44
THE CASE FOR 2020
BY GORDON EDES
The shock will wear off, just as it did after
Nomar was traded, Pedro departed as a
free agent, Manny forced his way out of
town, and Big Papi retired. And when it
does, when folks come to terms with the
fact that Mookie Betts will not be walking
through that door, the realization will
slowly dawn that the Red Sox remain
eminently capable of playing contending
baseball in 2020.
No, they won’t suddenly be installed as
favorites to win the American League
East. Even with Mookie and pitcher David
Price, who also was traded to the Los
Angeles Dodgers, that wasn’t going to
happen. Not after the New York Yankees,
winners of 103 games last season, landed
this winter’s biggest free-agent pitching
prize, Gerrit Cole. And not after the Sox,
a year after winning a franchise-record
108 games in 2018 and running the table
in the postseason, won just 84 games in
2019, not only trailing the Yankees but
the second-place Tampa Bay Rays, who
finished a dozen games ahead of the Sox.
The Sox, of course, are faced with not only
overcoming the departure of Betts and
Price. They also are adjusting to the loss
of their manager, Alex Cora, who parted
ways with the club after his role in the
Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal was
exposed. That’s a big hit.
RON ROENICKE
RED SOX MAGAZINE
ANDREW
BENINTENDI
BILLIE WEISS
MICHAEL IVINS