The Red Sox were never close to signing Teoscar Hernandez

Red Sox

“They weren’t close at all.”

Tick ​​another right-hander that the Red Sox were reportedly interested in signing but didn’t let up.

Teoscar Hernandez returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a three-year, $66 million contract on Friday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Boston has been linked to Hernandez this winter.

The latest rumor between the Red Sox and the 32-year-old came earlier this month from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, who reported that the club “intended to pursue Hernandez” if it didn’t sign Juan Soto. Soto landed with the New York Mets on December 8th, signing a historic 15-year, $765 million contract.

However, it turns out that Boston and Hernandez were never close to an agreement. This was reported by both Jared Carrabis from Underdog Fantasy and Chris Cotillo from MassLive.

“The Red Sox weren’t close to getting anything done here,” Carrabis shared on X.

Shortly afterwards, Cotillo also confirmed the report about X.

“I asked a source if the Red Sox would get close to Teoscar Hernandez and the answer was simply, ‘No.'”

Explaining the report, Cotillo noted that the Red Sox never seriously pursued the player.

“They never really pushed here,” he posted. “They were lukewarm at best throughout the entire process. … They weren’t close at all.”

2024 marks the second consecutive offseason in which Boston was reportedly interested in signing Hernandez. The Red Sox offered him a contract last year.

However, according to Hernandez himself, Boston’s final offer was for two years and $28 million. He declined and instead signed with Los Angeles for one year and $23.5 million. Hernandez was part of the Dodgers’ winning squad in the 2024 World Series.

Earlier this year, Hernandez spoke with WEEI’s Rob Bradford about pursuing the Red Sox as a free agent. Hernandez explained that he thought he would end up in Boston, but the organization’s offer did not meet his expectations.

“Obviously I wasn’t going to spend my free agency trying to get a bad deal,” Hernandez said when asked if he would have accepted a three-year deal from Boston. “Because at the end of the day, I love the Red Sox. The Red Sox were one of my favorite teams. And I love playing at (Fenway Park). … Honestly, in the end I thought they were going to pull it off. But unfortunately they said they had to wait because they had to take some steps and so on. I couldn’t wait any longer.”

While the Red Sox provided contract parameters last time, it is unclear whether the club offered Hernandez a deal this year.

Although Hernandez is missing again, several right-handers remain on the market. Infielder Alex Bregman and outfielder Anthony Santander are two names Boston has been linked to this winter.