Why did beltre leave boston

Some were good and some were complete failures. Beltre came to the Red Sox knowing he had something to prove, as his last season in a five-year deal with the Seattle Mariners was a disaster. No way would Beltre do worse than his. When the Sox acquired Beltre, no one thought he was the answer long term. His numbers fell quickly after his final season in Los Angeles playing for the Dodgers.

This was someone that crushed 48 home runs back in A new team could rejuvenate his career. What he did in Boston was nothing short of what the doctor ordered. For what he did in , Beltre was underpaid. After five years in Seattle and losing his way, Beltre was a new man in Boston.

Seeing him channel his inner Mike Piazza to smash bombs out of the park was always fun. His home run swings were always entertaining. He was memorable also for his genuflecting technique annihilating balls over the Monster.

I think one of the most memorable things about him was his ire for anyone who tried touching his head. One would suffer the consequences. Beltre posted a. With that type of campaign, a long term deal seemed likely had it not been for one major caveat — age.

Beltre was 31 years old. He was now over the hump and most teams would be hesitant to sign a player for anything long term. Proven players are one thing but one season proves nothing.

It helped my career to play here, no doubt about it. The Red Sox made a business decision. They had two choices — they could have signed me or they could have gotten Gonzalez and they decided on Gonzalez. The Rangers really stepped up and made me feel like they wanted me here.

Although Beltre played on two teams that went to the World Series, what he wants, even now, is to win a championship before his career is over. And there seems to be opportunities for him. Sure, Alex Rodriguez hit more home runs than Beltre 30 to 28 and drove in more runs to Who was feared more, though? Beltre will leave behind a legacy for playing all-out for a team that spun its wheels after Youkilis, Martinez, Dustin Pedroia and others sustained major injuries.

There's also his scalding line drives, his fantastic head-rub temper tantrums -- do check out this Web page if you haven't already -- and his monstrous home runs hit while swinging hard enough to fall to his back knee. Will he get a standing ovation when he returns to Fenway Park next season?

He hit the open market after that season and signed a big deal with the Mariners, but peaked at good rather than great with Seattle. His value was low at that point, so when he hit the market again after the season he was seeking a one-year pillow deal and the Red Sox were happy to oblige. We know the rest. The Red Sox, of course, could have brought him back but decided to bank that one year of value and take the draft pick, which they ended up using on Blake Swihart, and move in a different direction.

They had Kevin Youkilis still, and were prepared to move him back to third base. They also signed Carl Crawford. We know how these moves ended up, how they got rid of them, and how they used the new roster space to build the team.