One-Year Wonder Pt. 6: Cliff Floyd

Every once in awhile, the Red Sox pick up a veteran player for a year, or just the stretch run that was a star at one point that I become fascinated with. It's a player that is basically only a role player at that point in their career, but may show flashes of their old brilliance. It's so unusual to see them as a member of the Red Sox, that I try to find as many of their cards as possible. This series will be about some of those players.
CLIFF FLOYD
Cliff Floyd had an interesting year in 2002. He started the season for the Florida Marlins and hit .287/.414/.537/.942 with 18 home runs in 84 games. He was then shipped to the Montreal Expos as part of a large trade for former Red Sox farmhand Carl Pavano and others. He played only 15 games for the Expos and hit .208/.263/.414/.678 with three home runs. Then, he was traded again, this time to the Red Sox for Seung Jun Song and Sun Woo Kim.

Floyd split his time between left field and designated hitter for the part of the season he spent in Boston. He hit .316/.374/.561/.935 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs. He was certainly a good offensive player during his time with Boston, but the Red Sox did not re-sign him after the season, preferring to pick up cheaper DH options such as Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz. Of course, we know how that turned out.

I liked Floyd while he was in Boston, but it was clear they did not have much intention in bringing him back the next year. Good thing neither Song nor Kim really did much for Montreal. Boston did get two draft picks out of losing Floyd to the Mets, which they used on Matt Murton and Abe Alvarez.