Beato was in his second season with the Red Sox in 2013 after coming over from the New York Mets in exchange for Kelly Shoppach. Beato was a big (6'6" 230) right-hander who had a pretty good year in the Red Sox minor league system. He was brought up a couple of times and made it into ten games with the big league club. His numbers were okay in short work, pitching ten innings with a 1-1 record and a 3.60 ERA. But for such a big guy, he did not rack up many strikeouts, fanning just five while walking two. He was placed on waivers after the season and was picked up by the Reds. He is still active, though he has not appeared in the Majors for more than a few games in any subsequent season. Beato does have Pawtucket Red Sox cards.
Quintin Berry has one particular skill that has made him a desirable player to have on the team and teams have gone back to get him to take advantage of that one skill. Berry is fast, very fast. In his rookie season in 2012, Berry stole 21 bases in 94 games with the Tigers, but he was not able to stick on the Major League roster. In 2013, he started the season in the Tiger organization, was selected off of waivers by the Royals, and then was dealt to Boston in late August for Clayton Mortensen. Boston used him down the stretch, primarily as a pinch runner. He had just eight at-bats in 13 games, but he picked up five hits and scored five runs while stealing three bases. Berry even hit a home run among his five hits. His line was .625/.667/1.000. Berry made it on to the postseason roster primarily to use his great speed late in games. He played one game in each of the postseason series and stole a base in each game. It is a big shame that there were no commemorative sets for 2013 because he would have shown up in something, beyond his minor league issues. Berry bounced around several organizations after 2013, most recently for Milwaukee in 2017. He even made it back to the Boston system for a little while, though he did not play in Boston. He never played in more than a few games in the Majors per season other than his rookie year.
There is not really a whole lot to say about Jose De La Torre. His entire Major League career consists of just seven games that he pitched for Boston in 2013. De La Torre bounced around several organizations before landing in Boston, originally signing with the Brewers, then moving on to the Mets and then the Indians before Cleveland traded him to Boston in July 2012 for Brent Lillibridge, who did next to nothing for Boston after being acquired for Kevin Youkilis. De La Torre did not do much more than Lillibridge though, pitching to a 6.35 ERA and 1.765 WHIP in 11.1 innings in 2013 after having a reasonably successful season in Pawtucket. He showed some strikeout ability, registering 15, but also walked 10. After the season, the Brewers brought him back, but he never pitched in the Majors again. De La Torre does have a minor league issue with Pawtucket.
Diaz is a typical all glove-no hit middle infielder. He was originally drafted by Toronto in the 2006 Draft and spent seven seasons in the minors, never hitting higher than .267. He did have some on-base ability though, as he had good strike zone judgment and walked more than he struck out several seasons. Diaz signed with the Red Sox organization for the 2013 season and had a decent season, hitting .255/.386/.320 and stole 12 bases. He was called up late in the season to provide late-inning defensive relief. It was his Major League debut. Diaz appeared in five games, only starting one at third base. He made just four at-bats and was hitless, but he did score two runs. After the season, he returned to the Blue Jays system, then bounced between the Blue Jays and Yankees system several times. He had his most successful season in 2014 appearing in 23 games for Toronto. Diaz does also appear in Pawtucket Red Sox sets.
McDonald had a career spanning 16 seasons and appeared in the Majors for eight different teams. He was a highly skilled defensive player who found his niche as a utility infielder, having his greatest success with Toronto in 2007. He also played for the Indians, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Pirates, Phillies, and Dodgers as well as the Red Sox. His time in Boston was a minor blip in his long career. He had a crazy 2013, starting the year with Arizona, then being sent to Pittsburgh, then to Cleveland, then to Philadelphia, and then finally to Boston at the August trade deadline for Nefi Ogando. McDonald appeared in six games at second base for the Red Sox in September, but made just nine plate appearances with a line of .250/.333/.250. True to his reputation, he had a 1.000 fielding percentage. McDonald appeared in 95 games with the Dodgers the next season, his last season in the Majors.
The frustration continues as Miller was now in his third season with the Red Sox with no cards. Miller was in the midst of a potential breakout season in 2013. Unfortunately an injury in early July ended his season prematurely and caused him to miss the postseason entirely. Had this not happened, he may have gotten a card in Update or something. Miller had already pitched in 37 games, mostly as a lefty specialist, as his 30.2 innings would attest. He had a sparkling 2.64 ERA and a 1-1 record. He was still a little bit wild, walking 17, but he racked up 48 strikeouts. It is a shame he got hurt as he could have been a weapon in the postseason, not that Boston ultimately really needed it. Still, he should have had a card at some point during his four-year tenure with the Red Sox.
After being acquired in a trade with the Rockies prior to 2012, Mortensen spent two seasons with the Red Sox. He was decent in 2012, but struggled quite a bit in 2013 with a 5.34 ERA in 24 games in 30.1 innings and finished with a 1-2 record. He struck out 21 while walking 16. Mortensen was traded to the Royals in late August in 2013 for Quintin Berry. He did not make it back to the Majors that season, or any other season. His tenure with the Red Sox was his last in the Major Leagues despite being just 28. He last appeared in 2017 in the Marlins system.
Boston needed a little bit of depth coming into the 2013 season and signed Brandon Snyder as a free agent from the Rangers. Snyder had been a first-round pick of the Orioles back in 2005, but never totally panned out. He appeared in the Majors each of the previous seasons but only once played in more than ten games (40 in 2012 with the Rangers). He was decent in 2012 and made it into 27 games with the Red Sox in 2013. Snyder was versatile, appearing in games at first, third, left field, and designated hitter, but he did not hit much. His final line was .180/.212/.360 and he hit two home runs and drove in seven runs. Snyder bounced around for a couple of years, not appearing in the Majors again until 2016 when he turned in a decent partial season for the Braves. He did appear with the Rays earlier this year. Snyder does appear in minor league sets.
The big trade deadline deal the Red Sox pulled off in 2013 was to acquire starting pitcher Jake Peavy from the White Sox in a three-team deal. Boston sent defensive wizard Jose Iglesias to the Tigers in the deal and a few prospects (including future Major Leaguers Frankie Montas and J.B. Wendelken) to the White Sox. Peavy was not the only player Boston received in the deal though as the Tigers sent Villareal to the Red Sox. Villareal had a decent season for Detroit in 2012, appearing in 50 games with a 3-5 record and a 2.63 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 54.2 innings. Unfortunately his 2013 was not nearly as impressive as he had a 20.77 ERA for the Tigers in seven games. Villareal appeared in just one game with the Red Sox, facing just one batter, who he walked. Not the most impressive debut. It is not much of a surprise then that he did not receive a card for his time in Boston. He remained in the minors for Boston in 2014, then signed with the Twins but he never appeared in the Majors again.
It is very easy to pick the biggest disappointment here since Andrew Miller had a very good season, which might have been even better had he not gotten hurt. Quintin Berry though, is another player that I would have loved to see get some cardboard as he appeared in the World Series against the Cardinals. It sucks to not have cards of everyone who appeared in the World Series. Ultimately, I would probably pick Miller, but would have to consider Berry. I really wish there had been commemorative sets as in 2004 and 2007. Those years, players like Ricky Gutierrez and Royce Clayton managed to get cards only through those sets. If there had been one in 2013, Miller and Berry might have gotten something.
Always enjoy these posts
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