3 Red Sox contracts we were happy to see end, and 2 we’re still eager to see expire
By Tim Boyle
Spending money isn’t always the cure for a championship drought. The Boston Red Sox weren’t shy about paying free agents throughout the lengthy absence of a World Series title. After they finally secured it in 2004, the club found itself handing out a lot of bad deals.
No MLB team is free of its share of bad free agent contracts and extensions. Whether through poor scouting, unforeseen injuries, or just plain old bad investments, these Red Sox contracts were killers on the books.
When these three Red Sox contracts expired, Boston cheered. The same will happen when these other two we’re eager to see expire finally come to an end.
1) Red Sox contract we were happy to see end: Pablo Sandoval
It was on November 25, 2014, when the Red Sox invited Pablo Sandoval to Boston days before the Thanksgiving holiday. A somewhat unorthodox star with the San Francisco Giants with three rings and a 2012 World Series MVP on his resume, it appeared to be a wise enough buy.
The problem is the Red Sox overextended themselves. Sandoval had two consecutive mammoth World Series performances. Having that much success in such a short period of time would have been an addition to the Red Sox roster the team couldn’t pass on.
Sandoval signed on the dotted line for five years and $95 million. As good as he was at times for the Giants, there was an obvious limit to Sandoval’s game. He could hit well but he was far from an elite player.
Sandoval put together a mediocre 2015 campaign that included a .245/.292/.366 slash line. He appeared in 126 games for the Red Sox in what would turn out to be his most successful season in Boston.
The next season included only 3 games for Sandoval after already losing the starting third base job to Travis Shaw. He was hampered by injuries throughout the season. The writing was on the wall.
The Panda would play in only 32 games for Boston in 2017. The performance was worse than his first season. The Red Sox made the decision to release him in July. He’d return to the Giants and bounce around for the remainder of his career all the while getting paid for five seasons while appearing in only 161 games for the Red Sox.