PLAYERS: SURPRISES ARE IN STORE
After the Red Sox posted their worst winning percentage since 1965, they knew what kind of players they wanted to rebuild with for 2021: winners. Throughout the off-season, they picked up five key players: Adam Ottavino, Garrett Richards, Kiké Hernandez, Hunter Renfroe and Marwin Gonzalez.
All five had one thing in common: they were on playoff teams last year.
Three of them (Hernandez, Renfroe and Gonzalez) have played in the World Series, two of them (Hernandez and Gonzalez) have won a World Series and two of them (Hernandez and Renfroe) played in the World Series last October.
As the Red Sox look to put 2020 in the rearview mirror and avoid their third straight season without a playoff appearance, collecting a handful of winners to add to their roster was the first step.
“It helps,” manager Alex Cora said. “Nothing against what has happened the last two years, but these (new) guys care what’s going on now and what’s going to happen in the future. They played against us the last few years but, I don’t want to say they don’t really care about what’s happened the last few years here, but they really don’t care.”
The Sox followed up their 108-win campaign and World Series title in 2018 with an 84-win finish in 2019 and a 24-win season in the 60-game sprint last year.
“As an organization we have to turn the page,” Cora said. “Certain things that happened in the offseason and last year,
’19, ’20, we’ve been able to (turn the page) by having new guys here. We know the process. We know what happened. It’s refreshing in a sense that we’re moving forward.
“The (new guys) really don’t care what happened the last few years here. They know they’re good players, they know what they want, which is a plus for the clubhouse. Maybe there are certain conversations about this guy got traded, this guy is doing this over there (on another team). But they don’t know. They don’t care about that. That’s good for the group.”
The events Cora seems to be referring to, events that drastically changed the course of the franchise, can be summarized quickly: Cora lost his job, Mookie Betts was traded, Chris
Sale needed Tommy John surgery, a few more players were traded, the Sox finished in last place and, finally, Andrew Benintendi was traded.
“I think I see a winning mindset, man,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said of the new players. “Sometimes we will want guys with big names on our team.
Who wouldn’t want that? A $300 million contract, a $20 million contract on your team, because you know he’s that good. But I think we brought in guys that have a lot of winning experience, guys who have been to the playoffs, guys that know how to win. So, I think that can be overlooked. I think that sucks that it’s like that.”
The Red Sox made just a single multiyear commitment on the free agent market, signing Hernandez to a two-year, $14 million deal. The most expensive player they signed was Richards, who got a $10 million deal with an option for 2022. “Maybe we haven’t got the most talented second baseman on the free agent market,” Bogaerts said. “But we brought in a guy that has been in the playoffs so many years (Hernandez), and a guy that has so much experience being in the playoffs. And obviously with Marwin, the same way.
“You can see the mindset that the front office is taking and the direction that they want to go. If you bring in winning players, I don’t see how you’re not going to win. That’s the way I see it.”
When the Red Sox pitching staff was setting records for ineptitude early last season, their shortstop made headlines when he said it felt difficult to win games when the offense needed to score six, seven, eight runs a game just to have a chance.
The Sox’ pitching staff finished with a 5.58 ERA, allowing a league-worst 252 walks and a remarkable 98 home runs in 60 games (1.7 homers per nine innings). It was the second-worst home run rate in baseball history; only the 2019 Orioles were worse (1.9 homers per nine).
To address the issue, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom signed Richards, a talented starter who has battled injury issues throughout his career, and traded for Ottavino, a Northeastern University alum who has excelled for the Rockies’ and Yankees’ bullpens in recent years.
More importantly, they’ll get Eduardo Rodriguez, Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor back from COVID-19 related issues.
“We brought in a lot of pitchers,” Bogaerts said. “I know this was one of the main spots we were rough in last year. And obviously we have a lot of guys who can bounce back on offense. We brought in guys with a lot of power, guys who have experience winning games and in the playoffs. Guys that played a lot of different positions.
“We’re a lot more versatile. I know I’m not. I’m still a shortstop. But we have a lot of guys that are more versatile that can play a lot of different positions, infield, outfield. Stuff that we never had, this year we have it in abundance.”
The Red Sox might still lack the starting pitching talent to make them an elite team. A lot is riding on Sale’s recovery from Tommy John. But with a few new players who have been on winning teams, the team likes its chances.
“I think we’re going to surprise a couple of people,” J.D. Martinez said. “I know it’s cliché and a lot of people say it, but I don’t see this team hurting as much as it did last year, with all the pitchers we lost …
“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.”