Red Sox struggles after winning World Series are nothing new
By Drew Athans
Nobody was expecting much from the 2013 Red Sox, but they used the horrific Boston Marathon bombing as a rallying cry to unite the team and city and, combined with career years from pretty much all of the new guys they signed, rode that wave all the way to a World Series victory. Rookie manager John Farrell turned the same trick Terry Francona had done nine years prior and won a title in his first year. However, his follow-up season would be far worse than his predecessor’s.
Farrell and the 2014 Red Sox followed up the worst-to-first seasons of 2012 and 2013 with two last place finishes in 2014 (71-91) and 2015 (78-84). A huge part of it was roster turnover and players who caught lightning in a bottle in 2013 crashing back down to earth. The rosters were steadily less talented, injuries hampered them, certain players reached the end of their useful shelf life with Boston, and the ill-advised Pablo Sandoval blunder put the final nail in the coffin.
However, these years weren’t all bad as they allowed young homegrown stars like Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, and Jackie Bradley time to grow and develop. Things finally got better in 2016 when the team reeled off the first of three consecutive seasons winning the AL East. After replacing Farrell with Alex Cora for the 2018 season, they got back to their championship ways by having the greatest season in franchise history and winning their fourth World Series since 2004.
It seemed as though this juggernaut of a team would finally be the one that would mount a real title defense the next season, especially since almost the entire team was left intact for 2019. Of course, we all know how that turned out…