One Year Wonder Pt. 32: Adam Ottavino

In an extremely rare move, Adam Ottavino was acquired in a "trade" from the Yankees.  Once one of the premier middle relievers with the Rockies and Yankees, Ottavino had a rough season in 2020.  His first season with the Yankees, he had a 1.90 ERA in 73 games with 88 strikeouts in 66.1 innings, but his ERA ballooned to 5.89 in 2020.  His contract was fairly expensive and the Yankees were looking to move him, even dangling a prospect for a team to come in and simply take him off their hands if they paid the entire contract.  The Red Sox stepped up and acquired Ottavino along with flamethrower Franklin German.

Ottavino had a good, if somewhat inconsistent, season in his only year in Boston. The right-hander notably wore the jersey number 0 (for Ottavino), becoming just the second player in Red Sox history to do so (Brandon Phillips was the other one).  He was primarily a middle reliever, but due to Boston having some closer issues at various points, he found himself in the role off and on.

Ottavino's 69 games pitched led the team and he threw 62 innings.  He had a record of 7-3 with a 4.21 ERA that was inflated by a couple of bad outings.  He struck out 71 batters while walking 35.  His eleven saves were second on the team to incumbent closer Matt Barnes.  He made it into five games in the postseason, giving up just one run in four innings pitched and struck out three.

After the season, Ottavino was allowed to leave as a free agent and joined the Mets.  He is still active this season.  

As far as his stance on the All Time One Year Wonder list, though he had a decent year, it is not close to enough to unseat Takashi Saito as middle reliever.  If considered as a closer, which is somewhat debatable, he is probably a little closer to the top, but still not better than Rick Aguilera.