3 former Red Sox players we'll be glad are gone, and 2 we'll wish stayed
The Boston Red Sox are coming off of a forgettable 2022 season. The team went 78-84 and was the only team to finish under .500 in the AL East.
This season looks like it could be another miserable one for Red Sox nation as the team sits at 5-8 and lost some key pieces that fans have known to be Red Sox for a long time.
Some of the players on last year's ballclub had to go. Others are already missed and will continued to be not only for the 2023 season, but beyond as well.
1) Every Red Sox fan should be relieved that Matt Barnes is gone
There aren't many more pitchers more frustrating to watch than Matt Barnes. One day he looks like the best reliever in the American League, the next he looks like a reliever who belongs in Single-A Salem.
He was an All-Star in 2021 after posting a 2.61 ERA in his first 38 appearances of the season and recording 19 saves. He'd lose his closer job in August and post a 6.48 ERA in the second half. He went from being an all-star to practically unusable.
Last season, Barnes had an ERA of 7.94 in the first half, continuing his struggles from the end of the 2021 campaign. He'd then flip a switch all of a sudden and post a 1.59 ERA in his final 24 appearances and start saving games at the end of September.
Boston deciding to get rid of him after finishing the season so well didn't make much sense to me, but getting rid of a reliever as frustrating as Barnes was for a large chunk of his tenure with the club was certainly the right move.
2) Red Sox fans will miss everything Xander Bogaerts brought to the team
Xander Bogaerts was a beloved member of the Boston Red Sox from the day he got called up in 2013 as a top prospect until the final day of his ten years spent with the Sox. We watched Bogaerts develop from a young kid into one of the best shortstops in baseball.
Bogaerts helped the team win two World Series titles while also being a four-time all-star and a five-time Silver Slugger winner.
The 11-year $280 million deal the Padres gave him was undoubtedly an overpay especially considering the fact that Bogaerts is already 30 years old, but that doesn't soften the blow. The Red Sox lost not only one of their best players, but their leader.
With both Trevor Story and Adalberto Mondesi on the Injured List, Boston has been using Kiké Hernandez as the shortstop. Hernandez is capable, but he's not Bogaerts.
Bogaerts was a superstar and a leader this city gravitated towards. It's a shame ownership didn't put up the money needed to keep him around.
3) The Eric Hosmer to the Red Sox trade was always a weird one
At the deadline, Eric Hosmer was what held up the Juan Soto trade from happening. The Padres wanted to offload salary, but Hosmer had a limited no-trade clause. The Nationals were on that list, but the Red Sox were not.
The Red Sox didn't have a good situation at first base, but they also didn't need to. They were out of postseason contention, so the need for Hosmer wasn't glaring. They could've seen what they could get out of Bobby Dalbec who had been struggling, or just give Triston Casas the call Sox fans had been waiting for (they did in September).
Hosmer played just 14 games with the Sox as he missed time due to injury. He had 11 hits in 45 at-bats with three doubles and no home runs.
Casas beginning the year on the Opening Day roster was expected, but Hosmer still had three years left on his deal which made the trade just that much more confusing.
Rather than keep Hosmer as a bench piece, Boston decided to DFA the former all-star and cut their losses. Why Boston would trade for Hosmer with three years left on his deal only to watch him play 14 games and then cut him that offseason I'll never understand. Casas hasn't gotten off to a good start in his young career, but I'd much rather watch him at first base than Eric Hosmer.
4) Red Sox fans miss Nathan Eovaldi's presence in a weak rotation
Letting Nathan Eovaldi walk was the right decision. The injuries were frustrating. He gave Boston only one full season in his five years with the club. The contract he got from Texas guaranteed him $34 million with the potential to max out at $63 million. I'd rather just take the compensatory pick Boston got for him. That doesn't mean he won't be missed.
The Red Sox rotation is bad, to say the least. It's only been three starts, but Chris Sale looks like a shell of the player he once was. The same can be said about Corey Kluber. Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock are players with a ton of potential, but they haven't shown anything yet. Nick Pivetta has gotten off to a nice start, but we know what he is at this point.
Eovaldi finished fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting in 2021. When healthy, he's a very capable innings eater which is something Boston could really use right about now.
He was a key piece to the 2018 World Series team, and was also an important piece to that 2021 team that made it to the ALCS.
They made the right decision letting him go because of the red flags and the fact that they got a pick for him. That does not mean they couldn't use him right now.
5) The Red Sox upgraded in left field over Tommy Pham
The Red Sox acquired Tommy Pham at the deadline in exchange for a player to be named later. The Sox really didn't have a reason to buy at the deadline, but they didn't give up much of anything so there wasn't really anything to be upset about with this trade. Pham played out the second half of the season with Boston and is now a Met.
As a member of the Red Sox, he slashed .234/.298/.374 with six home runs and 24 RBI in 53 games. He wasn't awful, but he was hitting at the top of the Red Sox order, so that wasn't great.
Pham was the everyday left fielder for the Red Sox, the spot now occupied by Japanese phenom Masataka Yoshida. The Red Sox upgraded in a big way.
Pham is fine in the role he's currently in with the Mets as a guy platooning against lefties getting limited at-bats. He isn't really an everyday player anymore. He certainly wasn't playing to that level with the Red Sox.
The trade to get him won't ever sting, and fans only saw him in a Red Sox uniform for a couple of months, but Tommy Pham won't be missed.
Next. 10 worst trades in Red Sox history. dark