Being a Red Sox fan is a maddening process. What makes it maddening is the constant ups and downs from season to season. I would argue that rooting for a perennial stinker like the Baltimore Orioles or the Miami Marlins might sometimes be easier. A Marlins fan (which might be a mythical being) knows their team stinks before the season even starts. They know they won’t have much to root for, so it’s likely they won’t be let down. The Red Sox on the other hand, are all about building you up just so they can knock you down. In a league with no salary cap the Red Sox are the third richest team in the MLB. The league is set up for them to succeed. So when they come in last, or don’t spend money, it makes fans like me go crazy.
In my lifetime, the Red Sox have won four World Series: 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018. I know that voids me of receiving any sympathy from this blog-rant but nevertheless, I still have more to say. Here’s the kind of up and downs Red Sox fans have had to deal with in the last decade:
In 2010, the Boston Red Sox had an insanely mediocre season finishing in 3rd place in the AL East and missing the playoffs.
In 2011, the Sox spent a ton of money, brought in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez and were essentially one of the best teams in baseball until September. They went 7-20 in that final month in what would be the biggest last month collapse in baseball history, as at the beginning of the month they had a 99.6% chance of making the playoffs. To make matters worse, genius GM Theo Epstein left for the Cubs. Legendary coach Terry Francona was fired and it came out players had been drinking, eating fried chicken and playing video games during games in the club house when they weren’t playing. Heartbreak.
In 2012, the Sox hired Bobby Valentine as their manager, won 69 games and came in last in the AL East in a putrid season.
Then in 2013 when everyone expected them to stink, they unbelievably won the World Series! Woo!
In 2014 and 2015, they followed that brilliance with back to back AL East last place finishes.
In 2016 and 2017 after they cleaned house and spent some money they finished in 1st place in back to back years but lost in the first round of the playoffs both times, managing to win just one game out of eight.
Then in 2018 they put it all together and won the most games in Red Sox history, going 108-54 and winning the world series, led by the league MVP Mookie Betts.
With huge expectations in 2019, the Red Sox laid an egg and came in third in the AL East.
The ups and downs were tough, and everytime the Red Sox faithful were jerked back and forth by this team.
But on February 4th, 2020 the Red Sox did the unthinkable. They traded Mookie Betts to the LA Dodgers, their generational five-tool Right Fielder who had won a League MVP and a World Series just two seasons ago. What’s worse is the reasoning. The Red Sox made the move in order to free up cap space so they would not go over the luxury cap and have to pay a tax. Let’s be clear on the reality of this trade: a 3.2 billion dollar franchise traded their best player– a top three player in the league– so they would not have to pay a $20 million luxury-tax (which by the way, the can afford). The Red Sox chose saving money over being a contender, which is simply unacceptable considering how much they are worth.
Breaking Down the Trade itself:
While trading Betts is awful, the Red Sox were able to dump middling Pitcher David Price’s ridiculous contract as well. While I’d rather have the Red Sox be overpaying Price for another decade to have kept Mookie Betts, it’s a very very very very small silver lining.
The Red Sox in turn for their MVP got Alex Verdugo from the Dodgers, a young outfielder with decent upside. But is his upside being one of the most electrifying players in baseball like Betts? Not even close. He’s solid right now and could be good, but will likely never be great. At least he’s probably a good guy right? Well…He may or may have been involved in a domestic violence issue when he was in the minors.
Mookie come back.
The Sox also got a guy named Brusador Graterol from the Twins who has been described as the Twins fourth best prospect. While that’s nice and all, it’s important to remember the Red Sox just traded away a guy who will be in the HALL OF FAME, and we could not get even the Twins third best prospect.
Sometimes I hate sports.
Future:
What’s nice (I guess) is the Red Sox are now flushed with cash. They can’t spend any of it right now, but next off-season they will surely be buyers. Looking ahead here are the top five free agents in the Winter of 2020-2021 according to CBS Sports:
- Mookie Betts: The tears are coming again. He will be a free agent next winter if he doesn’t sign long term with the Dodgers (he probably will) but I can’t see the Red Sox giving him money…for some reason.
- JT Realmuto: Catcher for the Phillies. Sox recently extended their catcher Christian Vazquez so a Realmuto signing wouldn’t really make sense.
- Marcus Semien: A Shortstop for the A’s. The problem is the Sox already have a very good and better shortstop than Semien in Xander Bogearts.
- George Springer: Astros Outfielder. He could make sense, but it’s important to remember: he’s not nearly as good as Mookie Betts.
- Marcus Stroman: Pitcher for the Mets. Could be a good signing, but you never know if the Sox would win that bid.
So in conclusion, everything hurts, I’m sad, and the Red Sox are doomed.
