Boston Red Sox All-Decade team from 2010-2019 seasons
Selecting the best Boston Red Sox players at each position over the last decade, spanning from 2010 through the 2019 season.
The Boston Red Sox have been one of the more accomplished teams in baseball over the last decade. The outcome may not be up to expectations every year but one thing we can count on is this organization assembling a roster loaded with star power.
Red Sox fans have been privileged to watch some of the game’s best players wear their team’s uniform. Many of them were developed by the organization, climbing their way through the farm system until making their big league debut. Other star players signed as free agents. Boston’s brass hasn’t been shy about swinging a blockbuster trade to add talent.
The Red Sox have had an All-Star at almost every position on the field since 2010. Choosing the best players of this decade is a tall task but it’s a challenge we’ve accepted.
As this decade winds to a close, let’s look back at the top players at each position to wear a Red Sox uniform over the last ten seasons.
Catcher: Victor Martinez
Boston acquired Victor Martinez at the 2009 trade deadline and his bat gave them a lift down the stretch to lead them to the postseason. He hit a blistering .336 with a .912 OPS in 56 games with the Red Sox that season.
Martinez served as the backup catcher to Jason Varitek while seeing a significant chunk of his playing time at first base. The following year is when he began to take the reigns away from the veteran behind the plate. Following in the footsteps of one of the best catchers in franchise history is no easy task but Martinez was ready for the challenge.
Martinez caught 110 games for the Red Sox in 2010, while seeing limited time at first and DH. He was an All-Star in his only full season in Boston, hitting .302/.351/.493 with 20 home runs and 79 RBI.
Christian Vazquez leads all Red Sox catchers this decade with 9.0 WAR, per FanGraphs. That’s significantly higher than the 3.7 fWAR that Martinez produced in Boston, although it took Vazquez about three times as many games to compile that total. His breakout season in 2019 shows Vazquez is poised to lead the position into the next decade but his peak still falls a bit short of what Martinez did in his limited time here. Plus, Vazquez has a couple of ugly seasons on his resume while he was developing into a top-notch catcher and dealing with injuries.
First Base: Adrian Gonzalez
Adrian Gonzalez‘s tenure in Boston is often viewed with disdain for reasons that are a bit unfair. Much of this stems from being a part of a 2011 team that suffered a soul-crushing September collapse. Gonzalez was also the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers that helped reset the franchise by shedding several overpaid, disgruntled players.
Many wrongly assumed that escaping San Diego’s pitcher-friendly park would result in an even greater power surge from the former 40-homer slugger. That left those fans disappointed when his home run totals actually declined with the move to Fenway Park.
That doesn’t mean he was unproductive. In his only full season with the Red Sox, Gonzalez led the league with 213 hits while batting .338/.410/.548 with 27 home runs and 117 RBI. He was named an All-Star, won the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards at his position and finished seventh on the AL MVP ballot. No other Red Sox first baseman has come close to matching that production this decade.
Gonzalez was in the midst of another productive season when he was traded in an August waiver deal with the Dodgers.
He didn’t spend much time in Boston but he produced 8.5 fWAR in parts of two seasons, narrowly topping Kevin Youkilis (8.0 fWAR) for the best among Red Sox first basemen this decade.
Youk’s best years were in the prior decade when he was a part of two championship teams. He began this decade with a couple of productive seasons, including an All-Star campaign in 2011. That wasn’t enough to top what Gonzalez produced though and Youkilis fell off a cliff in 2012 before he was traded to Chicago at the deadline.
Mitch Moreland was an All-Star in 2018. He’s a strong defensive player and his penchant for hitting doubles made Mitchy Two-Bags a fan-favorite in Boston. He struggled to stay on the field while battling an assortment of injuries and his peak wasn’t close to what we’ve seen from Gonzalez or Youkilis. Moreland’s 2.2 fWAR over the last three years is only about a quarter of what those other two first basemen produced in fewer games.
Second Base: Dustin Pedroia
It’s disheartening to watch as a devastating knee injury has forced Dustin Pedroia to limp to the finish line of his career. The veteran second baseman has appeared in only nine games over the last two seasons and it’s anyone’s guess if we’ll see him at all in 2020. Despite this injury-plagued downward spiral, we can’t forget about Pedroia’s outstanding performances from earlier this decade.
Pedroia made two All-Star appearances and won three Gold Gloves from 2010-2014. He received MVP votes in two of those seasons, finishing as high as seventh in 2013.
While he never managed to replicate his stellar MVP campaign from 2008, Pedroia steadily produced at the plate and in the field for many years before his knee stopped cooperating. From 2010-2017, Pedroia hit .297/.365/.435.
