Red Sox News: Former Boston players heading to the Mexican League
By Rick McNair
Two Boston Red Sox alumni have joined the Mexican League
The Boston Red Sox will now have a connection to the Mexican League. Mexico has a long history of providing players to the major leagues and certainly, cross-pollination exists. Mexico becomes a destination to rebuild skills and hopefully return to MLB. The Mexican League can also provide an alternative to the various independent leagues. Two former Red Sox players have signed on with the Guadalajara Mariachis – an expansion club.
Deven Marrero was a first-round pick for Boston (2012) and became a classic example of a player getting the label of good glove and no bat. That label sometimes backfires and did with another Red Sox player with the same credentials – José Iglesias. Iglesias is still plowing along with a solid MLB career and a .277 career average.
Marrero never turned it around as Iglesias did. The slick fielder hung around MLB for five seasons hitting just .194 in 348 plate appearances. In Boston, Marrero could sparkle defensively at all four infield positions, but when you are well under the Mendoza Line, your MLB shelf life is quite limited.
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Adrián González will join Marrero on the Mariachis’ but it has nothing to do with an attempt to reclaim an MLB roster spot. At 39-years-old, the “Titan” is nine years Marrero’s senior and it is all about getting in shape to represent Mexico in the Olympic Games.
González had followed this pattern once before. In 2008 while toiling for the San Diego Padres, A-Gon slashed 36/116/.279 and then played winter ball in Mexico in preparation for the 2009 Caribbean Series.
González was a well-established star when he was traded to Boston in 2010. In a pattern, we have seen recently, Boston tossed prospects to the Friars as top pitching prospect Casey Kelly and future All-Star Anthony Rizzo went west. González soon signed a seven-year $154 million deal with the Red Sox.
González had a productive two-season stay with the Red Sox hitting .321, but the out-of-this-world numbers expected did not materialize, especially in his second Boston season. The team was a wreck. Bobby Valentine was manager and they were wallowing around the lower depths of the American League East. González, pitcher Josh Beckett, and outfielder Carl Crawford were heavy payroll hits.
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In late August, GM, Ben Cherrington pulled the trigger on a massive deal with the Dodgers sending González, Beckett, Crawford, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers. What the Red Sox received in player talent is forgettable, but the Dodgers absorbed $258 million in salaries. The next season, Boston won the World Series.