Jackie Bradley Jr. and the Red Sox have both played the waiting game for the last couple of months.
The slow free agent market has meant players like Bradley Jr. have had to wait a bit longer to truly define their best offers, leaving one of his chief suitors -- the Red Sox -- also in a state of wait-and-see.
Listening to Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom on WEEI Wednesday, this we do know: Bradley Jr. is still garnering plenty of interest from the only club he has ever known.
“We’re still in contact with him and have been consistently throughout the offseason,” Bloom said. “I know in the Globe recently he talked about it where that timetable is probably going to be a little longer. I would expect we’re going to stay engaged with him and hope it lines up, hope it makes sense for him and hope it fits our puzzle. You guys know and I haven’t been shy about saying it just in the short time I got to know Jackie, I just became incredibly fond of him. Obviously there’s business aspects of it too, for us and for him, but just emotionally speaking, I hope it works out.”
There is some thought that Bradley Jr.'s market will be tied to fellow free agent George Springer, who is seemingly a top priority for both the free-spending Mets and Blue Jays. (Jon Heyman reported Wednesday night that Springer has an offer of over $100 million in hand.)
Whichever team doesn't land Springer will likely turn its attention to Bradley Jr., who is also drawing interest from Houston, the Cubs and Philadelphia, along with the Red Sox.