Retooling the 2015 Boston Red Sox

Following a disappointing 2014 season, Boston’s front office had plenty on its hands. The Red Sox couldn’t afford another offseason like the last; losing fan favorite All-Star Jacoby Ellsbury to the New York Yankees was enough for a fanbase that had just watched their team finish last in the AL East a year after the 2013 World Series.

The front office had sold key pieces at the 2014 trade deadline, including Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes, John Lackey, and Andrew Miller.

Heading into the offseason, the rotation was clearly an area they needed to address after losing half of the rotation to trades and lackluster regular-season performance. Instead of this, the Red Sox decided to make a splash by signing both Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.

Sandoval, who signed a five-year, $95 million contract, was coming off his third World Series with the San Francisco Giants and looked to fill the third base hole left by a disappointing season from Will Middlebrooks.

Ramirez, who signed a four-year, $88 million contract, returned to the team that first signed him in 2000 to help boost offensive production.

Both of these signings, however, didn’t play out as the front office had hoped. 2015 would see the Red Sox finish last again, with Sandoval and Ramirez both having disappointing years with their new ballclub. Not addressing the rotation didn’t pay off either; Boston finished the season with a 4.31 team ERA, sixth worst in MLB.

But what if the previous offseason had played out differently? What if Ben Cherington didn’t hand out those contracts and went down a different path? I’ll draw up a scenario in which the Red Sox front office heads in a different direction, and see how it would play out over the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

The 2014-15 Offseason

Simply put, Boston needed an ace heading into the 2015 season. It just so happened that the 2014 offseason had one of the greatest pitchers of the 2010s available to sign: Max Scherzer. 

Scherzer had just come off a season in which he finished fifth in Cy Young voting with an 18-5 record (the most wins in MLB), a 3.15 ERA, and 252 strikeouts. Fenway needed an ace that could lead the team in October, and Scherzer was just that.

In this timeline, Scherzer would fall in love with the idea of leading a Boston rotation back to the top and sign a seven-year, $210 million contract (identical to his deal with the Washington Nationals) to be the Red Sox’s ace.  

Boston also had a weak catching core in the 2014 regular season, and with Scherzer on board, they needed to form an elite battery. Russell Martin had just come off the best season of his career, finishing 13th in MVP voting with a .290 batting average and an .832 OPS. He was also one of the best framers behind the plate.

The Red Sox would pounce on Martin as well, signing him to a five-year, $85 million contract. That slightly beats the guarantee he received from the Toronto Blue Jays.

A major deal that would be affected by these new moves is James Shields signing with the Nationals instead of the Padres, as they lost out on Scherzer to Boston. That means San Diego doesn’t sign Shields, which leads to no future Fernando Tatis Jr. trade.

The Blue Jays wouldn’t sign Martin and would instead trade for Derek Norris to be their primary catcher. 

The 2015 Regular Season

The Red Sox instantly see the benefit of having an ace again, as Scherzer dominates to open the season. The addition of Martin behind the plate also pays dividends, as his framing and veteran presence are able to help the rest of the pitching staff.

Mookie Betts breaks out this season, and David Ortiz continues his Hall of Fame career. Without Sandoval and Ramirez, the defense also improves; those two combined for -19 DRS in the 2015 season.

By the trade deadline, Boston is right in the Wild Card race and within striking distance of the first-place Yankees. So far this season, they’ve run a platoon of Brock Holt and Deven Marrero at third, and while Holt can hold his own, the super utility man isn’t viewed as an everyday third baseman by the front office.

Prospects Yoán Moncada and Rafael Devers aren’t close to being ready either, so Boston ends up trading for top deadline target Ben Zobrist, giving up Travis Shaw and Brian Johnson for the rental.

Zobrist slots right in at third, and can even play outfield when need be for the Sox. He will provide stability down the stretch, helping clinch a Wild Card spot for Boston, which finishes 88-74. 

The deadline in real life saw Cherington step down from his role, with Dave Dombrowski coming in to work as president of baseball operations. But given the team’s success in this timeline, the front office doesn’t see a need for Dombroski, leaving Cherington as GM. 

Scherzer ends the season going, let’s say, 19-6 with a 2.52 ERA and 268 strikeouts over 228 innings, coming third in Cy Young voting, while Martin would provide 17 home runs with a 4.4 WAR, both proving to be some of the best free agent signings in the league. 

The 2015 Postseason

In this timeline, Boston would host the Houston Astros in the AL Wild Card Game, and Scherzer would show the baseball world why the Red Sox trusted him to be their ace. He would pitch a complete game, striking out 13 while only allowing one run, leading Boston to a 6-1 victory over Houston.

In the ALDS, Boston would match up against the Kansas City Royals. Even without Zobrist, however, the Royals are able to steamroll their way through the Red Sox, taking the series 3-1, en route to their World Series title.

The Fenway faithful are still hopeful, even with this disappointing end, as the future looks bright with Scherzer as their ace.

2015-16 Offseason

In the real 2015-16 offseason, the Red Sox went after David Price to be their ace. But in this timeline, Scherzer is already Boston’s ace, so there’s no need to go after Price, who will end up with the St. Louis Cardinals instead, a team heavily linked to Price during the actual 2015-16 offseason.

The Red Sox will still trade for Craig Kimbrel to bolster the bullpen, along with a new theoretical addition, free agent Tyler Clippard.

Zobrist would also enter free agency this offseason, but the success of last season has both parties wishing for a reunion, with the Red Sox inking him to a four-year, $60 million contract to keep him in Boston.

