It’s been a busy offseason for Kiké Hernández.
The Red Sox super-utility participant has been in every single place and carried out every little thing. In addition to coaching for his third season in Boston, he’s making ready to signify Puerto Rico within the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March. In January, he made a memorable look because the sideline reporter on the NHL Winter Classic at Fenway, and spent Winter Weekend hanging out with Sox followers in Springfield.
Most notably, Hernández selected to spend his offseason recruiting for the house staff. In half due to his efforts, his longtime Dodgers teammates, Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner, signed with the Sox. Jansen signed for 2 years, $32 million; Turner agreed to a one-year, $15 million assured contract with a participant possibility for a second season.
Appearing on Jomboy Media’s ‘The Chris Rose Rotation’ podcast this week, Hernández instructed Rose that he spent “about a month” texting and calling Turner each day to persuade him to signal with the Sox. Jansen was a neater promote, “with JT it was way harder,” he mentioned.
At Winter Weekend, Hernández mentioned he “fought to have (Turner) on this team.”
Why? It’s deeper than a want to reunite with a longtime teammate (they overlapped from 2015-20). Hernández instructed Rose, “(Turner’s) a guy that’s going to help turn around that clubhouse, man. …We’re going to look a lot different this year and we need it. I felt that we needed some guys that were not just good on the field but had the ability to change the culture in the clubhouse. And I know for a fact that’s a guy that can do that.”
This is the second offseason in a row that Hernández has helped reel in veteran expertise; the 31-year-old super-utility participant helped the Sox signal Trevor Story final March. But the second half of the ’22 season noticed an sad clubhouse, with gamers publicly voicing disappointment and questioning the course of the staff. Now, they’ve an opportunity to foster a brand new clubhouse tradition, with Hernández laying the groundwork early.
When he signed a one-year, $10 million extension in early September, Hernández instructed reporters, “Chaim Bloom) knows that the most important thing for me is not just the opportunity to play every day, but how much it means for me to play every day for a winning team. I’m not going to say he promised me – but he promised me that we’re going to be way better next year.”
Later that week, the chief baseball officer pumped the brakes a bit on WEEI 93.7, telling The Greg Hill present that Hernández “was paraphrasing a little … there’s only so much we control.”
What’s adopted has been a chaotic offseason filled with beautiful highs (Rafael Devers’ extension) and abyss-like lows (a number of key gamers departing in free company, Story’s surgical procedure). Some of these adjustments immediately impression Hernández, who initially signed to play second base in 2021, however ended up enjoying principally middle subject. He signed his extension to maintain enjoying middle, however will likely be transferring to shortstop whereas Story recovers.
Now, Matt Barnes, Xander Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi, and JD Martinez are gone, and the 2023 roster is shaping as much as look extra just like the 2019 Dodgers — the final 12 months Hernández, Turner, Jansen, and Alex Verdugo have been all in Los Angeles — than any Sox staff in current reminiscence. Chris Martin, whom the Sox signed to a two-year, $17.5 million deal, spent the second half of final season in LA, too. Other newcomers embody Masataka Yoshida, Corey Kluber, Joely Rodriguez, Adalberto Mondesí, and Richard Bleier, whereas Devers, Chris Sale, and Ryan Brasier are the one remaining members of the 2018 championship staff.
Throughout the turnover, Hernández has stepped right into a management function in a giant approach. At Winter Weekend, he instructed reporters, “I understand the responsibility that falls on my shoulders … I like to lead by example, but this year, I might need to be more vocal, but I’m all for it … I don’t like the term ‘captains,’ but the leadership role is one that I’m gonna embrace.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com