Kiké Hernandez admits how much he helped Boston Red Sox pursuit of Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen: "Couple texts, couple calls every day for a month"
Kiké Hernandez has been with the Boston Red Sox for the last two seasons, but prior to that, he was a standout with the Los Angeles Dodgers. One of his teammates? New Red Sox addition Justin Turner.
Turner and Hernandez were friends with the Dodgers, where Hernandez played from 2015 to 2020. Turner was a member of the same squad from 2014 to 2022, so the two spent quite a lot of time together.
That relationship could be a reason why Turner opted to move to Boston in free agency, joining his former teammate.
Kiké says he was texting and calling Justin Turner multiple times per day to recruit him to Boston @ChrisRoseSports https://t.co/IkP6bWE6MG
Hernandez revealed that he was pretty involved in recruiting Turner as well as another former Dodgers teammate in Kenley Jansen:
"Couple texts and calls every day for about a month. Calls to Puerto Rico, calls to Boston, calls to L.A., Indiana at one point. Kenley [Jansen] was easier, Kenley was just a couple of text messages that happened really quick."
He continued:
"With JT, it was way harder. I expect Chaim [Bloom] to come up with a certain incentive for me for the recruitment process. Yeah, it was a lot of fun, it was something I'm proud of, being able to pull him away from there. After everything he did there for that team, that city, that he's still doing, I get to have one of my buddies again."
He finished:
"It's a guy that's going to help turn around that clubhouse, man. We're going to look a lot different this year and we needed some guys that were not just good on the field but had the ability to change the culture in the clubhhouse. I know for a fact that's a guy that can do that."
Turner signed with Boston for two seasons.
How good can the Boston Red Sox be?
Kiké Hernandez was right in anticipating a lot of changes for the Boston Red Sox. Their expected lineup for 2023 is vastly different from the 2022 lineup that finished in last place.
Still, those changes aren't going to translate much. Fangraphs expects them to improve and finish out of the cellar, but still in fourth place behind the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays.