2014 in 8 Days: Top Red Sox Moments

(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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Will Middlebrooks traded to San Diego Padres for Ryan Hanigan

(Photo courtesy of Matt Stone/Boston Herald) 

by Dakota Antelman

After 232 games with the Red Sox, third basemen Will Middlebrooks’ days in Boston seemed all but done by the midafternoon hours of Friday December  19th.

Pending a physical, Middlebrooks was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for veteran catcher Ryan Hanigan.

Middlebrooks had expressed an understanding that he did not fit within the Red Sox system back in October but for the much of the offseason to this point, it appeared the Red Sox were willing to stand by their once touted prospect.

Middlebrooks of course was the player who played well enough in his rookie season to push previous Red Sox third basemen Kevin Youkilis out of Boston and soon after, the MLB. He hit 15 home runs in his rookie year while also flashing the glove with repeated and pinpoint accuracy and poise. Since that 2012 season though, Middlebrooks has been a different player. Fraught with injuries and mechanical issues, he has spent long stretches of time on the DL and even longer ones trundling away in the minors.

Management stood by him nonetheless, insisting that he could soon return to his 2012 power hitting form. But alas, there came a point following this most recent 2014 season where even his coaches had to draw a line.

Back in November they signed third basemen Pablo Sandoval to a $100M contract. Sandoval’s introduction into the infield mix effectively clogged up the rotation enough so that it was overtly clear how imminent Middlebrooks’ departure was.

Very quickly, the Middlebrooks situation turned from one where the Red Sox were trying to create a position/excuse to keep him around, to one where they were eager to get the highest return out of him on the trade market.

While whether or not the latter of those criteria was met by today’s trade is up for debate, the Sox acted decisively, finally severing ties with Middlebrooks.

Ryan Hanigan, who they got in the trade, comes to Boston as a seven year MLB veteran. He spent the first six years of his career with Cincinnati logging around 70-80 starts per season before being sent over to Tampa for last season.

He played a decent season at the position of backup catcher for the Rays starting 84 games and bringing a .218 average with him to a total of 225 plate appearances. He was in turn traded to the Padres from the Rays last week and obviously, did not play a game with them.

His arrival in Boston, which will occur unless anything unforeseen comes up in Will Middlebrooks’ physical, will give the Red Sox a fourth catcher under contract for next season. That will provide added depth to the already intense competition between Boston catchers for the starting job.

Hanigan will be competing with Christian Vasquez, Blake Swiheart and Dan Butler from day one.

Alas, Will Middlebrooks is a departed sole in terms of the Red Sox roster. The two year experiment the team conducted with him frankly did not work out and they have moved on. A consolation prize for doing so; the Red Sox now have one of the deepest catching lineups in the division and will have immense power of choice as to who will lead the unit come April.

The hot stove keeps on burning this offseason.

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The deal with Stephan Drew: With Spring Training around the corner it is time for the Sox to cut ties with their shortstop

Between Will Middlebrooks' playing at 3rd base and the probability of Xander Bogaerts pressing for time at shortstop, there is no need for the services of Stephan Drew and yet here we are, just over a month before Spring Training and he is still here.

While opinions may vary on whether or not he should return to Boston the statistics, reports and direct quotations do not lie. Drew and his agent Scott Boras do not care which team they go to. They have their priorities laid out an they so carefully detail that with his career already firmly built up what Stephan Drew wants is a serious pay day that frankly, he may not be worth. While he did log his second best on base percentage since his rookie year in 2006 that OBP was still .040 less than fellow defense based infielder Dustin Pedroia and logged 80 fewer hits in a season where he came to the plate a rather whopping 442 times. As if his regular season offensive numbers were not bad enough, Stephan Drew was truly awful in October smacking a hit in just 11.1% of his at bats while getting on base at just a 14% clip. In 54 postseason at bats, Drew landed just 6 hits with 2 walks and a near constant at bat result of a simple, anticlimactic ground out. He was terrible and it seems that the only reason he is still here is what he does away from the plate. When it comes to defense, Stephan Drew is one of the best shortstops in baseball, committing just 8 errors in all of 2013 and repeatedly going up and getting towering line drives that very few other shortstops could even dream of getting.

Now for some the case could be made that a Red Sox team that scored 800+ runs in 2013 is not one in major need of the extra 40 RBI's the man who would come in to replace Drew should he leave really is special and must not be held out of the lineup any longer. Assertively hailed as baseball’s best prospect since Pedro Martinez, Xander Bogaerts is ready to take the MLB by storm. To state plainly, holding him out of the lineup would simply be an illogical decision on the part of the Boston Red Sox not only for the reason of Xander Bogaerts's need to play but also because of the station currently stewing over at 3rd base. As bad as he was at times this season, we must not forget that Will Middlebrooks is still the same human being who booted Kevin Youkilis from this town 2 seasons ago and frankly his omission from this lineup would be close to as heinous as an equal act committed against Xander Bogaerts. Like Xander, Middlebrooks is a small nimble base runner whose strong suit lies mainly with his quick reactionary snags of line drives drilled towards the "hot corner" he tends. Additionally, the loss Middlebrooks as would probably be the case if Drew stays in Boston would subtract a great young power threat from the middle of this Boston lineup that in a couple years will be greatly weakened via the possible retirement of David Ortiz.  

Yet through this all, through all this uncertainty the Red Sox are remaining professional, preparing to play for whatever team they land on next year. Earlier this week, Will Middlebrooks seemed to put to words this kind of preparation. 

"I haven’t talked to anyone about it,” he said. “I haven’t even talked to Stephen. I have to prepare like I’m the starting third baseman for the Red Sox. So I’m going to prepare, because regardless of what happens I’m going to be playing baseball somewhere. I’m hoping it’s in Boston because this is where I want to spend my career. I love it here. We’ll see, but, like I said, I’m going to be playing baseball so I have to be ready.”

You have to be ready, you have to be ready. That is pretty much it. Between the trio of Stephan Drew, Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks there is no shortage of talents and yet it is no secret that the Boston Red Sox must let one of those superstars go and in one simple opinion that someone has to be Stephan Drew. 

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