Boston has struggled to find consistent replacements to fill in for the injured Pedroia over the last few years. Eduardo Nunez provided a sparkplug late in the 2017 season but his production dwindled until he was designated for assignment this year. Super-utility player Brock Holt covered the bulk of the second base duties while the club also experimented with rookie Michael Chavis at the position. Barring a miraculous recovery from Pedroia, second base remains a mystery heading into 2020.
The last few years have been a bust for Pedroia but no Red Sox second baseman can match what he accomplished in the first half of this decade.
Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts
The shortstop position was a revolving door in Boston for most of the previous decade but that changed once Xander Bogaerts cemented his role in 2014.
Bogaerts has hit .288/.350/.451 over the course of his career. He’s made two All-Star appearances and won three Silver Slugger awards.
He proved capable of hitting for a high average early in his career when he batted .320 in 2015. His power took a bit longer to develop but he’s finally put it all together.
2019 saw Bogaerts emerge as a true superstar. He set career-highs with 52 doubles, 33 home runs, 117 RBI, and a .939 OPS to finish fifth on the AL MVP ballot. He was arguably the best player on the Red Sox this year and the only member of this club to be named to the 2019 All-MLB team.
Before Bogaerts arrived, the Red Sox cycled through forgettable journeymen such as Marco Scutaro and Stephen Drew. Now they have an elite option anchoring the position. His six-year, $120 million contract extension that kicks in next season is already looking like a bargain and he’ll continue to be a key cog in the lineup well into next decade.
Third Base: Rafael Devers
What, you were expecting Pablo Sandoval? The Red Sox have had extreme highs and dismal lows at the hot corner this decade but none can top what Rafael Devers delivered in his breakout season this year.
Devers tied for fourth in the league with a career-high .311 average and his .916 OPS was ninth this year. He led the league with 54 doubles and 90 extra-base hits.
Did I mention he did this at the age of 22? Devers is the youngest player in franchise history with 200+ hits and 50+ doubles in a season. He also set a franchise record for the most home runs by a third baseman with 32.
Devers burst onto the scene in 2017, flashing potential with a .284 average and 10 homers in only 58 games. He sputtered through a Sophmore slump but started to pick things up at the plate late in the season, foreshadowing his leap to superstar status.
His defense remains a work in progress but Devers has made strides in the field. He’s not the liability he once was but still has a ways to go.
Adrian Beltre spent one year in Boston to begin the decade, making the All-Star team and finishing ninth in AL MVP voting. His production that year rivaled what Devers did this season and he was arguably more valuable when you factor in his strong defensive skills. That’s not enough to vault his limited sample over what Devers has provided in parts of three seasons though.
Left Field: Andrew Benintendi
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2015 draft raced through the minor league system to debut with the Red Sox down the stretch of the 2016 season. While he’s struggled through inconsistencies over the last few years, he’s also flashed plenty of upside.
Andrew Benintendi belted 20 homers and swiped 20 bases in 2017 when he finished as the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award. He hit .290 and improved his OPS to .830 the following year when he made the Final Vote ballot for the All-Star Game. He played a significant role in the 2018 World Series championship, making one of the greatest diving catches in postseason history to help put away the Houston Astros in the ALCS.
This year was a step back for Benny. He seemed to be pressing a bit when he was moved to the leadoff spot to begin the season. The Red Sox ended the experiment early but that left Benintendi bouncing around the batting order.
The Red Sox have a long history of outstanding left fielders, from Teddy Ballgame to Yaz to Manny. A few big-name talents made brief pitstops in Boston this decade, including Carl Crawford, Grady Sizemore, and Yoenis Cespedes, none of whom accomplished much during their stints with the Red Sox.
We’ve yet to see the best from Benintendi but what he’s accomplished so far in his young career surpasses anyone else who has played in the shadow of Fenway’s green monster this decade.
Center Field: Jacoby Ellsbury
Jacoby Ellsbury will go down in history as one of the worst free-agent signings that the New York Yankees ever made but he earned that lucrative contract based on what he did during the first few years of the decade in Boston.
Ellsbury had a career-year in 2011 when he hit .321 with a .928 OPS, 32 home runs and 39 steals to finish as the runner-up in the AL MVP race. He also won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award that season.
That year would end up being Ellsbury’s only All-Star campaign. He never again hit more than 16 homers in a single season or finished higher than 15th in MVP voting.
His last year in Boston was another strong season. Ellsbury hit .298 and tallied a league-leading 52 stolen bases in 2013 while setting the table at the top of a lineup that would capture a World Series title.
Ellsbury’s career has gone in the tank since moving to the Bronx. Injuries sapped his production and he hasn’t seen the field since 2017 despite collecting paychecks from the Yankees.
His production with the Red Sox to begin the decade makes him an easy choice for this list though. Jackie Bradley Jr. is the only one who comes close thanks to his stellar defense. He did have one All-Star season but Bradley’s peak wasn’t anything close to what we saw from Ellsbury in 2011. Ellsbury’s 14.8 fWAR with the Red Sox this decade tops Bradley’s 13.5 fWAR despite that JBJ has played more than twice as many games with the club during that span.
