Gonzalez and Crawford? Don’t forget about Beltre and Martinez

If you have any
shred of human decency, you probably cringed just a little when the
Red Sox piled on this offseason with the additions of Adrian Gonzalez
via trade and Carl Crawford via free agency. The playoffs, and
possibly the World Series, seemed inevitable.

After all, Dustin
Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Kevin Youkilis would be returning after
missing significant time with injuries, and Josh Beckett was expected
to round back into vintage form. Yet while all that happened, it may
have been the two Red Sox that departed the team that made the
biggest impact.

With the team
less than a combined two years, Adrian Beltre (signed as a free agent
prior to 2010) and Victor Martinez (acquired via midseason trade from
Cleveland in 2009) departed in free agency. Where they landed? Try
Texas and Detroit, respectively. Not coincidentally, both of those
teams are in the playoffs while the Red Sox are not.

Beltre played in
only 124 games after missing 39 days due to a hamstring injury, yet
provided pop in the middle of a formidable Texas lineup by hitting
.296 with 32 home runs and 105 runs batted in. While his batting
average dipped 25 points, his home run and RBI totals bested that of
2010 with Boston (28 and 102).

Martinez,
meanwhile, left Boston’s catching situation in flux when he took his
.302 average and 20 homers and 79 RBI to the Motor City. His power
numbers dropped in 2011 as he hit only 12 dingers, but he batted .330
and drove in 103 runs while providing protection for Miguel Cabrera.

Gonzalez had a
monster year for the Sox, but Crawford was a major disappointment,
and perhaps fittingly his sliding effort in the 9^th inning
Wednesday fell just short while his former club, Tampa Bay, snuck
into the playoffs.

One Adrian is
indeed postseason-bound, but it’s not Gonzalez, who was in line for
most of the year to win the AL batting title until succumbing to
Cabrera. Beltre and Martinez will be major factors in their teams
playoff chase, and I can think of nothing more fitting (short of the
Yankees winning it all, but let’s not hope for that) to pour even
more salt into the wounds of Red Sox fans if they lead their teams to
an ALCS clash.

Unless of course
one of them decides to imitate Jonathan Papelbon’s low-brow fist pump
on the pitching mound after getting the winning hit.