Boston Red Sox: Remembering the best trades in franchise history

By Drew Athans | Mar 19, 2020

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 20: Jason Varitek #33 of the Boston Red Sox looks on from the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on April 20, 2010 in Oakland, California. The Red Sox defeated the Athletics 5-3. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez has already been included in my lists of most important players in Red Sox history and best Red Sox players of the 1990s. There’s no need to belabor the point when it comes to discussing his greatness while he was in Boston, seven glorious years when he was one of the most dominating pitchers in all of baseball.

This one is up there with the Varitek/Lowe trade as one of the best in Sox history. After the 1997 season, then-GM Dan Duquette traded Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. to the Montreal Expos for Pedro, who was heading to free agency. Duquette then signed Martinez to a seven-year extension worth $92 million which at the time was the most ever for a pitcher.

I’ve written about Pedro’s numbers before (check out those previous list articles) so there’s no need to go through them again here. Suffice it to say that the two Cy Young Awards, four postseason appearances, and World Series he helped them win are testament enough. Mark this deal as one of the best in Red Sox history.

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