the outfielder was “impressed” by his three-hour meeting with Boston Thursday night.
McAdam called the conversation “productive.” Hendriks was asked about the fact that his team secured a sit-down with Soto during a Friday episode of Foul Territory. The 35-year-old closer offered some positive analysis of the meeting and Boston’s strategy to improve its club this offseason.
“You look at, from our roster breakdown point of view, does it make the most sense? No. But how many times does a guy of Juan Soto’s caliber, at his age, come up on the free agent market?” Hendriks said. “And when you’ve got pockets enough to be able to delve into it, you may as well take it out and you may as well do your due diligence.
“And you know what? He’s a generational player that you can build around and I don’t think there’s ever gonna be anybody that stops him in a lineup. So, you may as well try and go out there and do what you need to do to meet him and see what his demands are and see if they’re aligned with where we’re going.” It sounds like Liam Hendriks wants the @RedSox to go out and get Juan Soto 👀 pic.
twitter.com/2qwuyN8XoZ As Hendriks mentioned, Soto is a left-handed hitter. The Red Sox have a logjam of lefties on their roster as it currently stands, but that shouldn’t get in the way of inking the star hitter.
In seven Major League seasons, Soto owns a .285 batting average and .953 OPS.
He’s already reached the 200 home run mark and is just shy of 600 RBI. Soto won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019 and has four Silver Slugger trophies in his young career. It’s unknown whether Soto’s and agent Scott Boras’s primary desire is the length of the contract, the dollar amount (yearly value, deferments, etc.
), or the promise of being “the guy” for the remainder of his career. Regardless, Hendriks suggested that Boston has the ability to give Soto or other top-tier free agents whatever they want as the organization is prepared to go all-out to improve the on-field product. “I mean, from all I know, we’re going full metal and hopefully we can make those big moves and big splashy moves, because it’s the AL East.
It’s not exactly a division where you can just kind of coast by,” he said. Hendriks made it clear in this interview that he not only wants the Red Sox to make a meaningful push for Soto, but that he also believes the team is fully capable of adding the player. Rumors have spread quickly this offseason that Boston is going to spend big after a disappointing winter last year.
Hendriks all but confirmed that. Soto’s upcoming deal could reportedly be near that of Shohei Ohtani’s monster 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers (Spotrac predicted Soto will agree to a 12-year, $600 million deal). If the Red Sox really want to make a splash and get back to their winning ways, paying that kind of money to a generational talent like Soto is perhaps the best way to do it.
Alongside the Red Sox, the rest of MLB will surely attempt to lure him in. The Blue Jays, Yankees, and Mets are reportedly scheduled to meet with Soto, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Sign up for Red Sox updates⚾ Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during baseball season.
Be civil. Be kind..
