Another free-agent pitcher rejects Red Sox for geographical reasons
BOSTON -- Last week, right-handed pitcher Zach Eflin opted to sign with the Tampa Bay Rays over the Boston Red Sox. A Florida native, the 28-year-old wanted to pitch close to home, despite the same money being offered by Boston.
This week, it's happened again, when left-hander Andrew Heaney signed with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
According to The Boston Globe's Alex Speier, the Red Sox actually offered more guaranteed money to Heaney over two years than the deal he got with the Rangers, "but the 31-year-old Oklahoma native preferred to take less money to sign with the Rangers and pitch closer to home."
Earlier in the offseason, the Red Sox lost out on the bidding for Jose Abreu, too, though Boston's offer was well short of the money Abreu got from the Astros.
It's worth noting that Eflin's hometown is about two hours away from St. Petersburg, while Heaney's hometown of Oklahoma City is about a three-hour drive from the Rangers' ballpark. So neither player is exactly going "home."
Free agents making life decisions outside of the financials is not necessarily unprecedented, but it's certainly noteworthy that the Red Sox have been outright rejected by two pitchers in the same week for the same reason. It could represent a challenge that Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox are facing in Boston, as the Red Sox may not be quite the destination team that they were not too long ago.
