The Boston Red Sox are unlikely to sign free agent Brian McCann with the prevalent opinion around baseball being the catcher will end up with the Yankees, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com.
Brian McCann free agency: Catcher will ‘end up with the Yankees’
The Yankees are seen by many in baseball as the favorite to land McCann.
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One general manager in particular told Bradford straight up that McCann “is going to end up with the Yankees”. The Red Sox, oft-mentioned in McCann rumors, have been hesitant to offer as big a contract as he is rumored to be seeking.
Both the Yankees and Red Sox are likely to receive three sandwich picks apiece in the 2014 draft as both teams are poised to potentially lose three free agents who turned down qualifying offers. Thus, the two teams are not as concerned about giving up their usual first round draft pick to sign McCann, who turned down a qualifying offer from the Braves.
While the Red Sox remain interested in McCann, they have turned their attention to other free agent catchers like Carlos Ruiz, A.J. Pierzynski and their own free agent Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
The Yankees used Chris Stewart as their primary catcher in 2013 with Francisco Cervelli missing much of the year due to injuries and a suspension related to Biogenesis. Stewart hit for just a 566 OPS over 109 games.
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