Once a promising prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization, outfielder Josh Reddick’s career began to thrive after he left town.
Josh Reddick was a 17th round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox in 2006 out of a small Georgia college, as a 19 year old.
Reddick ascended through the minor league ranks with his home run power, 23 at three different levels in 2008.
Another 13 dingers and an .871 OPS earned Reddick his first taste of the majors in 2009 as a 22 year old. He was over-matched, though, managing just a .549 OPS in 62 plate appearances (PA). The lefty swinger earned another trip to the majors with 18 homers at Triple-A Pawtucket in 2010. Still, he struggled to a .529 OPS over 63 PA in Boston that season.
2011 was a year that many Red Sox fans would like to forget, yet it was the first success that Reddick ever demonstrated in the majors. Splitting time once again between Pawtucket and Boston, Reddick came up in late May, knocking the cover off the ball. He was hammering a .935 OPS through 135 PA through the end of July.
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Reality set in during August as his OPS fell to .603 that month as pitchers began to discover how to pitch him. A 2-for-21 stretch ended his season in September, his own struggles reflecting those of the team. The team dropped 20 of its last 27 games, eliminated from playoff contention on the last day of the season in Baltimore.
The catch-22 of showing your value as a rookie like Reddick did throughout much of 2011 is that you become a prime candidate to be traded. As a player with parts of three seasons of service time, he was a long way from free agency. On the flip side of that, the Red Sox were looking for someone under team control to fill the closer role that was vacated when Jonathan Papelbon took his act to Philadelphia. Reddick was included in the deal that offseason to acquire then excellent young closer Andrew Bailey, who came with three years of team control himself. As Red Sox fans may know, the Oakland Athletics are a perfect team to show what you can do outside of the spotlight and pressure of a big market like Boston.
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The 2.07 ERA Bailey had posted in Oakland did not happen in Boston. Injuries, and ineffectiveness marred Bailey’s time in Boston, limiting him to just 44 innings over two seasons with a 4.91 ERA, though he did notch 17 saves.
All Reddick did in his first season in Oakland was smash 32 homers, drive in 85 runs and win a Gold Glove in 2012. Why can’t we get guys like that?
Injuries hampered Reddick over the next two seasons, causing him to miss about a third of the season in both 2013 (though he did manage to lead American League right fielders in assists that season with nine) and 2014.
When healthy again for 2015, Reddick pounded another 20 homers. In 2016, Reddick must have known he was on the block since it was his last year before free agency. At the trade deadline, the Athletics followed the small market team script and sent Reddick (along with Red Sox reclamation project and fellow pending free agent Rich Hill) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the usual raft of prospects.
Reddick landed a four year, $52 million deal from the up and coming Houston Astros who also traded for slugging catcher Brian McCann to complement their raft of young superstars. It seems like a path the Red Sox have to take sometimes to build their team. Develop young talent, trade it away for more established players that fill an immediate need and watch them blossom into a solid veteran or more elsewhere.
Reddick can’t be termed anything more than slightly above average with his 106 OPS and -0.2 dWAR for the last three seasons (less than average right fielder). He is now a solid mid-career veteran. Bailey’s flameout in Boston makes Reddick’s success a little harder to take but you take your chances in trades. You just never know.
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