The Boston Red Sox have been linked to Shohei Ohtani as their offseason begins. Insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Red Sox are a real threat to sign the superstar. Sunday, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that recent preliminary meetings held by the Red Sox Ohtani was not at all a focus.
So which is it, the Red Sox are a threat to sign Ohtani or he's not on their radar? Time will tell, however, if recent history tells us anything, it could go either way. Here are two reasons why Boston will not sign Ohtani and one reason why they will.
First reason the Red Sox will not sign Shohei Ohtani
The first reason Boston won't sign Ohtani is because they already have a roster loaded with players who need to be DH. Masataka Yoshida is someone who forced Justin Turner into the field this past season because he needed a game at DH and eventually, Rafael Devers, who just signed long-term last winter, is going to eventually take over a lot of DH at-bats too.
It's unlikely that Turner returns to Boston, but with the current make up of the Red Sox roster, there are a lot of players that are going to need DH at-bats going forward. Whoever ends up making the decisions in the front office this winter and Turner is indeed gone, then look for them to spend the money elsewhere to replace him.
Ohtani is not someone like Turner who can slide into a position for a game or two to give another player at-bats and a game off from the field. That's not how the Red Sox are built and signing him to be a full-time DH doesn't make sense. Signing Ohtani would likely mean trading a player such as Yoshida, something they wouldn't want to do.