Top 10 Worst Moves by the Red Sox in the 21st Century

Part of being a die-hard fan is supporting your team through the good, the bad, and the terrible signings and trades. However, in recent years it seems no team has made more bad moves then the Boston Red Sox.

Today I will be counting down the 10 most moves by the Red Sox for this century only. This list is not about who they might've traded, but rather who they spent the big bucks to acquire.

#10 Ryan Dempster

Yes he was on their 2013 World Series team, but he was most definitely not the reason they won it all.  Dempster signed a 1-year $13.25 million dollar contract with the Red Sox in 2013. He was dismal in his final year going 8-9 with a 4.57 ERA. After winning the World Series Dempster called it a career and retired. I suppose Dempster wanted to go out on top and while the team did he sure didn't.

#9 Wily Mo Pena

In March 2006 the Red Sox sent a young, promising pitcher named Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Wily Mo Pena. Pena had never put up spectacular numbers with the Reds. His best Batting Average was .259 and he never reached 70 RBIS. He ended up having a pretty good 2006 season with the Red Sox, but he was washed up come 2007. He hit .218 with the Sox before being traded to the Nationals for a player to be named later in August.

#8 David Price

It's only the 2nd year of his jaw-dropping 7-year $217 million dollar contract, so there still could be hope. However judging by his performance with the Red Sox thus far we may be out of luck. Price had a great win loss record last year, but it's because of the Red Sox's offense. His 3.99 ERA in 2016 shows he's regressing. To add insult to injury he missed the first few months of this year and now he's back on the DL. If Price can be the pitcher he was before he got to Boston there may be hope. But if he doesn't he might rise a few spots on this list.

#7 Carson Smith

The sheer fact that he was acquired by the Red Sox in December 2015 and he's only pitched 2.2 innings for them speaks volume. Smith missed most of 2016, because of Tommy John surgery. He finally seemed ready to pitch full-time this year, but was transferred back to the 60-day DL, for he is still recovering from surgery. Many pitchers have never been the same after Tommy John surgery, but it's hard to know what Carson Smith can even do for the Red Sox since he's only pitched 2.2 innings.

#6 Daisuke Matsuzaka

For a few years it seemed like "Dice-K" was the next big thing not just for the Red Sox, but for baseball. His first year saw him ranked 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting while his second year was his best. He went 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. Sadly everything went downhill after that for Matsuzaka. Each year after 2008 just seemed to get worse and worse. His pitiful 8.28 ERA in 2012 was perhaps the last straw as he became a free agent at the end of the year. He went on to have 2 separate stints with the Indians and 2 with the Mets before retiring from professional Baseball.

#5 Edgar Renteria

After seeing what he had to offer the team (which wasn't much) while facing the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series the Red Sox signed the shortstop to a 4-year $40 million dollar contract. Renteria lasted only 1 season with the Red Sox. He hit .276 with just 8 homers and 70 RBIS. They were able to unload his contract to the Braves in December 2005 which brought an end to his nearly disastrous stint with Boston.

#4 Julio Lugo

Julio Lugo never had a spectacular season, but that didn't stop the Red Sox from falling in love with him and signing him to a 4-year $36 million dollar contract in December 2006. The Red Sox may have won the 2007 World Series, but Julio Lugo's season was a disaster. He hit .237 with just 8 homers and struck out more than he had since 2004. He hit .251 in 2 1/2 years with the Red Sox before being traded to the Cardinals in 2009.

#3 Rusney Castillo

3 years from now we could see Castillo at #1 on this list or not on this list at all. However, right now Castillo is terrible. The Red Sox signed Rusney to a 7-year 72.5 million dollar deal and he has not even come close to expectations. He's hit .262 in 317 at-bats for the Red Sox which is not good especially for what he was paid. Supposedly he's doing okay in the minors, but the Sox can't call him up because of his huge contract. If only they learned from their mistakes maybe he'd be some other team's problem now.

#2 Carl Crawford

Where do I even start with him. The Red Sox signed Crawford to a 7-year $142 million dollar deal at the end of 2010 and what a mistake it was. Crawford played pretty decent Baseball for the Rays hitting .296 career with them with almost 600 RBIS. But once he came to Boston it all changed. In 1 1/2 seasons with the Red Sox he hit .260 with just 14 home runs and 75 RBIS. He struck out 126 times and just seemed to lack the passion he had in Tampa Bay. The only good part of this trade was that we were able to unload him to the Dodgers along with Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett in the 2012 blockbuster deal.

#1 Pablo Sandoval

This could very well go down as not just the worst Red Sox signing ever, but one of the worst all time signings. After a terrible 2014 season the Red Sox were looking to bounce back. They signed the 3-time all-star and 3-time World Series champion to a 5-year $95 million dollar contract. In just 2 1/2 years with Boston he hit a pitiful .237 with just 14 homers, and only 59 RBIS. He struck out 101 times. If that wasn't enough he had multiple DL stints with the Red Sox, including missing most of the 2016 season. Sandoval was a disaster from beginning to end with the Red Sox and even though they still have to pay him I have to say I'm glad he's gone.

So there you have it the 10 worst moves of the 21st century by the Red Sox and there were a lot of them. I hope that they have learned from these mistakes and won't make any big signings unless they are sure it'll work out.