Ranking every Boston Red Sox season from this decade
Ranking each season for the Boston Red Sox from 2010 to 2019, from the dismal lows to the euphoric highs of this past decade.
This decade has been a roller coaster of emotions for the Boston Red Sox. The last ten seasons have brought two World Series championships but we’ve also suffered through a few dismal last-place finishes. There have been pleasant surprises and soul-crushing defeats.
This decade has seen the Red Sox welcome bright new stars and wave good-bye to franchise legends. Mega-contracts have been handed to some free agents who thrived in Boston as well as some who didn’t pan out. There have been blockbuster trades to acquire superstar talent and deals that have shipped popular players out of town.
Red Sox fans have pretty much seen it all over the last ten years. We have celebrated and mourned, cheered joyfully and booed ferociously.
Every season is different in Major League Baseball. There’s always a new ending, new highlights and new reasons to spark debates with the fan base. Not all seasons are created equally, which is why we’re going back through the last decade to rank every Red Sox season.
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.
2014
The reigning World Series champions did a miserable job of defending their title in 2014. The Red Sox sputtered out to a 13-14 start in April. Their mediocrity quickly put them in a hole that they never managed to climb out of.
This season was overshadowed by the failed contract negotiations with ace Jon Lester. The Red Sox approached the lefty with a low-ball offer following his remarkable postseason run in 2013. Lester quickly cut off negotiations, blindsiding an ownership group that assumed they would receive a counter-offer so that the sides could meet in the middle.
When the Red Sox reached the trade deadline out of the playoff hunt, Lester was shipped to the Oakland A’s for Yoenis Cespedes. Boston gambled that they could get an asset for their ace, then turn around and sign him in free agency that winter. They were proven wrong when the Chicago Cubs outbid them, leaving fans stunned that the organization had botched their relationship with the homegrown star pitcher.
One of the few silver linings from this season is that 2014 saw the major league debut of Mookie Betts. It was only a 52-game sample but the future superstar flashed his potential to foreshadow what was to come.
Boston ended this lost season with 71 wins and a last-place finish in the AL East. The Red Sox pulled off the rare misfortune of going from worst-to-first then back to worst again.
2015
Boston tried to climb out of the basement by throwing lucrative contracts at a pair of free agents, only for the plan to backfire spectacularly. Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval were epic disasters during their tenure with the Red Sox.
It never made sense to sign two players whose best position was third base. The Red Sox experimented with Ramirez in left field but the leaning curve proved to be too steep. Ramirez was awful in the outfield and his bat did little to make up for it.
Sandoval was somehow even worse at the plate and his conditioning quickly became a topic of concern. These were two former All-Stars who the Red Sox shelled out big money to sign but they each provided below-replacement level value in their first year in Boston.
Giving away Lester at the deadline the previous year left the Red Sox without a legitimate ace to anchor their rotation. The team quickly lost interest in Cespedes after getting a half-season look at him following the Lester trade. They flipped him that offseason to the Detroit Tigers for Rick Porcello, who had the worst year of his career in 2015 as the supposed savior of Boston’s rotation. Porcello went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA in his debut season with the Red Sox.
Boston “improved” to 78 wins but remained in last place for the second consecutive season and third time in four years.
2011
This was hardly the worst season of the decade in terms of the win column but 2011 was easily the most heart-breaking.
The Red Sox were one of the best teams in baseball through the first five months of the season but ran out of steam down the stretch amid a rampant string of injuries to the starting rotation. Boston posted a dismal 7-20 record in September to become the first team in major league history to miss the playoffs after holding a nine-game lead entering the final month of the season.
All they needed to do was beat the lowly Baltimore Orioles on the final day of the season to clinch a Wild Card berth but Jonathan Papelbon‘s blown save cost them that opportunity. Moments later, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to beat the New York Yankees to steal Boston’s playoff spot.
