Boston Red Sox: My three least favorite players this decade
The Boston Red Sox have had dozens of storied players come and go over this past glorious decade, here are my three least favorites.
With the decade coming to a close, the Boston Red Sox experienced the same roller coaster journey many of us have come to expect from decades past.
Two championships were celebrated, one of which was a rematch with the St. Louis Cardinals where Boston won the series 4-2. As well as the Los Angeles Dodgers who were defeated more decisively by a series score of 4-1.
The Red Sox also experienced last-place finishes in three seasons during that span due to a number of missteps with roster and payroll decisions. However, on the other end of the spectrum, they also captured four American League East titles.
In the midst of all of the success, three different general managers reigned over the front office during this time period, while a mind-boggling four different managers occupied the dugout.
The decade did not pass by without its fair share of controversies, which were heavily scrutinized by fans and media. In a market like Boston, emotions can often boil over and split the fan base into different factions.
In this article, I reflect on three players who became my least favorite to put on a Red Sox uniform based on a multitude of reasons.
Craig Kimbrel
On November 13, 2015, the Red Sox acquired four-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres. Four prospects were sent the other way in the trade, none of whom were Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, or Mookie Betts.
The Alabama native was controllable for the next three seasons, including the option. Boston fans hadn’t had a long-term closer since the departure of Jonathan Papelbon to the Philadelphia Phillies following the 2011 season.
In 2012, the Red Sox bullpen was in complete shambles after Alfredo Aceves proved he did not have the capability of holding down the 9th inning. Koji Uehara had perhaps one of the most dominant seasons as a closer in MLB history in 2013 with an astonishingly low 1.09 ERA but battled through injuries the next two seasons. Not to mention the team floundered miserably with back-to-back last-place finishes.
Kimbrel had the benefit of the team finishing in first place atop the AL East in all three seasons he pitched for the Red Sox but failed to live up to the hype that preceded him.
It was immediately apparent that the former Padre might not have the temperament to pitch in a pressure-packed environment like Fenway Park, where the crowds are often hostile. Mark Melancon was a good recent example of a reliever who had a solid track record of success prior to arriving in Boston only to fail miserably and be traded in the middle of his first season.
2016 was a rollercoaster at best for Kimbrel. He scuffled out of the gates and posted a 6.00 ERA for the month of September. During the final week of the season at Yankee Stadium, he was pulled off the mound in the 9th inning leaving the bases loaded, and was responsible when three of those runs came home on a walk-off grand slam hit by Mark Teixeira.
Kimbrel had his best season with Boston in 2017 and was lights out going down the stretch. He carried that momentum into the playoffs against the Houston Astros in Game Four of the ALDS. “Dirty Craig” entered the eighth inning with the game tied at 3-3. The bases quickly got loaded, which eventually resulted in two runs coming across the plate, ultimately sealing the choke job and ending the season for the Red Sox.
One of the big knocks on the Boston closer was his lack of versatility. He struggled mightily to record outs in non-save situations and was also prone to giving up runs. This wasn’t a sporadic occurrence, but a steadily agonizing pattern.
Throughout the second half of 2018, Kimbrel posted a 4.57 ERA. He was unable to locate his off-speed pitches, and opposing batters stopped swinging at his rising fastball. This led to the leadoff hitter continually getting on base, and constantly having to pitch out of jams.
As the Red Sox forged into the playoffs, Kimbrel still could not come up with any solutions to get batters consistently out. He went on to post a 6.18 ERA during that playoff run in which he was the raging definition of a “heart attack closer.”
In fact, he became the only Boston closer in the World Series era who was not handed the baseball to record the final three outs of the clinching championship game.
When all was said and done, the Red Sox simply did not value Kimbrel on a multi-year deal. He never proved he could handle the pressure of Boston. Nor did he ever seem to embody what it meant to play at Fenway.
