When I was a kid, in the '70s and '80s, the Red Sox usually fielded good teams. They were rarely great, but they were often good enough to provide some heartbreak by season's end. Though they went to the World Series in '75 and '86, they lost in seven games both times.
However, they were rarely a terrible team either.
This century, we've witnessed four World Series Championships in Boston, which has been both breath-taking and joyous to behold. This is the Red Sox’ Golden Era. They are truly the team of the 21st Century. Yet, we've seen some real stinkers too; the 2012 team finished 69-93 and the 2014 team finished 71-91. In between, they somehow won a World Series in 2013, famously going from worst to first to worst again.
The Red Sox have fielded a lot of mediocre teams in their 120-year history, but relatively few truly terrible ones, like we're witnessing this season.
The franchise's low came in 1932, when the Sox finished 43-111 — a .279 winning percentage. The 2020 team needs go 17-43 to exceed that. Best of luck to them.
The current Red Sox club has a .316 winning percentage. Only two Red Sox teams have ever finished with a lower percentage. Just eleven times in their long history have Red Sox teams finished with a winning percentage below .400. This year will be the twelfth.
1965 - .383
1932 - .279
1930 - .338
1929 - .377
1928 - .373
1927 - .331
1926 - .326
1925 - .309
1922 - .396
1907 - .396
1906 - .318
As you can see, the 1922-1932 Red Sox teams were abysmal; be grateful we didn’t live through that.
Few Red Sox fans can remember the last truly awful Red Sox team — the ’65 club. Their .383 winning percentage provides some perspective on the stunning rise of the 1967 “Impossible Dream” team, which beat all odds and somehow made it to the World Series… where they proceeded to lose to St. Louis in seven games. That was the year the Red Sox became iconic in Boston. They’ve been hugely popular throughout New England ever since.
Until now.
After winning 108 regular-season games and then the World Series in 2018, the 2019 club responded by going 84-78, finishing third in the AL East. Consequently, the defending World Series champs didn’t even qualify for the playoffs. That made many of us feel that they had become complacent, even lazy. They returned essentially the same championship team, yet were somehow a shadow of their former selves.
Then, in February, the Red Sox traded super star and fan favorite Mookie Betts, a highly unpopular move, though a wise one. Fans were justifiably angry and there was a backlash. The team surely lost some support in the process and, not surprisingly, ratings are down this season.
Yet, the Red Sox weren’t contenders with Betts and David Price on the roster last season. So, back in February, after the Red Sox traded the pair to the Dodgers, no one realistically expected the Red Sox to compete for a championship this year. They were a team in transition, resetting their payroll, with an eye on 2021 and beyond.
Then, in March, it was announced that ace lefty Chris Sale would need to undergo Tommy John surgery and would miss this season (and beyond). Next came the COVID-19 diagnosis for Eduardo Rodriguez, followed by a related heart infection. His season was also ended before it even began. At that point, all hope (whatever hope there might have been) was lost for the 2020 Red Sox.
Over the winter, the Sox replaced the departing Rick Porcello with Martin Perez, which has gone reasonably well to this point (4.07 ERA, 1.21 WHIP), but the team returned only one starter from last season — Nathan Eovaldi — who was supposed to be the anchor. To say the righty hasn’t lived up to his four-year, $68 million contract would be an understatement. This season, Eovaldi has gone 2-2, with a 4.98 ERA, which follows a 2-1, 5.99 ERA output in an injury-riddled 2019 season.
When you return one-fifth of your starting rotation and fill out the remaining holes with guys like Zack Godley, Ryan Weber and Kyle Hart, it’s little wonder that this Red Sox squad is in a battle not to be the worst in team history.
The Red Sox continued inability to develop starting pitchers haunts them, year after year.
No one expected JD Martinez to slash an uncharacteristic .233/.315/.403/.718 this season or for Rafael Devers to take a huge step back by slashing .257/.310/.458/.768 or that Andrew Benintendi would barely look like major leaguer while slashing .103/.314/.128/.442.
In short, everything that could have gone wrong for the Red Sox this season has gone wrong. But this is an anomaly. Things will surely turn around next year (at least somewhat) and in the years ahead. The Red Sox will again become contenders, rather than laughing stocks.
As I’ve previously contended, John Henry and Tom Werner have proven that they will consistently put a winning team on the field in most seasons. Since that duo bought the Red Sox in Dec. 2001, they've been first, second or third in payroll for 14 of those 19 years. Moreover, they've been top-six in spending for every single one of them. They’ve earned the benefit of the doubt, if not our trust. By the way, Boston still has the third-highest payroll in baseball this season.
The Red Sox are a big-market team with lots of spending capacity and a history of utilizing it. We have every reason to believe — to expect — that ownership will open the checkbook and become free agent spenders once again. However, they need to do it judiciously; no more unwarranted spending on players like Carl Crawford, Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez, and Nathan Eovaldi.
If you’re expecting the Red Sox to make a big splash on a free-agent pitcher this offseason, don’t. There will be a dearth of available talent, highlighted by names such as Marcus Stroman, Mike Minor, Jake Odorizzi and Robbie Ray.
This rebuild may take a while, so be patient, Red Sox fans. Chaim Bloom has his work cut out for him. The Red Sox farm system is currently ranked No. 25 out of 30 teams by MLB.com. That’s why Bloom made an effort in recent deadline trades to secure minor league talent to round out that system.
In the meantime, we’re left wondering if this unwatchable Red Sox unit will avoid the ignominious distinction of becoming the worst Red Sox team of all time. Ugh.
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