(Photo by Charles Krupa/AP Photo)
by Dakota Antelman
The long and the short is that 2014 did not treat the Boston Red Sox too kindly.
They went 71-91 in their second season under John Farrell and failed to execute in any of the ways that helped them win a World Series a year ago. Their outfield was weak and much of the left side of the infield began showing signs of mechanical fatigue.
The Boston bats died in 2014 and as injury reports ran manically through the rows of Fenway and the heads of fans, our lovely defending champions wallowed in a season of despair and mediocrity.
Thus is it no secret that this year's top Red Sox stories all took place off the field...
1) Jon Lester chooses Cubs over Red Sox
After low-balling Lester with a meager $70M contract offer back in Spring Training the longtime Red Sox ace was somewhat irked by the team. Further adding to the perceived lack of respect by the team for Lester was the fact that midway through the season they traded him to the Oakland A's.
That move made it easier for Lester to ignore the "hometown discount" when the negotiation period rolled around this off-season. It was with ease that he turned down a $135M offer from the Red Sox, signing instead a monstrous $155M offer from the suddenly invested Chicago Cubs just last month.
2) Red Sox unload at trade deadline
It cannot be stressed how much the trade that moved Lester out of Boston for the first time effected the negotiations after the season as well as the remaining games in the season.
On July 31st, Lester and charismatic outfeilder Johnny Gomes were packaged in a blockbuster deal to the Oakland A's. The Red Sox got two time home run derby winner, Yoenis Cespedes in return.
At the time the deal seemed somewhat decent as Cespedes brought with him a mega bat and at least an average glove in left field. As they unloaded their pitching though, the Red Sox were soon caught in a vicious cycle of blowouts and games gone to the bullpen by the 4th inning.
John Lackey, Jake Peavy and Felix Dubront were all sent packing at the trade deadline. The players they got in return, though promising did little in the second half of the season and at times began to raise some questions about Ben Cherrington's leadership scheme.
3) Red Sox ink $200M in contracts in one morning
In a time where those questions about Cherrington's ability were burning brightest, the GM jumped into the rebuilding phase quickly and with both feet.
Looking to remedy some run scoring problems from last season, Cherrington dished out $200M in contract money to sluggers Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. The deals spawned immense questions about how the team would deal with the two in terms of their defense.
As it finally shook out, team sources suggested to multiple media outlets that Ramirez would spend time in center field and bat in the top of the order. Sandoval would be the starting third basemen for the Red Sox, effectively ending Will Middlebrooks tenure with the team as he did so. (Middlebrooks was traded just a few weeks after the Sandoval/Ramirez signings.)
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