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

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Nick Pivetta (9.83) - 24

Fenway Park

Brayan Bello (4.97) - 19

Kenley Jansen (2) - 16

Team Name:

Nathan Eovaldi (7.04) - 14

Red Sox

Tanner Houck (9.19) - 12

Matt Barnes (1.58) - 9

Owner:

Kutter Crawford (4.38) - 8

John Henry

Eduardo Rodriguez (1.45) - 8

Michael Wacha (3.28) - 7

General Managers:

Martin Perez (1.58) - 5

Chaim Bloom (president 2020-23)

Chris Sale (2.64) - 5

Brian O'Halloran (GM 2020-23)

Craig Breslow (2024-25)

Catchers:

Christian Vazquez (4.17) - 15

Managers:

Connor Wong (5) - 10

Ron Roenicke (2020)

Reese McGuire (0.66) - 5

Alex Cora (2021-2025)

First Basemen:

No Hitters:

Bobby Dalbec (0.18) - 12

None

Triston Casas (1) - 10

Justin Turner (2.1) - 6

Hall of Famers:

None

Second Basemen:

Trevor Story (3.31) - 9

Rookie of the Year:

Christian Arroyo (2.18) - 2

None

ShortStop:

MVP:

Xander Bogaerts (12.45) - 32

None

Enrique Hernandez (5.32) - 15

Cy Young:

Third Base:

None

Rafael Devers (14) - 42

Notable Events:

Outfield:

Jarren Duran (10) - 26

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

Masataka Yoshida (4) - 8

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

Tyler O'Neill (4) - 8

Hunter Renfroe (2.39) - 8

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

Wilyer Abreu (3.2) - 7

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

Adam Duvall (1.5) - 6

unexpectedly became Small Market.

Jackie Bradley (1.58) - 6

The stark change occurred when Boston dealt young superstar outfielder

Bob Refsnyder (1) - 5

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

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

Notable Events:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

average and gave up 28 more than the league average.

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

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

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

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

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

Offense:

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

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

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

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

an automatic contender coming into each season.

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

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

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

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

of Baseball Operations and hire on Chaim Bloom as President and

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

Brian O'Halloran on as General Manager.

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

Dombrowski had been hugely successful in his four year tenure with

Pitching:

Boston averaging 95 wins and posting a World Series title.

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

Dombrowski probably would have quit anyway seeing the direction the club

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

was now taking into Small Marketland.

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

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

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

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

manager for the 2021 season replacing Ron Roenicke.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As it should be.

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

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

2020 - Boston finishes last after jettisoning Betts and Price.

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

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

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

forward that could be considered building blocks of the franchise

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

and two of them will be jettisoned.

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

□ 3B Rafael Devers, 23, '13 IFA

he bolted to the Cardinals for greener pastures in '24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

they were expected to do better.

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

□ 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.

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

2025 Hitting (Potentially circular lineup of solid hitters):

improving a bit in '22.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(both longtime Dodgers) and 2B Trevor Story.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the Year voting.

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

□ 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.