Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Free Agent Reportedly 'Among Candidates' To Join National League Foe

Boston could lose a bidding war to a small-market club

Scott Neville

Red Sox Free Agent Reportedly 'Among Candidates' To Join National League Foe
Red Sox Free Agent Reportedly 'Among Candidates' To Join National League Foe /
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The Boston Red Sox have been moving at a snail's pace this offseason and have yet to address the two biggest areas ailing the club.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will need to acquire a starting pitcher and a right-handed bat with positional versatility ahead of Opening Day.

While the former still has plenty of options to choose from, the latter group is less fruitful and dwindling by the day. One of the most logical options to fill the right-handed slugger role is Boston's top remaining free agent, outfielder Adam Duvall. However, it appears that his time on the open market could be coming to a close.

"The (Arizona Diamondbacks) are looking to add a right-handed hitter to pair at designated hitter with Joc Pederson, per sources," MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reported Friday. "Randal Grichuk, Tommy Pham and Adam Duvall among the candidates."

Duvall hit .247 with 47 extra-base hits including 21 homers, 58 RBIs and a .834 OPS (119 OPS+) in 92 games last season. He missed a good chunk of the season due to a wrist injury but was an impactful bat for the majority of the time he was healthy.

The 35-year-old has been linked to the Red Sox this offseason to balance the lineup with a right-handed bat, as has Pham.

If Boston truly is interested in Duvall, they have no business losing out to the small-market Diamondbacks. With that said, the Red Sox leadership's disappointing decision-making knows no limits in recent years.

More MLB: Insider Could See Red Sox Signing Jordan Montgomery If Paired With Notable Trade

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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

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