I personally always got the sense that Kimbrel was a player who was more concerned with racking up saves to elevate himself on the all-time list. And simply biding his time to reach free agency to potentially cash in on a huge deal.
As it turned out, none of the 30 MLB teams thought he was worth a six-year deal north of $100 million, nor the draft pick it also would have cost them. He remained unsigned until after the June draft and was eventually signed to a three-year deal worth $43 million. He wrapped up the 2019 season with a 6.53 ERA.
Kimbrel never showed up in the big game while he pitched in Boston. And makes my top three.
Dustin Pedroia
Obviously this will not be a popular pick for this list. Getting straight down to brass tacks, I have never been a huge “Dustin Pedroia” guy from a character standpoint.
These observations got started at the beginning of the 2012 season when he engaged in a public spat with Bobby Valentine due to some negative comments the manager had made about third baseman Kevin Youkilis.
It was a terrible look as the team got off to a tumultuous start to the season. Many fans were still frustrated with the historic collapse the Red Sox had the previous September when they blew a playoff berth in game 162.
The most controversial incident of Pedroia’s career came on April 23, 2017 moments after reliever Matt Barnes let a fastball sail high towards the head of Manny Machado. Barnes was immediately ejected.
John Farrell sprinted out of the dugout to argue with the umpires that the ball had initially made contact with the barrel of the bat, was actually a foul ball. While both parties were discussing that possibility, Pedroia was clearly caught on camera pointing to the direction of the Red Sox bullpen and telling Machado, “It wasn’t me, that was them.” Repeating those sentiments multiple times.
It put Pedroia die-hards in the awkward position of having to sell their souls and defend Machado. Many of whom were hypocritically calling for the Orioles third baseman’s head only a couple days earlier when he executed a dirty, cleat first slide into Pedey’s leg, which might have subsequently ended his career from a competitive aspect.
To this day, those same people will insist the decade long second baseman wasn’t actually ratting out his own bullpen, but the coaching staff for ordering the retaliation. However, even after being afforded several moments after the game, as well as final five outs, rather than distance himself from the situation or attempting any damage control, Pedroia doubled down by telling the media, “That’s not how you do that.”
It should be noted, this incident took place less than 30 games into the season, which was the first in 14 years that David Ortiz was not a player in the Boston dugout. Under his leadership, would Big Papi have allowed a member of the Red Sox to take the side of a hated division rival had he still been an active player? I find that hard to believe, but Pedroia huggers essentially would have no choice but to cop out to it.
Every aspect of this incident was handled as poorly as possible. In a moment when the Woodland California native should have been a leader, he seemed to decide he was bigger than the game and bigger than his allegiance to his team, and the Boston fanbase as a whole.
In late July, Pedroia once again found himself in a cloud of controversy when there were rampant rumors that he egged on David Price against Dennis Eckersley in the infamous charter plane incident. Several conflicting reports were published as to how prominent his role actually was.
Nonetheless, the defacto “Leader of the Red Sox” did not apologize to Eckersley for what took place on that plane, nor did he condemn the actions of his teammate. Instead, he waited only until the backlash reached the intensity of a full-blown national story to attempt to address the situation. Half of Red Sox Nation never bought it, and the embattled 2008 American League MVP subsequently deleted his Twitter account.
And finally, during the 2017 ALDS in what would end up being one of the last meaningful at-bats in Pedroia’s career, he struck out with the bases loaded in the second inning and accosted the umpire. John Farrell came out to protect his second baseman but was consequently ejected by the home plate umpire, effectively being the final act of his own tenure with the Red Sox.
It was a moment when everyone on the team needed to be sharply focused to avoid being eliminated from the postseason, but Pedroia again failed as a leader by completely losing his composure.
Oh and by the way, how come he was a no-show at Johnny Pesky‘s funeral? Pedroia makes number two on my list.
David Price
When the Red Sox wrapped up the 2015 season, it was their second straight last-place finish, and they desperately needed an ace at the top of their rotation.
