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

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,438
I'm starting to come around that the answer is whoever they get back for Mookie. Whether it's a prospect or established player.
 

David Laurila

Barbara Walters' Illegitimate Son
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
I disliked Jack Clark upon arrival given his babbling criticisms of Tony Gwynn. Then he put up putrid numbers and almost boasted about declaring bankruptcy (seemingly oblivious to people never getting money from him that he legitimately owed them).
In his first year with the Red Sox, Jack Clark led the team in home runs, walks, RBIs, and SLG. He was second to Boggs in OPS, and he had an OPS+ of 127. While his numbers were "putrid" in his second and final season, he actually hit pretty well upon coming to Boston.
 

brs3

sings praises of pinstripes
SoSH Member
May 20, 2008
5,200
Jackson Heights, NYC
Several of the post-championship teams suffered from my hate because of who left and who came in to replace them. Matt Clement, David Wells, Edgar Renteria in 2005, Jason Bay, John Smoltz later on.
 

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,158
Valentine seemed to be the most stupid, media narrative driven dumb choice they could have made for a manager. I've rarely had any opinion on who they choose to be the manager, but I knew that one would be a disaster the moment it was rumored. Although, I guess I also hated Grady Little as well.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,057
Hingham, MA
Several of the post-championship teams suffered from my hate because of who left and who came in to replace them. Matt Clement, David Wells, Edgar Renteria in 2005, Jason Bay, John Smoltz later on.
Weird to see Jason Bay on this list.

After he came over in 2008, he hit .293 / .370 / .527 (897 OPS / 129 OPS+) with 9 HR, 12 2B, and 37 RBI in 49 games
Then in 2009 he dipped to .267, but .384 OBP / .537 SLG / .921 OPS (134 OPS+), with 36 HR, 29 2B, and 119 RBI in 151 games

Overall in 200 games
.274 / .380 / .534 / .915 with 41 2B, 45 HR, and 156 RBI for the Sox

The BA / OBP / SLG were all better than his career averages.

He played pretty well for the Sox. He just had the unfortunate circumstance of being "Manny's replacement".

The other guys on your list were replacements for other stars, but the difference is they all sucked.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
Weird to see Jason Bay on this list.
I was thinking the same thing about Smoltz. Who was he the direct replacement of? As I recall, he was signed coming off surgery so the hope was if he could pitch at all, he might make a good mid-season "pick-up". They paid a silly premium for how little they got, but it really wasn't the sort of thing to get upset over.
 

brs3

sings praises of pinstripes
SoSH Member
May 20, 2008
5,200
Jackson Heights, NYC
I didn't claim to have a rational reason for any of them. It's pretty rare for me to be bothered by any acquisition, but for some reason these guys didn't fit my flavor pallet to root hard for.
 

Tony Pena's Gas Cloud

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 12, 2019
357
Matt Clement, simply because I knew it would be absolute torture every fifth day. I'd seen him a few times in his Cubs days thanks to a friend who was a Cubs fanatic, and he was brutal to watch. Even on his best days, he was glacial and took the fans completely out of the game. When he was off, he didn't know how to pitch through trouble and instead fucked around by walking guys and throwing over to first three hundred times.

I had tickets to a game against the White Sox, and everyone was talking about how they had to get the game in quickly because rain was due to hit around 9:00 and play would be impossible after that. There was even talk about starting the game early. When the rains came at nearly 9:30, Clement was over 100 pitches and still in the fourth inning. Fans were actually booing him out of boredom. Seriously, fuck that guy.
 

jaytftwofive

New Member
Jan 20, 2013
1,182
Drexel Hill Pa.
To me it's Carl Crawford. Hands down. Not only did he fall off the cliff, he took every opportunity to blame Francona, his teammates, fans, the city, and everything else, even though he did no better after he was traded to LA.

There were some guys in the 1990's who I hated: Dante Bichette, Carl Everett, Mike Marshall, Larry Anderson (my most hated until Crawford came around), Darren Bragg (just because he got playing time). And in the Henry era: Rudy Seanez (both parts 1 and 2). But none come close to Crawford for me.
Larry Anderson is a good guy and a decent baseball announcer. I've met him a few times and when I bring up I'm a Red Sox fan he always jokes and says....."I know, I know I'm the guy traded for Jeff Bagwell" What did he say or do??? He didn't ask for the trade, blame Lou Gorman. The title of this thread is what player did you hate at the time not what trade did you hate the most. He actually contributed while Reardon was out. And the 1990 was one of my favorite Red Sox seasons.
 
Last edited:

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,158
Ouch, I had forgotten about Larry Andersen. That one hurt, because I was actively following Bagwell down at AA (New Britain?) and was very excited about him. That was one of those that seemed stupid immediately.

Of course, I was also high on Carl Pavano and the other guy they gave up for Pedro, and he met all my expectations and then some.
 

Mrmojo

New Member
Nov 30, 2005
11
"The concept is when we heard the Sox added the guy we were immediately pissed and said NOT THAT GUY."
Came here just to write Eric Gagne. Although my experience with the Sox only goes back to the start of this century.
Really? I was thrilled we got Gagne. He hadn't played much in the past 2 years, but had elite numbers the three years before that. He was in the middle of a very good season. Very soon I was hoping he wouldn't be put into the game. Hard to believe many were "immediately pissed" about Carl Crawford. I was annoyed to see Rob Deer on the Sox.
 
