Ex-Red Sox Slugger Signs With AL East Rival After Underwhelming Stint In Boston

Boston will have to face their former utility man multiple times next season

Scott Neville | Dec 3, 2022

Ex-Red Sox Slugger Signs With AL East Rival After Underwhelming Stint In Boston /

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The Boston Red Sox officially will be moving on from another key piece of an unsuccessful trade in the Chaim Bloom era.

Outfielder/first baseman Franchy Cordero was non-tendered by the Red Sox on Nov. 18 and has since moved on to a division rival.

The 28-year-old signed a minor-league deal with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

The move has some significance to the current Red Sox regime, as Cordero was the centerpiece of the trade that sent outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals.

Cordero was heralded for his elite combination of speed and power, but his lack of bat-to-ball skills made it quite hard for him to utilize his strengths. He hit .209 with 33 extra-base hits including nine home runs, 38 RBIs and a .629 OPS in 132 games with Boston since coming over prior to the 2021 season.

Cordero's 143-to-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio and poor defense all over the diamond really hindered his production.

The 6-foot-3, 226-pound slugger had his moments in Boston, including a walk-off grand slam last season. He also had a notable impact on the clubhouse. Remember all of those celebrations last season? The horn, the breaking motion after big hits -- both Cordero.

Still, the experiment had run its course, and it was time for the Red Sox to move on. Now they just have to hope he doesn't have any revenge games in the tank.

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Published Dec 3, 2022

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu