Red Sox Catching up with old friends: Brandon Moss
By Drew Peabody
Former Boston Red Sox farmhand Brandon Moss has turned himself into a dangerous left-handed slugger.
Newer fans who might have thought about Brandon Moss as a veteran left-handed power option the Boston Red Sox should try to acquire was once in their organization.
Drafted out of high school in the eighth round of the 2002 draft (an earlier round pick that year was some kid named Jon Lester), Moss made it to the majors in 2007 on the Red Sox team that won it all.
Moss didn’t do anything spectacular in his brief major league time in Boston but he wasn’t bad either. In 2007, Moss had 29 plate appearances, posting an .819 OPS. In 2008, Moss was holding his own again with a .799 OPS in 84 plate appearances in the majors, when the Red Sox included Moss in a three team trade to get a listless Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers. Moss went to the Pirates, who sent Jason Bay to Boston.
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Pittsburgh gave Moss more a chance at regular playing time, 424 plate appearances in 2009, but he only posted a .668 OPS (77 OPS+). In 2010, Moss only managed 27 plate appearances at the major league level (96 RBI at Triple-A didn’t get him more major league time).
Looking for a fresh start, Moss became a free agent, signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite a strong season for their Triple-A team (.877 OPS in 140 games), he only managed a hitless six plate appearances in the majors in 2011. He must have thought he was never going to get a chance at the big league level again.
Moss then went to a place which seems to be a haven for ex-Red Sox (Coco Crisp, and Josh Reddick are names that come to mind), the Oakland Athletics. After back to back 20 homer seasons in Triple-A and 15 more in 224 plate appearances with a .952 OPS in Oakland’s system in 2012, Oakland brought him up to the majors. This was Moss’ major league breakout year. 21 homers in 296 plate appearances that year meant he was in the majors to stay.
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A small market team eventually cannot afford a slugger like Moss, whose success will bring him bigger contracts in arbitration. Moss’ $1.6 million salary in 2013 jumped to $4.1 million in 2014 after 30 homers in 2013 and 25 more in 2014.
After the 2014 season, the Athletics traded Moss to the Cleveland Indians for a minor leaguer. Moss hit 15 homers for Cleveland in 2015, but his OPS dipped to .695. The St. Louis Cardinals came calling at the trade deadline, sending Moss to the National League again, for another minor leaguer. Moss stayed with the Cardinals in 2016 for his last season before free agency, where he bounced back with 28 homers and a .784 OPS which was a 73 point improvement over the 2015.
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Moss signed a two year, $12 million deal with the Kansas City Royals in this offseason. The Georgia native has split his time between first base and the outfield since 2012. Eric Hosmer is the regular at first base in Kansas City, so Moss will likely see more of his time at DH and in the outfield than at first base.
Stay tuned each week as we catch up with old friends at BoSoxInjection.com