Why didn’t the Red Sox pursue Edwin Encarnacion?
From the start of the offseason, the Red Sox remained consistent in their view that they were unlikely to spend heavily on a free-agent bat such as Edwin Encarnacion. Still, the true dimensions of what the team meant with such a claim went beyond expectations as the team sat on the sidelines while competitors struck relatively modest deals with Carlos Beltran (Astros, one-year, $16 million), Matt Holliday (Yankees, one-year, $13 million), and most notably, Encarnacion (Indians, three years, $60 million).
The Indians pounced on an opportunity to grab Encarnacion at a rate that suggested a discount relative to the market of just a couple of years ago, signing him for fewer years (three instead of four) and a lower average annual value ($20 million instead of $22.5 million) than the Red Sox invested in Hanley Ramirez after the 2014 season. Players of Encarnacion’s stature – including a star-caliber average of 39 homers and 4.2 Wins Above Replacement per year – are rarely available in free agency for the terms paid by Cleveland.
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