Red Sox Outbid By Tigers For Ex-Yankees Infielder Despite Low Pricetag

Boston is being quite frugal

Scott Neville | Feb 22, 2024

Red Sox Outbid By Tigers For Ex-Yankees Infielder Despite Low Pricetag /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox still have some big-ticket items on their wish list despite spring training games beginning on Friday.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow should still be in the market for starting pitching -- there's no excuse not to sign Jordan Montgomery -- and also has his eye on adding a right-handed bat with positional versatility.

There has not been much movement on the former front but there appeared to be some momentum on the latter until Thursday afternoon.

"Infielder Gio Urshela and the Detroit Tigers are in agreement on a one-year, $1.5 million contract," ESPN's Jeff Passan reported. "Urshela, 32, should help at third base and can play a variety of positions. And his ability to hit left-handers suited what Detroit has sought this winter."

It was revealed by MassLive's Chris Cotillo just one day before he signed that the Red Sox were involved in Urshela's market but failed to separate themselves in the sweepstakes after showing little aggressiveness -- shocker.

Urshela hit .299 with 11 extra-base hits including a pair of home runs, 24 RBIs and a .703 OPS in 62 games last season -- missing significant time with a pelvis fracture. He has a career .277 average and 103 OPS+ in eight seasons.

The veteran infielder would have played at least corner infield for the Red Sox and essentially replaced Bobby Dalbec on the roster.

Urshela is a much better defender and more complete offensively as well. It would have cost Boston pennies to land a player who would have been a significant depth piece and an extra right-handed bat off the bench.

Instead, the Red Sox continue to whiff in free agency.

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Published Feb 22, 2024

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