Who was the most disliked Red Sox player acquisition ever? AT THE TIME OF ACQUISITION

Shaky Walton

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John Lackey was a dick. But the man started and won a WS clinching game. He also went 3-1 in those playoffs.

For me, that totally removes him from consideration on this list.

I think that so many people mention him is a testimony to the success the Sox have enjoyed since 2004. Said differently, if 2013 was the first or only title, I doubt that as many would select him.

Good!
 

Lose Remerswaal

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John Lackey was a dick. But the man started and won a WS clinching game. He also went 3-1 in those playoffs.

For me, that totally removes him from consideration on this list.

I think that so many people mention him is a testimony to the success the Sox have enjoyed since 2004. Said differently, if 2013 was the first or only title, I doubt that as many would select him.

Good!
BK Kim is right there with Julio Lugo.
We're getting unclear on the concept my friends
 

Shaky Walton

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We're getting unclear on the concept my friends
If you mean that we should only be judging it by how we felt at the time of acquisition, point taken. I would have thought in Lackey's case that part of how people are reacting is related to how he behaved in Boston but agai, I get your point.
 

moondog80

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First name I thought of was Carl Everett.

But taking a few minutes to add some other obvious ones:

Jim Leyritz
Rick Cerone

And maybe some of you aren't as old as me, but here's my steal of the draft:

Matt Young
Rick Cerone!

I just looked him up; he finished 7th in the MVP voting in 1980, with one first place vote!!! He did have a decent year (277/14/85 in the numbers that mattered at the time), but I'm guessing he benefited from a "filled the void left by Thurman Munson" narrative?
 

Dewey'sCannon

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EDIT SINCE FOLKS ARE GETTING UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT:

The concept is when we heard the Sox added the guy we were immediately pissed and said NOT THAT GUY.


Not a guy who came here and sucked or became a piece of shit (The Cordero Exception). Conversely, if we hated him and then he turned out to be pretty good (The Lackey Clause), THAT DOESN'T MATTER.
Keeping this criteria in mind (i.e., guys I hated before they got here, and so hated the idea of having to root for them):

1. David Wells
2. John Lackey
3. Mike Torrez
4. Danny Cater (not so much because I hated him before he got here, but just because he was mediocre at best, and that's essentially all we got for Sparky Lyle!)
5. AJ
 

Mooch

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Another one that just popped into my head: Steve Avery. Wasn't all his fault since the Sox front-office sold him as the Clemens replacement but I remember EVERYONE hating the signing immediately and it never got much better after that.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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No mention yet of Stan Papi?

Most of mine, other than the several washed up Yankees already mentioned, are from early 1990s when it felt like we aspired to win 82 games. A motley collection of has-beens and never-weres: Tony Pena, Billy Hatcher, Rob Deer, Otis Nixon, even Andre Dawson. What was the point?
 
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Oppo

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Julio Lugo
Davis Wells
Julian Tavares
Can’t think of the name but there was a RP who went from NYY to Bos about 10 years ago
 

RIFan

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1st thought was Jose Offerman, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned Stan Papi.

Fake edit: PJF beat me by a second.
 

YTF

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Did people really hate Lackey at the time? I thought much of the hate was generated from a mediocre year 1, terrible year 2, completely missing year 3, and the notion that he was mad because he had to honor his contract and play that extra year for the minimum.
When Lackey was with Anaheim there was at least one occasion that he said that he hated pitching in Fenway and if I remember correctly there was a lot of bitching about bringing a guy in who doesn't like pitching here.
 

Hank Scorpio

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I think a lot of people here are not getting the concept of the thread, or are misremembering. Seeing a lot of names that burned their bridges after arriving, but were "good/neutral/meh" acquisitions at the time. Everett's craziness came out after some time here. Cordero was JAG until he chucked a phone at his wife. Crawford was an overpay, but still a premium player who was going to be part of "The Greatest Red Sox Team Ever". Hell, even Lugo was a guy who I wanted to acquire... until he started playing games for us.

Wells certainly had Yankee stink on him, and if I recall, was a noted jerk.
Kudos to those who mentioned Leyritz. There was a lot of bad vibes around him, but I forget why.
Pierzynski was hated before he ever suited up.
Price is an obvious one, from his years with TB, and his constant grousing on social media, especially about David Ortiz.

