2015-16 Boston Red Sox

The main objective as one-week general manager of the Boston Red Sox was to right as many of the wrongs that cost Ben Cherington his job.

First and foremost was landing an ace for a rotation that sorely needed one.   The Red Sox went into 2015 with inconsistent and injury-prone Clay Buchholz as their de facto stopper.  Not only will Buchholz not headline the club’s 2016 rotation, he will not even be part of the team.  Rather than exercise its $13 million club option for next season, Boston bought out Buchholz for $245,000.

Freeing up Buchholz’s salary enabled the Red Sox to aggressively pursue an ace either via trade or the free-agent market.  Conversations were conducted with the general managers for the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs to gauge the asking prices for lefties Cole Hamels and former Red Sox Jon Lester, respectively.  Without any progress made on either front, Boston inked ace right-hander Zack Greinke for just under $26 million per season.

A pressure-packed environment like Boston would have been perceived as a poor fit for Greinke about a decade ago.  However, the 2015 National League ERA leader seemingly has conquered an anxiety disorder that plagued him early in his major league career.

While Boston famously has been reluctant to hand out lucrative deals to pitchers beyond age 30, Greinke eases concerns about rapid decline by not relying heavily on a blazing fastball.  Greinke, 32, has pinpoint control and strong secondary offerings which should translate to success deep into his 30s.

In addition to signing Greinke, the other big splash the Red Sox made was acquiring outfielder Giancarlo Stanton in a seven-player deal with the Miami Marlins.  A deal for Stanton had been rumored in 2015, but the Red Sox allegedly were unwilling to part with key young players.  However, this Red Sox regime agreed to deal an emerging star in shortstop Xander Bogaerts, along with outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr., 6-foot-6 left-hander Henry Owens and knuckleballer Steven Wright.

While the price was steep, the Red Sox felt it necessary to land a bona-fide power hitter for the middle of the lineup with David Ortiz nearing the end of his career.   Entering 2016 at age 26, Stanton is expected to fill that role for the next decade.

The Red Sox also addressed a key need in their trade with the Marlins, acquiring hard-throwing relievers A.J. Ramos and Carter Capps.  Coming at a very affordable combined salary of $3.6 million, Ramos and Capps should provide some much-need power pitching to the back end of a bullpen that had unheralded Robbie Ross Jr. closing games at the end of 2015.  Ramos, who had 32 saves in Miami last season, will challenge Koji Uehara for the closing job in spring training.  Capps, whose fastball reaches the triple digits, also will be counted upon to record key outs late in games.

Finally, the trade with Miami enabled Boston to rectify the 2015 disaster that was Hanley Ramirez in left field.  With Bogaerts dealt to the Marlins, Ramirez can slide back to his natural position of shortstop.  While it would have been ideal to move on from Ramirez altogether, his annual salary of nearly $23 million made that next to impossible.  If injuries again plague Ramirez in 2016, the Red Sox have confidence that defensive whiz Deven Marrero can maintain competence at the shortstop position.

Other bad contracts, like Pablo Sandoval making $17.6 million and Rick Porcello on the books for over $20 million annually, made it very difficult to find trading partners.  In fact, an offer of Sandoval and Wade Miley to the Nationals for Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon did not even merit a response.

On the heels of one significant free-agent signing and one blockbuster trade, the Red Sox plucked a series of players either non-tendered by their previous organizations or bought out of their options.  The biggest was the $5.9 million signing of Rubby De La Rosa, who will challenge fellow hard-thrower Joe Kelly for the fifth spot in the rotation.

The Red Sox also added some depth at first base with the $4.4 million signing of switch-hitter Justin Smoak, who will provide insurance for Travis Shaw.  Travis Snider also was brought in to bolster Boston’s options at first base and the outfield.  Finally, former All-Star reliever Steve Delabar was signed to give the bullpen another quality arm.

The one-week offseason came to a close after the Red Sox made OF/1B Brandon Moss and 35-year-old lefty Rich Hill, who impressed with the club in September, non-roster invitees.   The 32-year-old Moss, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2002, is two years removed from an All-Star campaign in Oakland.

With the lineup looking fearsome and the pitching staff sporting some shiny new arms, including a highly coveted ace, Boston’s 2016 season outlook appears much more promising than the 2015 version did under Cherington’s watch.