Teoscar Hernandez is making the Red Sox look even worse for offseason whiff

By now, we know that new Boston Red Sox general manager Craig Breslow's promise of a "full throttle" offseason upon his hiring was misguided at best. The club was largely inactive in free agency and instead chose largely to rely on a young core to see what they're capable of. But one of the players they did heavily pursue and ultimately failed to sign is making them look awful for simply not being more aggressive in their pursuit of him: Teoscar Hernandez.

The Red Sox were among the final two contenders for Hernandez, who ended up landing on a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, during an appearance on the Flippin' Bats Podcast in February, the former Blue Jay and Mariner explained just how close he was to signing in Boston but Breslow and the front office wouldn't offer anything more than a two-year contract:

“At the end, it was Boston and the Dodgers,” Hernandez said. “We were trying to get more years in Boston. The only years that they offered was two. And everybody knows that because it became public. But like I said, the best opportunity and the best chance I had to get a good deal was the Dodgers, even with the one year.”

Not wanting to get a veteran outfield bat the caliber of Hernandez at 31 years old for more than two years if that's clearly what he was looking for is bad on the surface for the Red Sox and a big reason behind the fan base's frustration. But what Hernandez has done this season and, more pressingly, recently only makes Boston look worse and more embarrassing of an organization.

Teoscar Hernandez making Red Sox offseason even more embarrassing

If there's one quick way to ensure that Red Sox fans will love a player, it's if they dominated against the rival Yankees. Well, as Hernandez and the Dodgers have been taking on New York in the Bronx over the weekend, the outfielder has been doing just that.

With Sunday night's finale still going on between the two clubs, Hernandez has gone 6-for-11 with three home runs and nine RBI in the series alone. He's also hit the second-most home runs in the National League this season behind only Marcell Ozuna and is third in the NL with 48 RBI on the year as well.

No one could've predicted the absurdly unfortunate number of injuries the Red Sox have endured to this point that make outfield depth even thinner but it's hard to find a world where Hernandez wouldn't have fit seamlessly into this lineup and in the outfield. He's proving he's a Yankee killer, which is all anyone in Boston could've wanted from him too.

But wait, it gets worse for the Sox.

Hernandez has been truly dominant at Fenway Park in his career. In 45 games at the Red Sox home ballpark, he has a .950 OPS with 14 home runs and 44 RBI, the most he has at any visiting ballpark where he's never played home games (meaning aside from Dodger Stadium, the Rogers Centre, and T-Mobile Park). And when you consider how anemic the Boston offense has been at home for much of this season, they could use that kind of pop right now.

The hope, of course, is that Breslow and the Red Sox can identify the young pieces to build around this season, maybe compete for a playoff spot as an AL Wild Card team, and then start to get more aggressive moving forward. Having said that, given that Boston is in the Wild Card race with their current roster and while dealing with a multitude of injuries, it's hard not to look at what Hernandez is doing and not wonder why there wasn't more of a sense of urgency this past offseason to build a better roster.