Boston Red Sox - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)

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2020

Decade

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Titles:

Top Red Sox Players of the Twenty Twenties

2021 - WC def NYY; ALDS def TB; ALCS lost to Houston

2025 - WC (Lost Yankees)

Pitchers:

Brayan Bello (7.37) - 26

BallPark:

Nick Pivetta (9.83) - 24

Fenway Park

Kenley Jansen (2) - 16

Garrett Crochet (6.3) - 14

Team Name:

Nathan Eovaldi (7.04) - 14

Red Sox

Tanner Houck (9.19) - 12

Aroldis Chapman (3.5) - 9

Owner:

Matt Barnes (1.58) - 9

John Henry

Kutter Crawford (4.38) - 8

Eduardo Rodriguez (1.45) - 8

General Managers:

Michael Wacha (3.28) - 7

Chaim Bloom (president 2020-23)

Brian O'Halloran (GM 2020-23)

Catchers:

Craig Breslow (2024-25)

Christian Vazquez (4.17) - 15

Connor Wong (5) - 10

Managers:

Carlos Narvaez (3) - 6

Ron Roenicke (2020)

Alex Cora (2021-2025)

First Basemen:

Bobby Dalbec (0.18) - 12

No Hitters:

Triston Casas (1) - 10

None

Justin Turner (2.1) - 6

Hall of Famers:

Second Basemen:

None

Christian Arroyo (2.18) - 2

Rookie of the Year:

ShortStop:

None

Xander Bogaerts (12.45) - 32

Trevor Story (7) - 18

MVP:

Enrique Hernandez (5.32) - 15

None

Third Base:

Cy Young:

Rafael Devers (16) - 47

None

Alex Bregman (4) - 8

Notable Events:

Outfield:

Jarren Duran (15) - 35

2022 - In the eleven year run from 2012-2022, the Sox finish first 4 times and

Alex Verdugo (8.13) - 21

last 5 times (they also have a 2nd and a 3rd). This extreme roller coaster ride

JD Martinez (3.5) - 18

has been exacerbated by the fact that coming into each season, you have

Ceddanne Rafaela (9) -16

no idea whether you are getting the good Boston or the bad Boston.

Wilyer Abreu (5) - 11

Masataka Yoshida (4) - 8

2020 - The Sox have been a Big Market Club since John Henry bought

Tyler O'Neill (4) - 8

the franchise in 2001. That changed in 2020 when they suddenly,

Hunter Renfroe (2.39) - 8

unexpectedly became Small Market.

Rob Refsnyder (2) - 7

The stark change occurred when Boston dealt young superstar outfielder

Mookie Betts (and pitcher David Price) to the Big Market LA Dodgers

Notable Events:

rather than pay Betts the 350 million or so it would have taken to keep him.

The question is how much did Mookie's race factor into the decision to let

2024 - Boston looks weak and figures to finish last in baseball's toughest division.

him go? Boston has traditionally been a racist city and the fans have

But, you never know with the Sox. Just when it looks like they've given, they

rarely embraced black stars. If you are looking for black people, New

surprise the heck out of you. Anyway, on paper, the Sox look like toast in '24

England is the last place you would go. So the question is would the Red

23 runs totals projected an 81-81 record as they scored 24 more than the league

Sox have invested 350 million in a young white superstar? Who knows?

average and gave up 28 more than the league average.

The rest of the Division is much better and it's hard to see the Sox finishing

□ Anyway, the race thing is a moot point. What's done is done and the

above .500 this year which would put them in the cellar.

Red Sox are now a Small Market team without a superstar.

Offense:

This is a seismic change for Boston fans because now, entering every

They have one star, 3B Rafael Devers, and four decent hitters, 1B Triston Casas,

season, the team has to be considered an automatic non-contender as

SS Trevor Story, OF Jarren Duran and DH Masataka Yoshida.

opposed to the Big Market days where the team had to be considered

After that it drops off into replacement level players at best.

an automatic contender coming into each season.

Surprising the offense was in the upper half of the league (barely) last year.

Boston has some decent youngsters coming up, but they won't be ready

□ In a cost cutting move, the Sox fire Dave Dombrowski as President

for the big leagues at the start of the season: SS Marcelo Mayer;

of Baseball Operations and hire on Chaim Bloom as President and

OF Roman Anthony; C Kyle Teel; OF Miguel Bleis; OF Ceddane Rafaela.

Brian O'Halloran on as General Manager.

Pitching:

Dombrowski had been hugely successful in his four year tenure with

Chris Sale, James Paxton and Corey Kluber, three erstwhile aces are gone.

Boston averaging 95 wins and posting a World Series title.

They were aces no more so won't really be missed. That being said, there really

Dombrowski probably would have quit anyway seeing the direction the club

isn't much there to replace them with. The starting rotation is decent, but there

was now taking into Small Marketland.

is nothing close to an ace. Bryan Bello is twenty five, so there's some hope.

Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Kutter Crawford are all twenty eight. None of

□ Alex Cora, who was hugely successful with Boston in 2018 was rehired as

them figures to improve much on their past mediocrity. Same can be said for

manager for the 2021 season replacing Ron Roenicke.

Nick Pivetta who is thirty one. Closer Kenley Jansen is a shadow of his old self,

Cora had been suspended from baseball in the 2020 season for his part

but that's good enough to still be a decent closer. There's some decent depth

in the Astros sign stealing scandal while he was with Houston.

in the bullpen which will have to do well to bail out the mediocre starters.