Right Field: Mookie Betts
One day we may very well put together a list of the all-time greatest Red Sox players at each position and find Mookie Betts locked in at right field. He doesn’t have the longevity to top Dwight Evans yet but if Betts sticks around beyond next season, he’s well on his way to being the best at his position.
Betts has been an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner in each of the last four years. This streak began in 2016 when he finished as the runner-up for the MVP award. Two years later, Betts would take home the hardware with one of the greatest single-season performances in franchise history.
The 2018 AL MVP won a batting title with a .346 average while also leading the league with a .640 slugging percentage and 129 runs scored. His 10.4 fWAR was the seventh-highest ever produced in a single-season by a Red Sox position player. Betts owns three of the top four fWAR seasons by a Red Sox right fielder.
It was never reasonable to expect him to replicate that performance on an annual basis so we can’t be disappointed that Betts hit only .295/.391/.524 with 29 homers this year.
Betts is one of the best five-tool talents in the game and that’s not changing anytime soon. Hopefully, the uniform he wears doesn’t change either.
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz
There’s no question that David Oritz is the best DH in MLB history and he’s in the conversation for being one of the top handful of hitters in Red Sox history.
When we reached the end of the last decade, it appeared that Ortiz’s career was on its last legs. Not even close. A resurgent Ortiz ripped off four consecutive All-Star seasons to begin this decade and he was going strong until the age of 40 when his body finally forced him to retire.
2016 was his final season and also one of his best. Big Papi led the league with 48 doubles, 127 RBI, .620 SLG, and a 1.021 OPS.
From 2010-2016, Ortiz hit .292 with 224 home runs and 700 RBI in 957 games with the Red Sox. That’s more production than most hitters provide over a full decade, let alone just over half of one.
Ortiz has always been known for his postseason heroics and 2013 was one of his brightest highlights on that stage. His grand slam against the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS helped launch the Red Sox into the World Series, where Ortiz would capture MVP honors by hitting an unfathomable .688/.760/1.188 in six games against the St. Louis Cardinals.
J.D. Martinez has been excellent in his first two seasons in Boston but he has a long way to go before he passes Ortiz.
Starting Pitcher: Chris Sale
Chris Sale ends the decade with lingering questions about his health and a massive contract that looked questionable before it began but there’s no denying how dominant he’s been with the Red Sox.
In his first season in Boston, Sale led the league with 308 strikeouts, falling just shy of the single-season franchise record. He won 17 games with a 2.90 ERA to finish as the runner-up in Cy Young voting.
A lengthy stint on the injured list cost Sale most of the second half in 2018 but he was even more dominant when he was on the mound. He owned a 2.11 ERA and 13.5 K/9, finishing fourth in Cy Young voting despite being limited to 27 starts.
The Red Sox eased Sale back in when he returned late in the 2018 season but he contributed to their postseason run and recorded the final three outs in the decisive game of the World Series.
A limited spring workload led to a slow start this season and he would end the year on the shelf with an elbow injury. Sale’s 4.40 ERA was easily the worst of his career but he remained among the best strikeout pitchers in baseball with an elite 13.3 K/9.
Jon Lester provides a stiff challenge to Sale’s spot on this list but that’s mostly based on having pitched nearly twice as many innings for the Red Sox this decade. Sale has Lester beat in ERA, WHIP, K/9, BB/9, and fWAR. Lester will always be fondly remembered for his postseason brilliance in 2013 but he’s never come close to anything resembling Sale’s production during his years in Boston.
Bullpen: Koji Uehara
The Red Sox brought in multiple “proven closers” to handle the ninth inning for the 2013 season but when they all failed, the job was entrusted to the unheralded Koji Uehara. The veteran from Japan didn’t disappoint.
His first season with the Red Sox was one of the most dominant performances we’ve ever seen by a reliever. He posted a minuscule 1.09 ERA and his 0.57 WHIP was the lowest ever recorded by an MLB pitcher (minimum 50 innings). Uehara also set a franchise record that year by retiring 37 consecutive batters.
Uehara spent four seasons in Boston, tallying 79 saves with a 2.19 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 11.6 K/9. His 6.1 fWAR led all Red Sox relievers this decade.
Koji was outstanding in the 2013 postseason when he allowed only one earned run in 13 2/3 innings. He was named MVP of the ALCS and logged a pair of saves in the World Series.
Next. Swapping bad contracts key to trading Price. dark
Strikeout-machine Craig Kimbrel was the more overpowering pitcher but he was also prone to bouts of wildness and was hard to trust during Boston’s 2018 postseason run. Koji pitched more innings for the Red Sox and had a better ERA, WHIP, and BB/9. If you had to select one Red Sox reliever from this decade to close out a big game, give me Koji Time.