Round numbers are useful. They help us bundle and categorize. They keep things nice and orderly in groups of 10 and 20. And if we’re lumping the past 10 years of Red Sox baseball together, then 2019 is a fitting end. This was, after all, the decade of expectation. No longer the plucky underdogs of the 2000s, the Red Sox of the 2010s were established winners with money to spend and ambitions to uphold. It was a decade of dizzying heights and stunning lows.
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In choosing a Red Sox team of the decade – from 2010 through 2019 – we had two World Series winners and three last-place finishers to consider. Among the no-brainers were a beloved designated hitter whose prime seemed to last forever, an iconic second baseman who stayed productive until his knee betrayed him, and a supernaturally gifted right fielder whose career is just getting started.
Rounding out the team proved more difficult. Too many good options at closer. Not enough long-term choices at first base. A fifth-starter dilemma between two mixed-review candidates.
Two rules – 1: The totality of the decade counts. We could certainly be swayed by individual seasons, but longevity is also a factor. 2: Players must fit the role they’re assigned. That means no everyday guys on the bench (except everyday guys who played a part-time role at some point) and no regular starting pitchers in the bullpen (unless it’s a spot starter who primarily worked in relief).
This is our 25-man Red Sox roster for the past 10 years.
Lineup
1. Mookie Betts, RF
Although he missed nearly half of the decade, Betts still leads the Red Sox in WAR from 2010 through 2019. If the team can get him signed to an extension, he just might lead them in WAR from 2020 to 2029 as well. We could hit Betts almost anywhere in the lineup, but we’ll put him where Alex Cora likes him best. He has an obvious spot on the roster, and fits most naturally right at the top of the order.
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
There’s really no other option, but that’s not a problem. Pedroia’s MVP and Rookie of the Year awards came before this decade started, but he remained plenty productive before knee injuries took their toll. He’s the team leader in hits and runs this decade, with the second-most doubles and RBIs.
3. David Ortiz, DH
Another slam dunk choice. Big Papi is the Red Sox’ best designated hitter of this or any decade; he’s one of the best of all time. He hit 100 more home runs than any other Red Sox player during the 2010s. He’s not only on the All-Decade team, he’s the face of the franchise for this time period.
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
In these 10 years, the Red Sox had five different regular first basemen, and you could make a decent case for any of them. Mike Napoli and Mitch Moreland put up pretty similar numbers. Hanley Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis spent basically a year apiece at the position. We’ll go with Gonzalez, who had a singular season in 2011 and was still pretty good through most of 2012.
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5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
There were two years of Marco Scutaro, plus some Mike Aviles, Jed Lowrie and Stephen Drew, but clearly the shortstop position belonged to Bogaerts this decade. Still in his prime, Bogaerts might have another decade left to play. Only Betts, Pedroia and Ortiz were worth more Red Sox WAR in the 2010s.
6. Rafael Devers, 3B
A tricky choice. Kevin Youkilis split his time between first and third, Adrian Beltre had one standout season (but only one), and the Will Middlebrooks era couldn’t live up to the hype. We’re left with the unexpected inclusion of this season’s breakout star. Devers is already Top 10 for Red Sox home runs during the decade.
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
According to FanGraphs, Saltalamacchia had the seventh-highest WAR among Red Sox players this decade, largely because of a .455 slugging percentage that was higher than Bogaerts, Ramirez or Moreland. The guy could hit, and did it for three-plus years in Boston.
8. Andrew Benintendi, LF
In the decade after Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox spent lavishly on Carl Crawford, traded for Yoenis Cespedes and tried to think outside the box with Hanley Ramirez, all spectacular letdowns in left field at Fenway Park. They found much more success with utility men (Bill Hall, Brock Holt) and role players (Daniel Nava, Jonny Gomes) before the quick ascent of 2015 first-round pick Benintendi.
9. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
This is basically a two-man race between Jackie Bradley Jr.’s superlative defense and Ellsbury’s superb 2011 season. It’s really a toss-up. According to FanGraphs, Ellsbury has a slight advantage in WAR (by roughly a win and a half) and his near-MVP season is difficult to overlook. Granted, so are his injuries, but Ellsbury at his best was the better option.
Bench
Brock Holt, Utility
Holt actually made his big league debut in 2012 while playing for the Pirates, but who can remember that? For most of the past decade, Holt has been the ultimate Red Sox utility man, starting at every position except pitcher and catcher, and playing his way into the All-Star Game one season. Despite rarely having an everyday position, Holt ranks sixth in Red Sox hits this decade.
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Kevin Youkilis, 1B/3B
Splitting time between two positions lets us stretch the bench player definition to include Youkilis. He played one year as an All-Star third baseman, another year with a .975 OPS at first base, and a third as midseason trade bait. Nearly made him the starting third baseman, but this is a better fit.
