Happy Trails, Bobby Dalbec

As Bobby Dalbec exchanges one pair of Sox for another, this is a good time to look back on his legacy in Boston. A fourth-round pick for the Red Sox out of the University of Arizona in 2016, Dalbec made his major league debut in the cursed 2020 season. Although it was a shortened season, it was Dalbec’s most productive for Boston. He batted .263 with 8 home runs in 23 games; putting up 0.6 WAR.

In his first full season in 2021, Dalbec maintained a positive WAR, batting .240 with 25 home runs. He did, however, strike out 156 times in his 133 games, for a strikeout rate of 34.4%. The league-average rate was 23.2% that season. In 2022, he lowered his strikeout rate to 33.4% but the league also lowered its strikeout rate to 22.4%. Unfortunately, that was the lowest Dalbec’s strikeout rate would go. By 2023, Dalbec had lost his spot on the major league roster and was playing more games in Worcester than in Boston. He played well in Worcester, batting .269 with 33 bombs, but his call up to the big club was less successful; he batted .204 with one home run and 28 strikeouts in 21 games. In what we now know was his final season with the Red Sox, his numbers slipped even more across the board. He batted .252 with 20 home runs in Worcester and .133 with one home run with the Red Sox over 37 games. The diminished pop, ever-rising strikeout rate, and cratering batting average made Dalbec's spot on the roster untenable.

What intrigues me about Dalbec is how quickly his stature declined. In 2019, the New York Post reported that the Red Sox were interested in acquiring Edwin Díaz from the Mets, but such a deal would have to include Dalbec or Tristan Casas. Five years ago, he was bandied about as a central part of a trade deal that would have brought one of the league's premier closers to Boston. Now, he was allowed to walk with no compensation and seemingly no regrets. It is a cautionary tale for all the prospect-huggers out there, but I wish Bobby nothing but the best in Chicago.