After bolstering the starting rotation, the next highest priority for the Red Sox this offseason has been adding more right-handed bats to balance the lineup. The club already added one and filled its void at second base by trading for 23-year-old up-and-comer Vaughn Grissom, but Boston could use another to add some extra thump.

Late Sunday night, one of the biggest bats left on the market came off the board.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and others, free agent outfielder Teoscar Hernandez has signed a one-year, $23.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal marks the latest move in the Dodgers’ historic spending spree and now Hernandez joins a loaded lineup that already included Mookie Batts, Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani.

BREAKING: Outfielder Teoscar Hernández and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a one-year, $23.5 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Hernández joins Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow on the new-look Dodgers, who add another All-Star bat to the lineup.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 8, 2024

The Red Sox had reportedly expressed interest in Hernandez, though according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo talks petered out and Boston wasn’t a serious player by the end. Instead the Red Sox will look elsewhere, exploring what remains of the free agent and trade markets to upgrade the lineup.

If the Red Sox were to make a move, who could they still get?

In terms of free agency, one sensible option might be a reunion with outfielder Adam Duvall, who batted .247 with 21 home runs and an .834 OPS for the Red Sox despite missing more than a third of the season due to a freak wrist injury. When healthy Duvall was one of Boston’s most impactful hitters last season, plus he can also play both center and right field and could likely sign on a shorter-term deal.

Justin Turner is also still available, though he doesn’t make as much sense positionally given that he’s a full-time designated hitter.

As far as outside additions, the best remaining right-handed bat on the free agent market is Jorge Soler. The 31-year-old Cuban is coming off an All-Star season in which he batted .250 with 36 home runs and an .853 OPS with Miami, and while he primarily DH’d, he did also play 32 games in right field and could probably play left in Boston.

With Soler aboard the Red Sox could alternate between Yoshida and Soler at DH, going with a lefty-heavy outfield against righties and a righty-heavy group (including Rob Refsnyder and Tyler O’Neill) against lefties. Either way he’d be an obvious choice to bat fifth, protecting whichever lefty Boston opted for in the clean-up spot, probably Rafael Devers or Triston Casas most days.

If not Soler, other outside options include Tommy Pham, Michael A. Taylor or a less obvious trade candidate, but either way whoever Boston adds is more likely to be a middle-to-bottom half guy and not a top-of-the-order masher.

That job, in all likelihood, will fall to Trevor Story.

Bad as his first two years in Boston have gone, Story still has an established track record as one of baseball’s best hitters when healthy. Now that his elbow issue is behind him and with his first full spring training since signing with Boston coming up, the club no doubt hopes he can slot into the No. 3 spot and get back to being the All-Star performer he was in Colorado.

Fans probably got tired of the annual notion of Chris Sale being the club’s big trade deadline acquisition whenever he returned from injury in mid-August, but Story really could be Boston’s big lineup addition in 2024. Factoring in his elite middle infield defense there’s likely no position player more important to the club, and if Story gets back to form it could go a long way towards elevating the Red Sox back into contention.

Even still, for the Red Sox to reach their full potential they’ll need more, so it will be interesting to see who else the club adds before all is said and done.