More Random Freebies

I have not done well collecting other Red Sox cards beyond Connor Wong lately.  It is always much appreciated when people toss in freebies then.  One of my packages had a ton of other cards in it, and there were several Red Sox I needed.  Here are those freebies:

1.  Reese McGuire.  This was my first McGuire card.  McGuire was acquired in a trade with the White Sox last year after Christian Vazquez was traded.  He hit .337 with three home runs down the stretch and entered the 2023 season as the primary catcher.  But, after he had significant issues throwing out runners, he became the backup to Wong.  He is a decent contact guy though and hit .260 in 2023.  Virtually no power though and it would be surprising if he doesn't get non-tendered.

2.  Andrew Benintendi.  What happened to Benintendi?  His power is completely gone.  He hit just five home runs for the White Sox in 2023 after hitting five the year before.  In Boston in his first season he was a 20/20 man.  

3.  Rafael Devers.  Devers has 172 home runs and he just turned 27 in October.  We are looking at a potential 400 home run hitter if he stays healthy.

4.  Michael Chavis.  Chavis has never really been able to live up to the success of his first Major League season.  He had some bright spots in Pittsburgh, but hit just .242 with two home runs with Washington.

5.  Pedro Martinez.  I talked about Pedro's 1999 season in my Cy Young post.  He won the pitching Triple Crown, leading the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA.  The only other time that had happened by a Red Sox pitcher was Cy Young in 1901.  

6.  Jim Rice.  Rice might have finished his career with more than 400 home runs and a .300 batting average had he not dropped off so quickly.  After 1986, he was basically done as a productive Major Leaguer.  Had he declined more gradually, those career numbers would have been in reach, then perhaps it would not have taken as long to get him inducted into the Hall of Fame.

7.  Bobby Dalbec.  Surprisingly, Dalbec is actually older than Devers.  After a nice rookie season in which he hit 25 home runs, his career has gone quickly downhill.  It is hard to imagine him rebounding at this point.

8.  Kenley Jansen.  This is the card I was most happy about.  This is a Halloween parallel of Boston's only All Star in 2023.  Jansen could find himself in the Hall of Fame some day.  He has 420 career saves, a 2.52 ERA and a 0.956 WHIP.  He also has 1,159 strikeouts in just 813.2 innings pitched.