Cora is one of the few managers in baseball who is allowed to work with

analytics as they should be. The Sox work up all the analytics for Cora,

2025 - In a lost decade, the Sox have another mediocre season in '24 at 81-81.

he evaluates their efficacy to the situations in front of him and then makes

Management has decided after 2018 that four titles were enough and flat out

his decision even if it is not what the analytics would indicate at the moment.

stopped trying. The most aggregious act, by far, was trading black superstar

i.e. with Cora, analytics are used as a tool in the management arsenal, not

outfielder Mookie Betts in '20, twenty five at the time, to the Dodgers instead of

as the end-all, be-all. Analytics start the discussion, they don't end it.

paying him. The Sox had the money. Since ownership is still playing to packed

As it should be.

houses at Fenway to this day, Red Sox fans have no right to complain, they're

complicit by still faithfully supporting an organization that has abandoned them.

2020 - Boston finishes last after jettisoning Betts and Price.

The Red Sox picked up lefty Garret Crochet from the White Sox and 3B Alex

No surprise there. There are really only a few young players moving

Bregman from Houston. They will help, but not nearly enough to contend.

forward that could be considered building blocks of the franchise

All that being said, Chaim Bloom developed a nice group of young hitters before

and two of them will be jettisoned.

he bolted to the Cardinals for greener pastures in '24

□ 3B Rafael Devers, 23, '13 IFA

□ OF Alex Verdugo, 24, obtained from LA in Betts trade '20

2025 Pitching (High ceiling rotation, suspect bullpen, no depth):

□ SS Xander Bogaerts, 27, '09 IFA, signed by SD as FA in '23

□ LHP Garret Crochet, 26, '25 change of Sox, 6-12 3.58 - potential ace

□ OF Andrew Benintendi, 25, '15 1st round pick, dealt to KC in '21

□ RHP Walker Buehler, 30, '25 FA from LA, 1-6 5.38 - former ace

□ RHP Tanner Houck, 29, '17 draft 24th overall pick, 9-12 3.12 potential ace

2021 - The BoSox surprise everybody finishing second and making it to the

□ RHP Brayan Bello, 26, '17 IFA, 14-8 4.49 potential ace

ALCS. You never know with the Sox. Anyway, it proves to be a mirage

□ RHP Kutter Crawford, 29, '17 draft 16th round pick, 9-16 4.36

as Boston drops down to last place again in 2022 after, of course,

□ Closer Liam Hendricks, 36, '24 FA from Chicago, TJ surgery out all of '24

they were expected to do better.

□ Closer Aroldis Chapman, 37, '25 FA from Pittsburgh, 5-5 3.79 14 saves

2023 - A second straight mediocre 78-84 season. Boston has stopped trying.

2025 Hitting (Potentially circular lineup of solid hitters):

Their hitting declines slightly from '22, but their pitching counters that by

□ C Connor Wong, 29, '20 trade from LA, 13 62 .280

improving a bit in '22.

□ 1B Tristan Casas, 25, '18 draft 26th overall pick, 13 32 .241

□ 1B Rafael Devers, 28, '13 IFA, 28 83 .272

2023 - Boston is floundering. They're not Big Market, but they're not

□ 2B David Hamilton, 28, '22 trade from Milwaukee, 8 28 .248 33SB

exactly Small Market either. They have gone out and picked up some

□ SS Trevor Story, 31, '22 FA from Colorado, 2 10 .255, same old story - injuries

high profile free agents like closer Kenley Jansen, DH Justin Turner

□ 3B Alex Bregman, 33, '25 FA from Houston, 26 75 .260

(both longtime Dodgers) and 2B Trevor Story.

□ OF Jarren Duran, 29, '18 draft 7th round pick, 21 75 .285 34SB

Meanwhile, they let SS Xander Bogaerts and DH JD Martinez (Dodgers)

□ CF Ceddane Rafaela, 25, '17 IFA, 15 75 .246

leave as Free Agents. Not sure if there is any discernable pattern there.

□ OF Wilyer Abreu, 26, '22 trade from Houston, 15 58 .253

□ OF Masataka Yoshida, 31, '23 FA from Japan, 10 56 .280

2023 - OF Masataka Yoshida, 29, is signed from Japan. Yoshida is a very

□ OF Roman Anthony, 21, '22 draft 2nd round, #1 prospect in big leagues this year

good veteran player. For some odd reason, he is still included in the Rookie of

□ OF Kristian Campbell, 23, '23 draft 4th round pick, hit .330 in minors last year

the Year voting.

□ SS Marcelo Mayer, 22, '21 4th overall pick, .307 in minors last year

2023 - SS Trevor Story, 30, has surgery to repair injuries that held him back

in '22 and misses most of the season.

2023 - Yoshida and Justin Turner hit well. And rookie 1B Tristan Casas, 23,

comes up and has a nice year going 24-65-.263. However, the losses of

Bogaerts, Story and Martinez offset the gains.

2023 - On the mound, the losses of Michael Wacha and Nathan Eovaldi to

free agency put a dent in the rotation. The emergence of 24 year old

righthander Brayan Bello who goes 12-11 4.24 partially offsets the damage.

It was the acquisition of closer Kenley Jansen as a free agent from the Braves

that stabilized the bullpen and helped the staff overall do a bit better in '23

Altho' Jansen is no longer anywhere near the lights out closer he was with the

Dodgers in his prime, he does a solid job for the Sox.