2012
The 2012 season was a complete disaster for the Red Sox and one fans are inclined to forget about. Bobby Valentine was brought in to replace the player-friendly Terry Francona as manager and the veterans in the clubhouse never warmed up to the new skipper’s tougher demeanor.
Valentine’s approval rating began sinking when he was critical of the struggling Kevin Youkilis early in the season. Dustin Pedroia rushed to his teammate’s defense, defiantly stating, “I don’t know what Bobby’s trying to do. But that’s not how we go about our stuff here.”
Before long, Bobby V had a full-blown mutiny on his hands. Players showed little respect for their new manager and went behind his back to approach the front office and ownership about removing Valentine.
Tensions boiled over to the point where the Red Sox had no choice but to blow things up. An August waiver deal with the Dodgers shipped All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and utility infielder Nick Punto to Los Angeles along with disgruntled veterans Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford.
None of the prospects that the Red Sox received in return for this much star power ever panned out but the move was viewed as addition by subtraction. Boston rid themselves of underachieving players who were causing a distraction while shedding a quarter of a billion dollars in future payroll.
The exodus of talent did the on field product no favors though. Boston limped the the finish line on an eight-game losing streak to finish with 69 wins and a last-place finish in the AL East.