With the passionate Boston market behind them, the Red Sox have had quite a bit of money to spend on the roster for quite awhile now, and they certainly take advantage of that every year. Under the old regime, before Dave Dombrowski came to town, the Red Sox had a very bad habit of giving big money to players in free agency, only to see them drastically underperform.
Red Sox Roster Problems: Three Players to Cut Ties With
The Red Sox have several of those types of contracts on the books right now, and as expected (to a certain extent) with a payroll near $200 million, there is quite a bit of dead money on the roster. Boston’s front office has made poor decisions in past years, and the team is still feeling the impact financially. So with that, let’s look at three players that, in a dream scenario, the Red Sox should cut ties with for the good of the club.
Pablo Sandoval, Third Base
Prior to the 2015 season, the Red Sox inked Sandoval to a massive five-year, $95 million contract. Sandoval was one of the key players on a San Francisco Giants team that won three World Series titles in a five-year period. Sandoval had always struggled to keep his weight in check, and while it didn’t seem to affect his play, the Giants refused to give him the money he demanded without a weight clause.
On the other hand, the Red Sox happily gave him the contract he wanted, as the team needed to add talent to avoid finishing in last place for a second straight year.
Sandoval went on to play absolutely horrendously in his first year in Boston, and promised the team he would lose weight before the start of the 2016 season. Pablo then showed up fatter than ever, and his play was even worse than it had been the year before.
Rusney Castillo, Outfield
The Red Sox made a huge splash in the international free agent market in late 2014 by signing Cuban stud Rusney Castillo to a seven-year, $72.5 million deal. Free agents from Cuba like Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu had come into the league in prior years and made huge, instant impacts, and the Red Sox threw money at the next big guy in hopes of not missing out again.
Two years into the deal, the decision has backfired in the team’s face, as Rusney can’t even get out of the minors and back to big leagues unless replacing injured players. Castillo has not hit well, and his defense has not been anything to get excited about.
In a desperate attempt to not miss out like they did with Abreu, the Red Sox committed $12 million a year a guy nearing 30 years of age who can’t play whatsoever. If any scenario to rid themselves of Castillo presented itself, the team would not hesitate to turn the page.
Rick Porcello, Starting Pitcher
Clay Buchholz could have taken this final spot, but with only a year left on his deal, the Red Sox are not as desperate in their attempts to rid themselves of him.
On the other hand, Boston is locked into Porcello for four more seasons at a whopping $82.5 million. The Red Sox acquired the right-hander from Detroit before the start of last season, and without even giving him a chance to prove he even deserved an extension, they signed him to a deal worth more than $20 million a year. Porcello followed up his contract with a terrible 2015 season, and has been decent at best to this point in the 2016 campaign.
Porcello is definitely a good pitcher to have in a rotation, and he can eat inning and hold teams to 3-4 runs on an average day, but he’s getting paid like a top-tier pitcher, and he’s just not that. The Red Sox need pitching help, so Porcello is certainly in no danger of being removed from the equation. Still, Porcello’s deal is definitely something the team would like to turn back the clock on.
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