The Red Sox have added another outfielder to the mix, reportedly agreeing to a multi-year deal with 10-year veteran Chris Young. An industry source, however, confirmed the agreement. Young played his first seven professional seasons as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2006 through 2012 before heading to Oakland in 2013.
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Young had a rough three-year stretch offensively from 2012-14, ranking 82nd out of 97 qualified outfielders (minimum 1,000 at-bats) in FanGraphs’ offensive value.
Young was a free agent after playing past year with the New York Yankees. He only struck out 28 times against right-handed pitching as opposed to striking out 45 times against right-handers, thus emphasizing the fact that he is very much a platoon-type player going forward in his career.
With the Red Sox, Young will likely carry a similar to his Yankee days, providing depth to a young outfield. Against lefties, Young hit. Boston enters the winter with Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, and Rusney Castillo slated to be the starters, but neither Bradley or Castillo have a full season under their belts and Boston could dangle one of the two this winter in a trade to land a starter.
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While the Yankees were expected to make a push to re-sign Young, who proved that there is certainly more left in the tank, general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged that the team would not retain the veteran outfielder upon acquiring Aaron Hicks from the Cleveland Indians earlier this offseason. That scenario, however, is less likely, given that Young may not be considered an everyday player at this point in his career.