The epic September collapse brought on controversy from rumors of an undisciplined clubhouse. Josh Beckett was the ringleader of a pitching staff that spent their off days drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse. The lackadaisical attitude was viewed as one of the reasons for the collapse and manager Terry Francona took the blame for losing control of his players, leading to his exit at the end of the season.
The bright spot of this season was a career year from Jacoby Ellsbury. He hit .321 with 32 home runs to finish as the runner-up in the AL MVP race. It was the first and only year that Ellsbury was an All-Star, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner.
Boston won 90 games that season but missing the playoffs due to the worst late-season collapse in major league history, plus the clubhouse turmoil, left a sour taste in the mouths of Red Sox fans.
2019
World Series hangovers must be real. For the second time this decade, the Red Sox disappointed while defending their title.
This year got off to a brutal start with the Red Sox losing eight games on their 11-game road trip to open the season. The plan to limit innings for starting pitchers in spring training to conserve their arms for another deep postseason run backfired when the staff was woefully unprepared for their first few turns through the rotation.
It didn’t get much better for the pitching staff as the year went on. Nathan Eovaldi hit the injured list early after undergoing a procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow. He was sidelined longer than expected and was ineffective as both a starter and reliever once he eventually returned. Eovaldi was rewarded for his postseason heroics with a four-year contract that already looks like an albatross.
Chris Sale had the worst year of his career before hitting the shelf with an elbow injury. David Price had an excellent first half before developing a cyst on his wrist that hindered his delivery. Attempting to pitch through the ailment was a mistake, dragging his numbers down to the lowest point of his career. Both co-aces finished the season on the injured list.
The Red Sox took far too long to develop a bullpen hierarchy, cycling through several options to replace Craig Kimbrel in the closer role before finally settling on Brandon Workman. The bullpen was fine in the end but the damage from their early-season blown saves had been done.
Boston won 84 games to finish in third place in the division but it never felt that they had much of a chance at even claiming a Wild Card spot down the stretch.
2010
The first year of this decade was fairly forgettable. It wasn’t awful enough to ingrain any moments of agony in our memories but it was far from a successful campaign.
2010 saw the arrival of Adrian Beltre on a one-year “prove it” deal. The veteran third baseman didn’t disappoint, hitting .321 with 28 home runs and 102 RBI. He made his first career All-Star appearance and finished ninth on the MVP ballot. Beltre used that bounce-back season to cash in with a new deal with the Texas Rangers the following winter.
Boston’s chances to contend were derailed by their ace having the worst year of his career. Beckett was limited by injury to 21 starts, going 6-6 with a 5.78 ERA.
This was also the first season of John Lackey‘s tenure with the Red Sox but their prized free agent acquisition was a disappointment. Lackey won 14 games but his 4.40 ERA wasn’t what Boston expected from the former All-Star.
The Red Sox won a respectable 89 games but finished six games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card.
2016
Boston bounced back from consecutive last-place finishes to win 93 games and a division title in 2016.
David Price made his Red Sox debut that season after signing a $217 million free-agent deal, which at the time made him the highest paid pitcher in baseball history. He led the league in innings pitched but his 3.99 ERA was viewed as a disappointment considering his massive salary.
Price may not have lived up to his ace billing but Rick Porcello eagerly took that mantle with a career year. The right-hander won 22 games with a 3.15 ERA and 5.91 K/BB ratio to capture the AL Cy Young award.
A breakout year from Mookie Betts earned the outfielder his first All-Star appearance, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove award. He would finish as the runner-up for the MVP.
The most memorable part of this season was David Ortiz‘ farewell tour. With the finish line of his career in sight, Big Papi delivered one of the best seasons of his career by hitting .315 with 38 home runs. Ortiz led the league with 127 RBI, a .620 SLG and a 1.021 OPS.
Boston’s return to the postseason was short-lived as they were swept in the ALDS by the Cleveland Indians.