Jackie Bradley Jr., OF
He played his way into an everyday role as a defensive standout in center field, but when Bradley first came up, it was hard to say whether he would ever hit enough to keep his glove in the lineup. His offense has been streaky, but at his best, he’s been an All-Star. In this decade, Bradley has the fifth-most Red Sox hits and their fourth-most stolen bases. Unofficially: no one’s made more jaw dropping plays in the field.
Christian Vazquez, C
He’s never played 100 games or had 350 at-bats in a season, but Vazquez has been a go-to option behind the plate for five seasons now. He was long regarded as a good defensive catcher, but this year he’s added unforeseen offensive impact, looking more and more like an everyday guy worth strong consideration for a spot in the all-decade starting lineup.
Rotation
Jon Lester
The one that got away. By a substantial margin, Lester collected more strikeouts than any other Red Sox pitcher in the past decade (and he did it while pitching basically half of the decade somewhere else). He would be the ace of this staff even without his postseason numbers. What he did in the 2013 playoffs is championship icing on the cake.
Six pitchers made more starts for the Red Sox, but none had the ability to overwhelm quite like Sale. In the past decade, he’s the only Red Sox pitcher with enough innings to qualify to carry a sub-1.00 WHIP, and only closer Craig Kimbrel topped his strikeout rate. Even with this down year, Sale’s two-and-a-half seasons in Boston are too much to overlook.
Clay Buchholz
For the decade in question, it’s Buchholz – not Lester – who led the Red Sox in wins and innings pitched. In the end, he was bumped to the bullpen and unceremoniously shipped to Philadelphia, but before that he was a two-time All-Star capable of moments of greatness that were often overshadowed by injury and inconsistency.
Rick Porcello
Spent half of this decade with the Red Sox, during which he won a Cy Young award and played a key role in a World Series title. Only Lester had more strikeouts, and among qualified starters, only Sale and David Price had a lower WHIP. By the end of the year, he could surpass Buchholz for the most wins.
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David Price
In this decade, Josh Beckett had one great year (2011) and two bad ones. He’s not the hardest omission on this list. The most difficult choice was between Price and John Lackey for the fifth spot. Lackey made more Red Sox starts in the decade, but Price had better numbers and last year matched or exceeded Lackey’s World Series heroics.
Bullpen
Koji Uehara
There are other strong options, but this is our Team of the Decade closer. His resume: Four seasons with the Red Sox. One spotless run through the postseason. Lowest WHIP and lowest ERA among relievers who saw significant action. There were three great Red Sox closers this decade, but Uehara was the most reliable of the bunch.
Craig Kimbrel
His career will be greater than Uehara’s, but his three years in Boston leave Kimbrel in a setup role. He did have more saves than any other Red Sox pitcher in the decade, and he was the most overpowering with the highest strikeout rate. He and Uehara had quite similar numbers.
Jonathan Papelbon
He’s best known for the previous decade. It was in the 2000s that Papelbon was truly one of the great closers in the game. For this decade, his Red Sox tenure was only two years – 2010-11 – when he had 68 saves and a 3.43 ERA. Still very good, but not as high in the bullpen pecking order as he would have been a decade earlier.
Junichi Tazawa
For this decade, Tazawa led the Red Sox in relief innings and accumulated the third-most relief strikeouts while keeping his walk total in check. He was excellent during the playoff run of 2013 and remained largely effective throughout his time in Boston.
By the end of the year, Barnes should surpass Tazawa for the most Red Sox relief innings during the 2010s. He made some spot starts earlier in his career but settled into a bullpen role while pitching his way to higher leverage situations. He was Cora’s go-to weapon again middle-of-the-order threats during last year’s playoffs.
Andrew Miller
A failed rotation prospect much of the previous decade, Miller came to the Red Sox in 2011 with a familiar problem: He was awful as a starter. It was the Red Sox, though, who moved Miller into the bullpen and saw him become one of the elite relievers in all of baseball. His very best years were in New York and Cleveland, but the Red Sox used him 145 times out of the bullpen with excellent results.
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Heath Hembree and Craig Breslow pitched more often in the past decade, Alfredo Aceves saved more games, and Joe Kelly had greater impact in the postseason, but we’ll give the final bullpen spot to Bard. The first-round pick flamed out, but only after he gave the Red Sox three good seasons. Among Red Sox relievers with at least 90 innings in the decade, Bard ranked third in WHIP and fourth in ERA.
Manager
John Farrell
Yeah, we didn’t expect this choice either, but in the past decade, Terry Francona had two third-place finishes, Bobby Valentine was Bobby Valentine, and Alex Cora has one historic year plus whatever this season is. What’s left is the guy who managed the Red Sox for five years — half of the decade — with three division titles and one World Series to show for it, sandwiched around two last-place finishes. There are plenty of good reasons Cora replaced him, but Farrell was the Red Sox manager of this decade.
(Top photo: Michael Ivins/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