To finish out the rotation, Boston would go after Hisashi Iwakuma after the Dodgers backed out due to a failed physical, signing him to a two-year, $24 million contract.

The Red Sox would enter the season as favorites to win the AL East, with sights set on winning the World Series.

2016 Regular Season

Boston would come out of the gates running, ending April in first place of not just the AL East, but the American League as a whole, going 17-6. Scherzer and Betts both get off to blistering starts, being early favorites for the Cy Young and MVP awards, respectively.

By the deadline, the Red Sox sit at 66-35 and look to add their finishing touch on the trade market.

Boston would look to their heated rivals, the New York Yankees, to help them. In a shocking and rare trade for the two teams, the Red Sox would send their No. 4 prospect Anderson Espinoza and No. 5 prospect Michael Kopech, along with No. 12 prospect Mauricio Dubon and pitcher Ty Buttrey, to re-acquire Andrew Miller, a familiar face who they traded away at the 2014 deadline.

A key note for the future is that with Kopech gone, the Chris Sale trade during the 2016-17 offseason won’t be able to come together.

Yet, the addition of Miller would give the Red Sox all they would need to close out the season in first place, ending 101-61.

Scherzer would win his second Cy Young, and his first in Boston, after going 22-5 with a 2.44 ERA and 288 strikeouts, finishing third in MVP voting. Betts would come second in MVP voting, recording a 30-homer, 30-steal season, while hitting for a .310 average.

The offseason acquisitions would bolster the pitching staff, as Kimbrel would record 42 saves, while Iwakuma would provide the team with a solid back-of-the-rotation arm. 

2016 Postseason

The ALDS would feature the Red Sox against the Toronto Blue Jays in a series that Boston dominates in all aspects of the game with a 3-0 sweep.

Scherzer shuts down in Game 1, striking out 16. Betts and Ortiz terrorize the Toronto pitching staff. Kimbrel and Miller shut down a potential Game 3 comeback. The Red Sox advance to the ALCS.

Boston would go up against Cleveland in a back-and-forth series. Scherzer would continue his role as Boston’s ace, but the back end of Iwakuma and Eduardo Rodriguez would show weakness, and Cleveland would attack them.

Corey Kluber would prove to be just as good as Scherzer and would force a Game 7 after throwing a complete-game shutout in Game 6. 

Game 7 would feature Scherzer against Carlos Carrasco, which proved to be a battle. Scherzer would begin the game with five perfect innings, and Carrasco would go five as well, only allowing three hits.

Boston would strike first with Russell Martin jumping on a hanging slider, putting the Sox up 2-0 in the fifth. Scherzer would do the same in the seventh, with Francisco Lindor blasting a one-run homer, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Kluber would emerge from the bullpen to start the sixth, after going the distance in Game 6, and continue to shut down the Boston bats.

In the top of the ninth, Kimbrel would enter, looking to close it out to take Boston back to the World Series.

With two outs and two strikes, it looked like the end for Cleveland, until Jason Kipnis got hit by a pitch, followed by two walks issued by Kimbrel.

Miller would be tasked to get one out to get the Sox out of this bases-loaded jam, against the team he actually played for in the real-life 2016 season.

But in this timeline, Miller strikes out José Ramírez, earning the save and sending the Sox to the World Series to take on the Chicago Cubs.

The 2016 World Series

The World Series would play out just like the ALCS, with a back-and-forth series leading to a Game 7 at Fenway Park between Scherzer and old Red Sox ace Jon Lester.

A battle for the ages was had between the two former and current Boston aces, and the game would be knotted up at 0-0 heading into extras, with both going nine innings; Scherzer struck out 12, while Lester struck out 7.

Another former Red Sox prospect, Anthony Rizzo, would break Boston hearts in the top of the 11th, hitting a towering homer over the Green Monster, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead, looking to break their own curse.

Zobrist would have the task of starting the bottom half against Aroldis Chapman. Zobrist won World Series MVP with Chicago in the real 2016 World Series, but in this timeline, he would start a rally for Boston, taking a high and tight fastball deep into the triangle, putting a runner at third for the top of the lineup.

MVP runner-up Mookie Betts would look to show his clutch gene, but would go down hacking at a backdoor slider. Young shortstop Xander Bogaerts would show off his elite contact skills, slicing a ball right down the third base line, tying the game up at 1-1.

Dustin Pedroia and Martin would draw walks, leaving it up to Ortiz to etch his name in baseball history once more.

In what many believed would be his final game, the most clutch hitter of all time would come up with the bases loaded in Game 7 of the World Series. And with no wasted time, Ortiz would wallop a first-pitch fastball high and deep over center fielder Dexter Fowler’s head, hitting a walk-off grand slam to win the Red Sox the 2016 World Series. He would be named the World Series MVP.

Looking Back

Sandoval and Ramirez received some of the worst contracts ever given out by the Boston Red Sox. These contracts would hurt the team both on the field and financially, and alter the team’s future.

Would Scherzer have continued his dominance for years to come with the Red Sox? Would Mookie have stayed in Boston? Where would Dombrowski end up? How would the White Sox look with Tatis in their system? The Cardinals with Price? The Nationals without Scherzer?

These are some of the larger what-ifs from just these two seasons, with a few revised moves. In a different world, moves like the ones I made today could have potentially added another ring to Boston’s closet and would have reshaped the landscape of MLB we see today.