Mark Whicker: Whither goest the Red Sox, crowned Team Of The Century in 2018?

December 28, 2022

By Mark Whicker

Canadian Baseball Network

It was literally the Team Of The Century, at least so far.

The 2018 Boston Red Sox won two-thirds of their regular season games. That’s three fewer wins than the 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers had, but the Dodgers were sent home in the National League Division Series. The Red Sox kept gaining strength, like a lake-effect snowstorm, and they went 11-3 in the postseason, allowing the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Dodgers only one win apiece.

It was the fourth world championship in 10 years for the franchise that had gone 86 self-pitying years without one, and maybe it injected smugness into a fan base that didn’t suspect the sorrow was just interrupted, not dispelled.

Now the newbie fans might be getting the picture. As for Red Sox management, it might take a mid-1970s Kremlinologist to determine its thought process.

2B Xander Bogaerts departed the Red Sox for the San Diego Padres

In 2022, the Red Sox finished last in the American League East, at 78-84, and they spent $180 million on human capital to do so. No, the Baltimore Orioles had not been relegated. They and everyone else finished ahead of the Red Sox. The prognosis for 2023 is no better. Like a car crash in slow motion, shortstop Xander Bogaerts fulfilled the fans’ apprehensions by signing elsewhere, specifically the San Diego Padres, for $280 million over 11 years.

This reportedly shocked Red Sox management, who had somehow lost track of the price of doing business.

Here are the names that manager Alex Cora delightedly sketched on his lineup card in the 2018 World Series:

1B — Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce, who became the Series MVP.

2B – Ian Kinsler.

SS — Bogaerts.

3B — Rafael Devers.

LF – Andrew Benintendi.

CF - Jackie Bradley Jr.

RF – Mookie Betts

C – Cristian Vazquez, Sandy Leon.

Starters – Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez.

Relievers – Nathan Eovaldi, Joe Kelly, Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes.

And here is the current depth chart as the Red Sox warily contemplate spring training:

1B – Triston Casas.

2B — Christian Arroyo.

SS – Trevor Story.

3B – Devers.

LF – Mastaka Yoshida

CF — Enrique Hernandez.

RF – Alex Verdugo.

C – Reese McGuire.

SP – Sale, Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) ,Corey Kluber, Garrett Whilock, James Paxton (Ladner, BC), Brayan Bello.

RP – Barnes, Brasier, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, John Schreiber, Tanner Houck, Joely Rodriguez.

Casas is a rookie with promise, just as Bobby Dalbec, the man he might be replacing, was a rookie with promise. Story was the second baseman last year and is moving back to his normal position. Boston signed Story last year, six years for $140 million, and then offered Bogaerts a one-year extension and then a new, four-year, $90 million deal. That, of course, was rejected out of hand.

Bogaerts is a .292 career hitter with a career .814 OPS and two 100-RBI seasons. Story had a .863 OPS in his six years in Colorado, but played only 94 games last year for the Bosox and hit .238 with 16 home runs. There is a divergence of opinion over Yoshida, whom the Sox signed for six years and $90 million.

As for the pitchers, the Red Sox have let go of Eovaldi and Michael Wacha, who put together a fine comeback season. Paxton has made six appearances in his past three seasons. Bello is another premium prospect who got 11 starts last year and went 2-8 with a 4.71 ERA.

Betts? The Red Sox didn’t feel they could sign him long term, so they shipped him to the Dodgers for Hernandez, Verdugo and prospect Jeter Downs, whom they designated for assignment this winter. The Dodgers gave Betts a 12-year deal for $365 million, without a no-trade clause, and are getting commensurate value.

Benintendi? He was Boston’s seventh-overall pick in the first round of the 2015 draft and looked like a perennial All-Star in 2018. He faded in 2019 and in the COVID season of 2020, when he hit .103, so he was shuffled to Kansas City in a three-way deal, then hit .320 this year before the Yankees traded for him. The White Sox have signed him for five years, $75 million.

Vazquez was traded to Houston for two minor leaguers, then was prominent in Houston’s World Series victory. The Twins have signed him for $30 million over three years. The Red Sox are McGuire’s fourth team, although he did hit .337 for them in garbage-time games after Boston got him for lefty reliever Jake Diekman.

Turner and Jansen are part of the Dodger relocation to Boston that also includes Martin. Jansen signed a two-year contract and becomes Boston’s closer, at 35. (The Red Sox did have the foresight to move Kimbrel along.)

Turner was the chaperone of the Dodgers as they morphed from a frivolous team of individuals to a sober winning machine. But sometimes his production got lost in all the talk of his clubhouse charisma. Turner even drove in 81 runs this year, in 128 games, and had 13 postseason homers for the Dodgers. They will miss him in ways they may not recognize, but at 37 it’s debatable that Turner can walk right in and become the same unifying force in Boston, particularly with the talent deficit.

Then there’s Devers, the last man to turn out the lights, still just 25 but eligible for free agency after next season, a .283 lifetime hitter with an .879 OPS and 139 home runs. Already there are trade rumors about Devers, who played 2022 on a one-year, $11.2 million deal.

What happened to the rollicking, go-for-broke ownership that brought Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez to town? Do they think Marcelo Mayer, their first-round pick in 2021, is almost ready to make fans forget about Bogaerts, the way Jeremy Pena erased Carlos Correa’s memory in Houston?

For some, this is the logical consequence of firing Dave Dombrowski, who was the team president and chief decision-maker in 2018. He was gone a year later and was accused of gutting the farm system. That won’t be determined until the current minor leaguers grow up, but four of Boston’s top seven prospects were acquired by Dombrowski, who is now running the show for the Phillies, who were unexpectedly busy this October.

Some blame the Red Sox’s torpor on the corporate structure. Fenway Sports now owns the Pittsburgh Penguins and is trying to sell the Liverpool Football Club. Maybe there are too many balls to juggle. Another culprit is Massachusetts’ tax system, specifically a recent tax hike on $1 million earners, from five percent to nine.

Red Sox attendance took a dive of almost 300,000 in 2022, compared to 2019, and local TV ratings followed. This winter, when Boston’s bold moves usually triggered higher ticket revenue, will not reverse that trend. The Dodgers also hunkered down in this off-season, but they are betting that their deluxe farm system will get them through 2022 while they prepare for the Shohei Ohtani auction after the season. The Red Sox probably cannot make such bets.

But it’s strange to see them avoid the table.