Red Sox land ex-Rays OF Hunter Renfroe on reported $3.1M deal

Share

Chaim Bloom turned to a familiar source Monday to shore up the Boston Red Sox' outfield depth.

The Red Sox have signed former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year contract in free agency, the team announced. It's a $3.1 million contract with up to $600,000 in incentives, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

Boston actually drafted Renfroe out of high school in 2010, but the Mississippi native elected to play college baseball at Mississippi State instead.

Tomase: Who are the next generation of Red Sox stars?

Renfroe spent his first five major league seasons with the San Diego Padres before joining the Rays last season and hit just .156 for Tampa Bay in 2020 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs.

The 28-year-old boasts plenty of pop -- he mashed 85 home runs over a three-year span in San Diego from 2017 to 2019 -- but also comes with a high strikeout rate and whiffed a career-high 154 times in 2019.

Renfroe owns a .573 slugging percentage and .912 OPS against left-handed pitching, however, and could benefit from Fenway Park's Green Monster as a right-handed power hitter.

His primary position is right field, so he'll likely back up Alex Verdugo at the position and enter the lineup when Boston faces a southpaw.

Oh, and just a reminder: He's not that Hunter Renfrow.

Contact Us