Newly hired President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave David Price a record $217 million contract. Just four months earlier the new Boston executive had traded Price away from the Detroit Tigers to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was one of his last acts before being fired by Tiger’s owner Mike Illitch.
I was immediately concerned Price would not be a good fit for the New England market. He had a tumultuous history with the Red Sox, and even more so with the media. It appeared that by making this signing, Dombrowski did not even understand the volatility of this fan base. Or at least took it far too lightly.
In 2016, Price’s first year in Boston was largely uneventful. He got off to a rough start but settled into a groove as the team finished the year in first place.
Price was shelled by the Cleveland Indians in his lone playoff start in the ALDS that October. He had to be removed from the game in the 4th inning after giving up five runs. Mike Napoli even managed to steal second base straight up to put an exclamation point on his poor performance.
As soon as David Ortiz‘ retirement became official, Price began taking jabs at Red Sox fans on Twitter during the offseason. As was well as further disparaging remarks towards them in an interview with the Boston Globe just before the start of spring training.
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The former Cy Young winner began 2017 on the injured list due to inflammation in his left elbow. As he fought back from injury to make his first start of the season on May 29th, he also began fighting with the Red Sox beat writers.
Price’s struggles with the media came to a head in early June when he informed them he would no longer give interviews except on days he was scheduled to pitch. This lead to a highly publicized screaming match with then NBC Sports writer Evan Drellich just outside of the Red Sox clubhouse.
His war on the media continued three weeks later in what became perhaps the most controversial incident of his career. This took place on a charter plane when Price ambushed NESN color analyst Dennis Eckersley over a one-word comment he made about the pitching line from Eduardo Rodriguez‘ rehab start earlier that evening. That comment? “Yuck.”
It quickly became a national story, one in which Price further alienated himself from Boston fans. Another wave of the controversy took place in late July as more details were made public. The angry Red Sox ace was scheduled to make his next start against the Kansas City Royals, which was to begin once the Sox arrived back at Fenway to begin a homestand. Instead, he went on the injured list rather than face the music.
The next season, Price’s first start against the Yankees came in April. He got hammered for four runs in the very first inning, and then took himself out of the game due to apparent numbness in his throwing hand.
His next scheduled start against the Bronx Bombers was set for early May, but Price had himself scratched from the start the day before, again due to hand numbness. Red Sox officials sent him back to Boston for a battery of tests. Nothing was found except a mild case of “carpal tunnel.”
Noticing a pattern? Price finally did have to face the music against the Yankees during a July 1st start in the Bronx. In front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN, he gave up eight runs in only 3.1 innings, five of which were home runs.
There was also no escaping his playoff start in Game Two of the ALDS against the Yankees that following October. Predictably, he lasted only 1.2 innings after giving up three runs.
In 2019, Price skipped out of two more starts against the Yankees just hours before he was scheduled to make them. During his entire tenure with the Red Sox, he has not done this against any other ball club.
In July of last season, WEEI posted an aggregated article that focused on a small snippet of Dennis Eckersley’s interview with Chad Finn of the Boston Globe. The interview virtually covered his entire career.
The part which WEEI focused on pertained to comments where Eckersley stated he had no intention of ever talking to Price.
In a hilariously botched attempt to force his own narrative, Price called out Eckersley in an impromptu press conference he assembled with the beat writers in the Red Sox clubhouse and preceded to slander the NESN Broadcaster with several lies.
Price claimed that none of Eckersley’s former teammates spoke about him in his MLB Presents special. When in fact there were exactly ten. Red Sox beat writers held the Boston pitcher accountable by setting the record straight.
Earlier this offseason, the Red Sox front office has made statements expressing their desire to keep Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez with the team long term. Those statements, of course, are mostly political and essentially a tiny white lie, as they have actively shopped Betts in trade talks with other teams.
Next. Key to trading David Price. dark
He makes the list as my number one least favorite Red Sox player of this decade. And probably ever.