For the second time in as many days, the Red Sox lost a player to a West coast team in free agency.
But while the world champs made a play to re-sign Joe Kelly before he signed with the Dodgers, it was a foregone conclusion that Ian Kinsler wouldn't be back in 2019. The veteran infielder made it official Friday, agreeing to a two-year, $8M deal with the San Diego Padres.
The 36-year-old was a classic Rent-A-Player for the Sox, who added Kinsler at the trade deadline when it became obvious that Dustin Pedroia wouldn't be able to return to the lineup.
And though the normally slick-fielding second baseman (he won a Gold Glove in 2018) made a costly error to help doom the Sox in Game 3 of the World Series, he was a crucial midseason acquisition by Dave Dombrowski, along with Steve Pearce and Nathan Eovaldi.
Kinsler wound up hitting .242 with seven steals and 16 RBI in 37 regular-season games in Boston.
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