Boston Red Sox: building a champion

Red Sox–International Free Agent Signings

The Red Sox have two international free agent signees and one player they purchased outright from another MLB team. The best of these three is Xander Bogaerts.

SS Xander Bogaerts (3.8 WAR)—The Red Sox signed Bogaerts out of Aruba in August of 2009 when he was a teenager.  He first appeared on the Baseball America top-100 before the 2012 season, as the 58th-best prospect in baseball. He moved up to 8th the next season and 2nd overall the year after.

Bogaerts’ first full year in the major leagues was rough (0.1 WAR), but he came back strong in year two (4.5 WAR) with an above average bat and good defense at shortstop. He made the all-star team in 2016 when he hit a surprising 21 home runs. That power disappeared in 2017 but returned again this year with a career-high 23 home runs. He also had the best on-base percentage and slugging percentage of his career.

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3B Rafael Devers (0.0 WAR)—Devers was an international free agent signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. Before the 2015 season, he ranked 99th on the Baseball America top-100, then ranked 18th the next two years. After three-plus seasons in the minor leagues, Devers hit well in 58 games with the Red Sox in 2017. He was an above average hitter with a glove that lagged behind his bat.

Expected to be the team’s regular third baseman this year, Devers instead took a step backwards. He hit .240/.298/.433 and was well below average in the field. It’s important to remember that he was just 21 years old this year. Also, one of the biggest difference between Devers in 2017 and Devers in 2018 was his BABIP, which went from .342 to .281. If Devers had the same BABIP this year as last year, he would have had a very similar batting line.

Purchased

C Sandy Leon (-0.5 WAR)—In March of 2015, the Red Sox acquired Leon from the Washington Nationals for cash considerations. They needed a catcher because Christian Vazquez had a right elbow sprain. Leon only had 107 major league plate appearances before the Red Sox picked him up.

In three of his four seasons with Boston, Leon has been a brutal hitter. In a typical Sandy Leon year, he struggles to hit .200, doesn’t come close to a .300 OBP, and lacks any semblance of power. The only reason he’s in the lineup is his glove. But there was one, crazy year in which Leon could suddenly hit. In 2016, he hit .310/.369/.476. It was unreal. His career BABIP is .290. In 2016, his BABIP was .392. It was magical and totally unrepeatable.

Summary

Of the four remaining playoff teams, the Red Sox received the highest percentage of value from players they drafted. You could see this in real time during the team’s Game 4 victory over the Astros. Outfielders Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Andrew Benintendi, all originally drafted by the Red Sox, each did something impressive that helped give the Red Sox the win and a two-game lead in the series.

Along with the production of their drafted players, the Red Sox got 1.7 scoreless innings from free agent Ryan Brasier and a two-inning save from trade acquisition Craig Kimbrel. International free agent signee Xander Bogaerts had two hits and two RBI. It was an impressive victory with contributions from players who joined the Red Sox through a variety of ways.