Only one player remains on Red Sox roster from 2018 World Series title

The Boston Red Sox are just five years removed from winning their last World Series title, but their roster has been almost entirely rebuilt during that span. In fact, only one player from that championship team remains.

The Red Sox on Saturday traded seven-time All-Star pitcher Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for prospect Vaughn Grissom. With that move, Boston now has just one player remaining from their 2018 World Series team.

That player is Rafael Devers.

It is unusual for a team to clean house that quickly after winning a title. All of the rapid turnover may help explain why the Red Sox have reached the postseason just once since 2018. They won 78 games in each of the past two seasons and were not very competitive either year.

If you are going to build around one player, Devers is a good one to choose. The 27-year-old is one of the best power hitters in baseball. He signed a 10-year, $313.5 million mega-extension with the Red Sox last winter. That deal kicks in next season.

The Red Sox even fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom toward the end of last season. He has been replaced with former MLB reliever Craig Breslow, who pitched for Boston during his playing career.

Fans in Boston have been frustrated with their team’s recent unwillingness to spend in free agency. The fact that only one player remains from the 2018 World Series team shows that they have not even made an effort to retain their own star players, which only adds to the aggravation.