Former Red Sox Player Reportedly Available Via Trade; Reunion Makes Sense

Boston desperately needs power
Former Red Sox Player Reportedly Available Via Trade; Reunion Makes Sense
Former Red Sox Player Reportedly Available Via Trade; Reunion Makes Sense /

Would the Boston Red Sox be willing or able to acquire one of the key pieces of the 2021 roster, one year after shipping him away?

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Hunter Renfroe is on the last year of his deal, and could become a cap casualty, much like he was in Boston a year ago. 

The Athletics' Ken Rosenthal named Renfroe and second baseman Kolten Wong as potential salary dump candidates. The Brewers are rumored to be interested in "reconfiguring their payroll."

Renfroe is projected to make $11.2 million in his final year of arbitration according to MLB Trade Rumors.

The Red Sox desperately need to add some power to their outfield, and Renfroe would be one of the best overall candidates to slide back into right field and do so. 

In his lone season with the Red Sox, Renfroe hit .259 with 64 extra-base hits including 31 home runs, 96 RBIs and a .816 OPS in 144 games played. The 30-year-old also was named an American League Gold Glove finalist after leading the league in outfield assists while covering a ton of ground in Fenway's historically challenging right field.

Renfroe is coming off a similar year from a production-per-game standpoint. He hit .255 with 52 extra-base hits including 29 home runs, 72 RBIs and a .807 OPS in just 125 games. 

It would make a lot of sense for Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to trade for the man he traded away a season ago against better judgment. 

Renfroe was a perfect fit for Fenway Park and lengthened a 2021 lineup past the notable stars manning the top spots in the order. He could do the same for a Red Sox lineup that surely will have some new faces in 2023.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Have Heavily Scouted Japanese Ace Kodai Senga


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Scott Neville
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