[外電] Red Sox Sign Hunter Renfroe

1. 新聞來源：

mlbtraderumors

2. 新聞標題：

Red Sox Sign Hunter Renfroe

3. 新聞內容：

By Anthony Franco | December 14, 2020 at 11:26am CDT

The Red Sox announced they’ve signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year
contract (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll be guaranteed a base salary
of $3.1MM with an additional $600K available in incentives, reports Alex
Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

Renfroe, 29 in January, became a free agent after he was outrighted by the
Rays last month. Tampa Bay decided it wasn’t prepared to tender him an
arbitration contract, projected in the $4MM range, on the heels of a
disastrous 2020 season. The right-handed hitter managed just a .156/.252/.393slash line with eight homers over 139 plate appearances in his lone season inTampa Bay. That certainly wasn’t what the Rays had in mind when they
acquired Renfroe as part of the deal that sent Tommy Pham and Jake
Cronenworth to the Padres last offseason.

That the Rays were willing to part with talented players to bring Renfroe
aboard in the first place, though, speaks to the decent player he’d become
in San Diego. Between 2018-19, Renfroe hit .231/.295/.496 with 59 home runs
(106 wRC+). That made him slightly better than the average hitter in
aggregate, but the shape of that production was more variable. Over the
course of his career, Renfroe has mashed (.258/.339/.573) against left-handedpitching, while posting subpar numbers (.216/.268/.449) against righties.
That could point to a future as the short side of a platoon, but Red Sox
chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey ofthe Athletic) Renfroe could be an everyday option in the grass.

That’s a testament to his defensive aptitude. Despite his size, Renfroe has
generally rated as a strong corner outfielder. Over the past three seasons, he’s racked up 23 defensive runs saved between left and right field. Much of
that value comes from his plus arm, although Statcast’s range-based metric
also pegs Renfroe at five outs above average in that time. That defensive
prowess has helped differentiate the former first-rounder from other on-base
deficient sluggers around the league. During his final two seasons in San
Diego, Renfroe accrued a solid four to five wins above replacement, in the
estimation of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

If he can recapture that level of production, Renfroe could find a home in
Boston for a few seasons. He remains controllable via arbitration through
2023. In the immediate future, he joins an outfield consisting of Alex
Verdugo and Andrew Benintendi (as well as primary designated hitter J.D.
Martinez).

Both Verdugo and Benintendi worked in the corner outfield last season in
deference to Jackie Bradley Jr. Either could be capable of replacing Bradley,who has since hit free agency, if the Sox see Renfroe as an everyday player.
Bloom told reporters (Cotillo link) that Verdugo would open the season in
centerfield as things stand but didn’t rule out the possibility of future
additions to the outfield.

4. 新聞連結：

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/12/red-sox-sign-hunter-renfroe.html

5. 備註：

(1) 紅襪隊以$3.1MM/1YR附帶$600K激勵獎金簽下外野手Hunter Renfroe，若是藉由仲裁可控制至2023年，預計擔任platoon的工作，並根據棒球長Chaim Bloom的表示，他也是每天先發的選項之一。

(2) 在2020年139個打席僅繳出8轟、.156/.252/.393的慘烈成績，Renfroe上個月被光芒不續約，原本預計明年的薪水是$4MM。

(3) 在2018-19年，Renfroe繳出59轟(106 wRC+)、.231/.295/.496，算是平均以上的打者。綜觀其生涯，面對左投手繳出.258/.339/.573，而對右投手僅繳出.216/.268/.449，

(4) 儘管他的體型壯碩，Renfroe仍被評為是位不錯的角落外野手，過去三個球季固守左右外野守下23分，加上他有很好的肩膀，Statcast’s 給他評價高於一般平均五分，過去兩年在教士貢獻FWAR 4~5，防守端傑出的表現讓他比起其他無法上壘的重砲更加突出。

(5) 紅襪隊各野手位置人選如下：
A. C：Christian Vazquez、Kevin Plawecki、Deivy Grullon。
B. 1B：Michael Chavis、Bobby Dalbec。
C. 2B：Jose Peraza*、Dustin Pedroia (INJ)。
D. 3B：Rafael Devers。
E. SS：Xander Bogaerts。
F. UT：Jonathan Arauz、Christian Arroyo、Yairo Munoz。
G. RF：Hunter Renfroe。
H. CF：Alex Verdugo、Jackie Bradley Jr.*。
I. LF：Andrew Benintendi。
J. DH：J.D. Martinez。
K. OF：Cesar Puello*。
*：本季結束即成為自由球員。

(6) Hunter Renfroe年在光芒隊的成績表現(今年28歲；今年原計薪水：$3.3MM)：

G H HR RBI SO BB BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+

42 19 8 22 37 14 .156 .252 .393 .645 77
--