Boston Red Sox players who have tried, failed, and departed
This season has gone poorly for several Boston Red Sox players or former players. The first is Marwin Gonzalez, who the team signed as a free agent. Gonzalez is now an ex-Red Sox, and as part of the divorce settlement, the 32-year-old switch hitter will receive $789,000 that remains on his $3 million contract.
Gonzalez – a master of defensive versatility – did little with his instrument of pitching pain hitting just .202. He did have his moments both offensively and defensively, but they were as frequent as Halley’s Comet.
Gonzalez was a low-risk move by Chaim Bloom despite a 2020 season that now is an indicator of a career slide. Gonzalez’s career year was with Red Sox Manager Alex Cora when both were in Houston in 2017, and a World Series trash can added title. Gonzalez hit a career-best in average at .303, home runs with 23, and plating 90 RBI.
Michael Chavis took center stage in 2019 with two quite visible abilities – prodigious home runs and a pile of strikeouts. The right-hand masher was a Statcast regular for his bombs. Then in 2020 and 2021, Chavis bombed.
The 26-year-old was ranked as the Red Sox number one prospect in 2018, and his debut season gave that internal Red Sox hope of a right-hand slugger that could abuse Fenway Park. Unfortunately, that never took place.
Chavis’ stay in Boston ended with a trade to the Pirates for pitcher Austin Davis. The Pirates have shipped Chavis to Indianapolis (AAA), where he has seen game time playing first, second, and third. His Boston memories will be one of promise never achieved, but the Pirates could be a new beginning.
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Franchy Cordero is a tease with his athleticism and power potential. For Cordero, that power has applied only to the minors, and in Boston, a 37.5 K% was a factor in his .189 average. Cordero has not produced consistently enough to warrant additional playing time.
To his credit, Cordero quickly transitioned to the challenge to play first base as a possible lifeline to stay in The Show. That, however, had the proverbial wrench tossed into the works with the trade for Kyle Schwarber, the recent signing of Travis Shaw, and Bobby Dalbec now on a hitting streak that complicates the dynamics even more.
Cordero has returned to Worcester, where he hit .329 and slammed six home runs in 44 games. With the ever-fluid first base and roster situation, never say never on a return to the big club by Cordero.
I thought the signing of right-hander Matt Andriese was the smart move. A typical Bloom low risk and high reward situation. The only reward has been to opposition hitters that have torched Andriese to a staggering 6.03 ERA. Andriese has been out for over a month with a hamstring injury and when it came time to activate him, the Red Sox designated him for assignment instead.
Those are just a few of the latest, and waiting in the wings for dismissal is a Gonzalez clone in Danny Santana. He’s on the injury list (again). Santana has done nothing to merit additional playing time, hitting just .171. He’s is on the books for $1.75 million, and cutting him loose would not be a hardship.