Exploring what the Boston Red Sox could have been had they not added Mitch Moreland prior to the 2017 season
Before the 2017 season started, the Boston Red Sox made a few big moves. One of which helped out huge this year and the other one which completely backfired. Dave Dombrowski was both an evil genius and a complete loon. After all, who in their right mind would trade the teams future stars in Michael Kopech, Yoan Moncada, in addition to a third player and then in a separate move, send Travis Shaw along with a package of three for another? Who does that?!
Dave Dombrowski did it. The first big move was in sending Kopech and Moncada to the Chicago White Sox for Sox ace Chris Sale. The second big move, which may go down as one of the biggest “oops” moves by a General Manager, was trading for Tyler Thornburg by giving away three prospects and Shaw, who had a career year this season. With the open position at first base, the Sox needed to go out and get a stop gap player capable of doing the job.
Who did the Red Sox call? None other than Mitch Moreland. The Sox didn’t have many options at first. Hanley Ramirez was not going to be the answer. Ramirez did well in his first season playing first base but still wanted to be at a different position. He made it very apparent that he wanted to be the next David Ortiz and not play in the field, he wanted to be the DH. Moreland had a reputation for being a decent power hitter and great with a glove so why not give him a chance?
Moreland was also a guy that had experience in the Post Season. In his first two seasons in the league, the Rangers went all the way to the World Series. Having that experience is important with younger guys on the team. While his tenure wasn’t the longest on the team having leadership qualities added to his value. The more and more you thought about it, the more it seemed like the perfect fit. Boston and Moreland could work very nice together.
While the regular season has come to an end the “What If” series is far from over. We explore what Moreland has meant to the club this season and if a 2018 future can exist.