On a high level, we’d probably look to give Alex (Cora) as much flexibility as possible,” Breslow said on Nov. 8 in Scottsdale, “recognizing that it’s a long season and there will be times when he’s going to look to get guys off their feet but keep their bats in the lineup. I don’t think there’s one (specific) way to do it.
“Obviously, I played with a guy (David Ortiz) who manned the DH spot for quite some time and was pretty successful doing it. Short of that, having as many kind of creative possibilities as we can arrange is what makes sense.”
Five quick-hit thoughts on the news that Justin Turner (as expected) is leaving the Red Sox to sign a one-year, $13 million contract with the Blue Jays:
New chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made the biggest Red Sox-related headline of the November general managers meetings when he said the team had been fielding trade calls on Alex Verdugo (only to trade him a few weeks later). But Breslow’s candid admission about how he viewed the designated hitter spot was interesting at the time — and very clearly portended Turner’s departure
At that point, it became very clear that the Red Sox preferred to rotate the DH spot instead of giving those at-bats to one defensively limited player like they did for years by employing Ortiz, then J.D. Martinez, and eventually Turner. And that, despite Turner repeatedly stating that he wanted to come back to Boston — and even extending his lease well into the offseason so he and his wife, Kourtney, could keep exploring the city instead of going home to Los Angeles — all but ruled out a potential reunion.