One for me, and it's not even remotely his fault - but I hated the draft pick, was Trey Ball. I know hindsight is 20/20, so I won't complain about not taking Judge - but not drafting Meadows was a huge blunder, and it was an obvious one at the time. My mind when the pick was made: "Yes, yes, yes! Meadows is still on the board! So glad we're gett-- WHAT THE FUCK, TREY BALL?!"
 

ookami7m

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Julio Lugo
Davis Wells
Julian Tavares
Can’t think of the name but there was a RP who went from NYY to Bos about 10 years ago
Shit I forgot about Tavares - I hated that signing from the minute the ink was dry. It was just a matter of time until he went off the rails. Eventually he became “our” crazy guy and I hated him less.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I hated the John Burkett signing too. That's where a user got his screen name from. John Burkett is like wiping your ass with a napkin.
 

nolasoxfan

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Echoing the thoughts of others: AJ Pierzynski, Carl Crawford, and Jose Canseco. Never wanted or expected to see either of these 3 guys wearing my laundry.
 

nayrbrey

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Matt Young was the first I can remember disliking from before the Sox signed him. Edgar Renteria is another one, more so because of his Marlins time (I hated the thought of an expansion team winning a WS). Loved him for grounding out to Foulke though.
 

Was (Not Wasdin)

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EDIT SINCE FOLKS ARE GETTING UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT:

The concept is when we heard the Sox added the guy we were immediately pissed and said NOT THAT GUY.


Not a guy who came here and sucked or became a piece of shit (The Cordero Exception). Conversely, if we hated him and then he turned out to be pretty good (The Lackey Clause), THAT DOESN'T MATTER.
Manny. I thought it was a terrible overpay, and there were already stories floating around that he might not be as much of a "quirky, loveable, knucklehead" as he appeared. The main reason though, as I would tell anyone who would listen, was that once you took him out of that stacked Indians lineup, he'd be a good, not great, hitter. I was morally certain of this fact. Just a small part of why I'll never have a job in baseball.

Gagne-I was right on that one, I wasnt fooled by the good early season numbers with Texas. He was damaged goods.
 

kartvelo

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There are several, but Mike Torrez was the first that came to mind. I didn't dislike him as a person or even because he came to us from NYY, I just thought he'd pitch poorly in Fenway.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I'm a bigtime hater, so I can do a whole team:

SP: Lackey, Price (both redeemed themselves with championships but I loathed both when they got here) Torrez, Wells, Bartolo Colon
RP: Jeff Russell, Ramiro Mendoza, Bobby Jenks, Alfredo Aceves
C: AJ P
1B: Jim Leyritz (he played one game at first for us.) Eric Hinske
2B: Mark Lemke, Craig Grebeck
SS: Lugo
3B: Ed Sprague EDIT: Sandoval, I was stunned and horrified when we signed that clown
LF: Manny Ramirez (hated him with Cleveland, I was able to change when he got here)
CF: Carl Crawford (he didn't even play CF for us, just wasted his declining speed in LF, like a douche)
RF: Kevin Mitchell (he played 21 games in right field for us, more than any other position)

DH: Canseco, Jeremy Giambi

Bench: Steve Lyons-- his first time with the team I liked him, but by the time we brought back I already hated him
Jonny Gomes (really disliked him before he got here, then liked him)
Nick Punto

Manager: Valentine: I already hated him before he got here.
 
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Lose Remerswaal

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I'm a bigtime hater, so I can do a whole team:

SP: Lackey, Price (both redeemed themselves with championships but I loathed both when they got here) Torrez, Wells, Bartolo Colon
RP: Jeff Russell, Ramiro Mendoza, Bobby Jenks, Alfredo Aceves
C: AJ P
1B: Jim Leyritz (he played one game at first for us.) Eric Hinske
2B: Mark Lemke, Craig Grebeck
SS: Lugo
3B: Ed Sprague
LF: Manny Ramirez (hated him with Cleveland, I was able to change when he got here)
CF: Carl Crawford (he didn't even play CF for us, just wasted his declining speed in LF, like a douche)
RF: Kevin Mitchell (he played 21 games in right field for us, more than any other position)

DH: Canseco, Jeremy Giambi

Bench: Steve Lyons-- his first time with the team I liked him, but by the time we brought back I already hated him
Jonny Gomes (really disliked him before he got here, then liked him)
Nick Punto

Manager: Valentine: I already hated him before he got here.
Terrific post
 

nattysez

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No mention yet of Stan Papi?

