It wasn't all good news for the Red Sox on Sunday. While they were able to secure a trade for Adrian Gonzalez (after much back and forth), one of their free agent targets, outfielder Jayson Werth, signed with the Washington Nationals.
The team announced the move Sunday evening, agreeing to a mammoth seven-year, $126 million deal. Werth, 31, had his best season in 2010, hitting .296 with 46 doubles and 27 home runs with a .532 SLG% and an OPS+ of 145. It's a right-handed bat that Boston could have used.
But according to WEEI's Alex Speier, the Red Sox were never close to a deal, and never made an offer, despite a reported meeting with the outfielder last week.
Though the Red Sox actively explored the idea of adding free agent outfielder Jayson Werth, the team never came close to the seven-year, $126 million contract offer that the Washington Nationals used to reel in the hirsute 31-year-old. In fact, a source familiar with the situation said that the Red Sox -- despite a meeting last week between club officials, the outfielder and his agent -- never made a formal offer to Werth.