Red Sox: Top-5 trades or free agent signings of the decade
The Red Sox have made some big-time acquisitions in a very successful decade of baseball. Here we rank the top five of these.
The 2010s have been extremely good from a baseball perspective for the Boston Red Sox. Four division titles and two World Series championships make this past decade one to remember for sure.
There have been so many big-name free agent signings and trade acquisitions made. A number of these have landed key players in Boston who’ve been integral parts of the two World Series-winning teams. In terms of ranking these, it’s obviously subjective. But, looking at what these players have added from a statistical point, a clubhouse point and how fans have taken to them, there are a number of shoe-ins, really.
Boston fans have always been lucky with the array of talents that they’ve been able to see on a day-to-day basis, April through October nights. From Cy Young to Ted Williams to David Ortiz, the talent has always been at Fenway Park.
The different teams, with different personnel, have always been there, and the front offices have always done good jobs of getting winning baseball rolling in Boston. The last decade has had its highs and lows, but when it gets looked back at it’ll be remembered as a special time in Red Sox history. Here are the top-five additions to this ball club through signings or trades over the last ten years:
5. Shane Victorino
When Victorino signed with the Red Sox, he was a 32-year-old veteran who had made two All-Star appearances and won a World Series title with the Phillies. The outfielder signed a three-year $39 million deal with the Sox in December 2012 and went on to become a pivotal part of another successful Fall Classic side in his first year in Boston.
Victorino missed extended time in 2014 and was traded to the Angels during the 2015 season, but what he added to the 2013 Red Sox gives him a spot on this list. He was a key player in that side, finishing the regular season averaging .294 from the plate with 61 RBI.
His Boston tenure’s defining moment is clearly the Grand Slam he hit in Game Six of the ALCS against the Tigers, which sent the Sox to the 2013 World Series. Victorino also went 6-14 in the ALDS, and although he only recorded two hits in the World Series, still remains a pivotal figure in that side.
Victorino also won a Golden Glove in 2013, adding to what was a special season for him, the side and the city of Boston in a year that nobody will ever forget beyond just baseball reasons. He was only in Boston for a short period of time, but he was an extremely important piece of this Red Sox decade, and his contributions won’t soon be forgotten.
4. Eduardo Rodriguez
The Red Sox acquired E-Rod in July 2014. At that time he was a 21-year-old pitcher in the Orioles farm system. The Sox sent high-profile reliever Andrew Miller to Baltimore in exchange for the left-hander – and the Sox were adamant that E-Rod was the piece that would get the deal done with Baltimore.
It’s fair to say that this trade was worth it from a Sox standpoint. Rodriguez is now 26 and has already completed five seasons in the majors – this past season being his best one yet. There’ve been injury problems for E-Rod to overcome, but last year he showed that he’s got a lot to offer this ball club and goes into next season as a possible Opening Day starter.
Eddie Aces established himself in 2018, with a 3.82 ERA and was a big part in bringing the ninth championship to Boston. That ERA came down one point this season, but it was over 73.2 more innings than in 2018, as he started a league-leading 34 games over 2019.
In a transitional period for the Sox, having as productive a starter as Rodriguez is extremely important. He’s going to be a key figure in this new era in Boston and hopefully will continue to be for years to come.
3. Rick Porcello
This month marked the end of Porcello’s five-year stint with the Red Sox. The right-hander was acquired back in December 2014 from the Tigers in the deal that saw Yoenis Cespedes land in Detroit.
Porcello has been one of the more up and down players this past decade. When he’s not in the right frame of mind it’s bad, but when he’s on his game then it went very well. Porcello’s first season with the Sox didn’t go well (4.92 ERA) but his second year was one of the best pitching seasons by a Red Sox pitcher in recent memory.
His 2016 season earned him the American League Cy Young Award, on the back of a 22-win season for the righty. 2017 was rough as he gave up the most hits in the AL, but he once again bounced back in 2018 and played such an important role in the postseason – where he started three games and came out of the pen in two.
The fact that he moved to the pen for a number of those games and came into it with important innings being thrown speaks tons about his character as a true team player.
After this past season and with the entrance of this new-look front office, it seemed pretty clear that Porcello was going to go elsewhere. Signing a 1-year deal with the Mets will give the veteran a chance to rebuild his stock as a starter in another big market.
He leaves Boston with the Cy Young Award and a World Series ring under his belt and plenty of positive memories which will outweigh the bad ones. He was also the winningest starting pitcher for the Red Sox this past decade.
2. J.D. Martinez
This list’s number one and two spots are basically 1A and 1B. But checking in here is J.D. Martinez, who completely changed the destiny of 2018.
After an offseason which felt like an eternity, following the 2017 season, J.D. finally agreed to terms with the Sox. Arriving late February of 2018, he signed a $110m deal that had an opt-out after two seasons. J.D. opted in after this season and will continue to be the David Ortiz of today’s Red Sox.
Martinez’s first season in Boston was nothing short of sensational. In the best year of his career, and one of the best hitting seasons that Fenway has seen in some time, J.D. helped the Red Sox cruise to a franchise-record 108-win regular season. He drove in 130 runs, which led the entire majors.
J.D’s 43 home runs gave the Sox that firepower they needed in the middle part of the order, and he became that clean-up hitter that Red Sox Nation has been craving to take over from Big Papi. He finished 4th in the AL MVP race, with teammate Mookie Betts taking the top spot. He also won the Silver Slugger Awards for the left-field position and designated hitter positions.
J.D. became an All-Star for the third time in his career this past season, in what was a very disappointing season for the Sox. There were ups and downs on a personal level for Martinez, but he tallied triple figures in RBI for the fourth time in his career with 105.
2020 will be a big year for this team and Martinez will have to continue to be that leading bat in the heart of this line-up.
1. Chris Sale
Going into what will be his fourth year with the Red Sox, the only question marks over Chris Sale’s head are in connection with his injury problems. The lefty’s talent can be compared to that of Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez‘s, but injury woes leave some doubts. There aren’t many starters who can generate as much excitement as Sale, and that is exactly what he does.
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In terms of sheer ability, Sale is up there at the very top. The Sox were right to trade a haul of prospects to the White Sox in 2016 for him, and they were right to give him the 5-year/$145 million extension that they gave him earlier this year. We’ve just got to hope that his injury troubles don’t take away more than they already have.
Sale is now 30-years-old and has made seven straight All-Star teams. His strikeout of Manny Machado to seal the 2018 World Series win remains his defining moment in Boston, but there has been an abundance of other ones to go with this. Even with his struggles through 2019, he was able to toss not just one but TWO immaculate innings.
The Condor’s first year in Boston saw him pitch the most innings in the majors, and record the most strikeouts with 308 (just five short of Pedro’s all-time Sox record). In 2018 Sale recorded an ERA of 2.11 with 13.5 SO/9 – blowing opponent after opponent away. He continued to be the ace that the Sox needed both on and off the field.
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The injury troubles hindered his 2019, but when he was locked in he was on another level to pretty much anyone else. Sale was one of the main factors in winning it all in the fashion that they did in 2018, and hopefully he can become that for future Sox sides.