The Boston Red Sox had to do some rebuilding this offseason, using the strategy of outbidding competitors rather than signing players to long-term deals.

The players that signed -- Jonny Gomes, Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, David Ross and Ryan Dempster -- don't understand why anyone would be turned off by playing in Boston.

"The core Red Sox guys from what happened last year, and knowing those guys and their character -- how they approach the game and how they play the game to win -- I knew 100 percent those guys would have a chip on their shoulder," Gomes said.

"So the opportunity to play in Boston with these guys having a chip on their shoulder was what I signed up for."

Boston general manager Ben Cherington doesn't think free agents were hesitant to jump into Red Sox Nation.

"I didn’t notice that at all," Cherington said. "Maybe if we had been maybe that would have an issue, I don’t know. Even the couple of guys we didn’t sign, that didn’t seem to be an issue.

"I think players want to know two things: They want to know environment and they want to know commitment to winning. And the environment, one way or another, was going to be different."