Last edited:

MartyBC

New Member
Jul 22, 2017
50
As a kid Torres because I did understand the concept that Boston/NY players could cross lines. More recently well I was a little bit concerned about Chris Sale with the whole cutting up the uniforms because they were ugly. Thats premeditated presociopath behavior.
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,826
Needham, MA
Surprised to see Canseco on the list. In retrospect, sure, but at the time I was pumped and thought he'd be a monster in Fenway.

With nods to David Cone and David Price, both of whom I loathed and wanted no part of, the answer for me is clearly John Lackey. Hated absolutely everything about him when he was on the Angels, did not want him on the Sox, and could barely turn on the TV to watch his starts.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Surprised to see Canseco on the list. In retrospect, sure, but at the time I was pumped and thought he'd be a monster in Fenway.
Canseco's Boston career was interesting. Certainly not an overwhelming success, but he was good with the Sox. He played 17 season in MLB, 2 in Boston. His 2 seasons, he put up these lines:

1995: 396 ab, 24 hr, .306/.378/.556/.933, 137 ops+
1996: 360 ab, 28 hr, .289/.400/.589/.989, 146 ops+

Now those two ops numbers rank #5 and #7 in his 17 year career. So even though he was hampered by injury (only played 102 and 96 games, respectively), he was really good offensively for Boston. I think even in today's launch angle era, we'd be happy with an OF that put up those numbers.
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,826
Needham, MA
Canseco's Boston career was interesting. Certainly not an overwhelming success, but he was good with the Sox. He played 17 season in MLB, 2 in Boston. His 2 seasons, he put up these lines:

1995: 396 ab, 24 hr, .306/.378/.556/.933, 137 ops+
1996: 360 ab, 28 hr, .289/.400/.589/.989, 146 ops+

Now those two ops numbers rank #5 and #7 in his 17 year career. So even though he was hampered by injury (only played 102 and 96 games, respectively), he was really good offensively for Boston. I think even in today's launch angle era, we'd be happy with an OF that put up those numbers.
I meant more because of his admitted steroid use. Never bothered me but YMMV.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
I meant more because of his admitted steroid use. Never bothered me but YMMV.
I don't remember the chronology. He didn't admit to steroids at the time, did he? And the reason I posted his numbers was because my memory was that he was a pretty big bust with the Sox...but it turned out not really to be the case, looking at his actual numbers.
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,826
Needham, MA
He didn't admit to it until later. That's why I said I can understand how in retrospect people hated him on the Sox. Although now that I think about it there was wide speculation about his steroid usage going all the way back to his Oakland days so if that's the reason people hated when the Sox acquired I can understand that.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
He didn't admit to it until later. That's why I said I can understand how in retrospect people hated him on the Sox. Although now that I think about it there was wide speculation about his steroid usage going all the way back to his Oakland days so if that's the reason people hated when the Sox acquired I can understand that.
Yep that makes sense.
 

Bernie Carbohydrate

writes the Semi-Fin
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 2, 2001
4,047
South Carolina via Dorchestah
I'm starting to come around that the answer is whoever they get back for Mookie. Whether it's a prospect or established player.
Best post in the thread.

Most of these dislikes are because we loved the departing payer (Mo for Offerman) or we felt like the Sox got fleeced (Lyle for Cater), or the incoming player was an objectionable person (Lugo as FA).

Verdugo hits a transactional triple, and touches all three of those bases.

However, in running out the triple he will probably tweak his back.
 

Auger34

used to be tbb
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2010
9,275
AJP - Don't think much needs to be explained here
John Lackey - The guy just seemed like a miserable douche and had a very punchable face
David Price - The Papi feud was bad and his general demeanor didn't scream great fit
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

holden
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Oct 2, 2003
12,723
MetroWest, MA
He didn't admit to it until later. That's why I said I can understand how in retrospect people hated him on the Sox. Although now that I think about it there was wide speculation about his steroid usage going all the way back to his Oakland days so if that's the reason people hated when the Sox acquired I can understand that.
The Fenway crowd chanted STER-OIDS at Canseco during the '88 & '90 playoffs. Everybody knew, even back then.
 

Bergs

funky and cold
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2005
21,613
Wells and Lackey for me. There were other signings I hated for baseball reasons, but I REALLY did not want to root for either one of those cats.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,163
Don Demeter.

An over the hill center fielder (who had to retire at the end of the season) who was all the Sox got for Earl Wilson, who was a favorite of mine (and who had several good seasons thereafter for the Tigers).

The move, like several others the Sox made in those days, certainly could also be criticized for their racial overtones.
 

pedro1918

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 5, 2004
5,139
Map Ref. 41°N 93°W
I’d like to throw in another vote for Ed Sprague. The only reason is that I thought Cesar Saba was going to be the next Omar Vizquel, but a better hitter. I could not believe they traded Saba for some stiff like Sprague.
 
Last edited:

Tyrone Biggums

nfl meets tri-annually at a secret country mansion
SoSH Member
Aug 15, 2006
6,424
Well considering Verdugos connection to a sexual assault incident he should be number 1 with a bullet. He leapfrogs players such as David Wells, Rent A Wreck, Lugo, Awfulman, AJ, Jack Clark and Matt "I can't throw to 1st" Young.
 

djhb20

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Feb 7, 2004
1,887
10025
I’d like to throw in another vote for Ed Sprague. The only reason is that I thought Cesar Saba was going to be the next Ozzie Vizquel, but a better hitter. I could not believe they traded Saba for some stiff like Sprague.
Also dealt Tankersley, who had an infinity ERA in 2003 for the Padres.