Most of mine, other than the several washed up Yankees already mentioned, are from early 1990s when it felt like we aspired to win 82 games. A motley collection of has-beens and never-weres: Tony Pena, Billy Hatcher, Rob Deer, Otis Nixon, even Andre Dawson. What was the point?
I will not abide any Rob Deer slander. He was a three true outcomes guy before it was cool.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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28,136 posts on SOSH and counting, and it looks as though my all time most quoted is going to be a misspelled post that merely said, "AJ Pierzinsky."
 

GreenMonster49

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Stan Papi, because even as a callow youth, I knew that Bill Lee was a much better ballplayer. I really didn't hate him as much as the front office that decided he was worth starting 27 games for the Red Sox.

But as for Marc Sullivan, I could dislike him and management at the same time because ordinarily poor management would have kept his 33 OPS+ at AAA, but only management overseen by his father would pay him a major league salary.
 

Buck Showalter

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For me it's Tony Clark.

He played for Boston only in '02......but that prick had a .265 SLG with only 3-HR and somehow managed to enter 90 Games and garner 298 plate appearances.

This while making $5.0 million of his career earnings of $22.3 million over a 13-year span.

And then he went on to hit 30-HR and a .636 SLG with Arizona in '05.

Eff' you Tony Clark!
 

Zososoxfan

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I got angry enough to come in to post:

1. AJP - total dick, and he sucked.
2. Lackey - rooting for the horseface killah was little fun, but he gets points for success.
3. Lugo - total wet blanket.

Valentine, because I don't care about the arbitrary rules OP set--Valentine was the absolute worst.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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One that just came to mind was Gary Gaetti. For those that don't recall, he made the Sox out of spring training in 2000 at the ripe old age of 41, having come off a season where he had hit .204/.260/.339, posting a whopping OPS+ of 52 for the Cubs in 1999! He only ended up appearing in 5 games and getting 11 plate appearances, but idea that this corpse should be taking up a roster spot for any length of time was just mind-boggling. I was livid when I heard that he was coming north with the team.
 

RetractableRoof

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Most recent: David Price
Less Recent: AJ Pierierisynki
Less less recent: Jim Leyritz

Other players I might have disliked, but these three I DISLIKED.

HM: Mike Torres, but that was likely mistrust versus dislike. Once I saw the ball leave the bat in 78, I just shook my head. And cried myself to sleep.
 

fiskful of dollars

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AJP and it's not even close. I don't know if he is a good commentator or not because i can't stand to listen to him.

With respect to CC: AJP is like wiping your ass with a napkin already used by somebody else to wipe the ass of the John Burkett signing.
 

DanoooME

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Did people really hate Lackey at the time? I thought much of the hate was generated from a mediocre year 1, terrible year 2, completely missing year 3, and the notion that he was mad because he had to honor his contract and play that extra year for the minimum.
Yeah, I hated the guy before he put on the uniform. He was such a jackass on the mound, it was painful to watch games he pitched in for the Angels and I vowed never to like the guy even after he signed. And I still don't.

AJP I kind of understood why he was a jerk, since he was a huge wrestling fan and just had to be the heel. Too bad he was the "X-Pac go-away" heel, instead of someone you bought into and genuinely hated, like Lackey.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I'm a bigtime hater, so I can do a whole team:

SP: Lackey, Price (both redeemed themselves with championships but I loathed both when they got here) Torrez, Wells, Bartolo Colon
RP: Jeff Russell, Ramiro Mendoza, Bobby Jenks, Alfredo Aceves
C: AJ P
1B: Jim Leyritz (he played one game at first for us.) Eric Hinske
2B: Mark Lemke, Craig Grebeck
SS: Lugo
3B: Ed Sprague EDIT: Sandoval, I was stunned and horrified when we signed that clown
LF: Manny Ramirez (hated him with Cleveland, I was able to change when he got here)
CF: Carl Crawford (he didn't even play CF for us, just wasted his declining speed in LF, like a douche)
RF: Kevin Mitchell (he played 21 games in right field for us, more than any other position)

DH: Canseco, Jeremy Giambi

Bench: Steve Lyons-- his first time with the team I liked him, but by the time we brought back I already hated him
Jonny Gomes (really disliked him before he got here, then liked him)
Nick Punto

Manager: Valentine: I already hated him before he got here.
Bobby Jenks is a really good one and easy to forget.
 

Martin and Woods

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Dec 8, 2017
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1. AJ Pierzynski





You know how Hank Aaron is literally miles ahead of the second place guy in career total bases? So it is for AJ here.

2. Julian Tavarez
3. Pablo Sandoval (I didn't hate Panda himself, but hated HATED the signing. I mean, wtf, the outcome was so gd predictable. Still pisses me off.)