2017
For the second consecutive season, the Red Sox won 93 games and the division title. Once again, it was a season that still fell short of expectations.
The Red Sox pulled off a blockbuster deal prior to that season to acquire Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox. The lanky lefty didn’t disappoint in his debut season, winning 17 games with a 2.90 ERA to finish as the runner-up for the Cy Young award. Sale led the majors with 308 strikeouts, falling just shy of Pedro Martinez‘ single-season franchise record of 313.
The retirement of David Ortiz left a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup that the front office failed to fill. Without a legitimate power threat to anchor the offense, Boston fell to the bottom of the league in home runs.
Boston underestimated the impact the loss of Ortiz would have on the rest of the lineup. Without Papi’s bat to protect them, several players suffered a decline at the plate. Betts went from being an MVP contender to hitting a career-low .264 with opposing pitchers finding it easier to pitch around him.
The power outage didn’t derail them in the regular season but it came back to bite them in the playoffs. Boston’s lineup couldn’t compete with a loaded Houston Astros team that dispatched the Red Sox in four games in the ALDS.
2013
The city of Boston was devastated by tragedy when a terrorist attack interrupted Marathon Monday in April of 2013. The Red Sox provided a beacon of light in these dark times. David Ortiz’ passionate speech rallied the city and fueled a championship season sparked by the Boston Strong mantra.
The 2012 salary dump deal with the Dodgers enabled the Red Sox to rebuild their roster around high-character veterans. Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, and Jonny Gomes were among the positive influences brought in to repair the fractured clubhouse culture and they each provided production on the field that proved vital to the team’s success.
Koji Uehara was another unheralded newcomer who was one of the key figures leading this team to championship glory. Boston shuffled through several options to fill the closer role before settling on Uehara out of necessity. That led to a career year in which the veteran from Japan posted a stellar 1.09 ERA and a 0.57 WHIP that set a major league record (minimum 50 innings).
Jon Lester’s brilliant postseason run helped carry the Red Sox rotation. The lefty went 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA five postseason starts.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of this postseason was a game-tying grand slam from Ortiz in Game 2 of the ALCS. Boston would go on to win the game to even the series, avoiding a scenario in which they nearly lost the first two games at home. They may never have recovered from that hole but Big Papi came through in the clutch once again to ensure that didn’t happen.
So much can change in the span of one year. The Red Sox went from their worst season of the decade to winning 97 games and being crowned World Series champions.
2018
The best year of this decade was arguably the best in franchise history. The Red Sox had won consecutive division titles but after being bounced in the ALDS both times, manager John Farrell was let go and replaced with Alex Cora. Known for his communication skills and rapport with his players, Cora quickly improved the clubhouse culture.
It helped that the front office upgraded the roster as well. After suffering a drastic power outage the previous year, the Red Sox rectified their lineup issues by signing J.D. Martinez in free agency. Nobody could ever replace David Ortiz but Martinez did a solid impersonation by slugging 43 home runs. He hit .330 and led the league with 130 RBI while making a strong push for the Triple Crown.
Improving the lineup around him did wonders for Mookie Betts. He won the batting title with a .346 average while also leading the league with a .640 SLG and 129 runs scored to earn the AL MVP.
The Red Sox cruised to a franchise record 108 wins on their way to a World Series title. They crushed the rival Yankees in the ALDS and got revenge on the Astros in the ALCS. Boston went on to defeat the Dodgers in five games with their only loss coming in an epic 18-inning marathon which established Nathan Eovaldi as a postseason hero for his gutsy bullpen performance.
David Price exercised his playoff demons by finally winning a postseason start against the Astros. He added two more wins against the Dodgers and arguably should have earned World Series MVP honors.
dark. Next. Red Sox All-Decade Team
There were many memorable moments over this past decade but nothing tops a championship parade. The Red Sox were fortunate enough to celebrate two World Series titles in that span but the season that included the most wins in franchise history gets the nod as the best year of the decade.