Today in Red Sox History: February 16

For today’s day in history we look back at one of the sport’s all-time great what-if questions regarding the Red Sox, welcome a new reliever to last year’s squad, and wish a happy birthday to a hometown pitcher.

Today in OTM History

2021: Does Franchy Cordero have what it takes to be an everyday player? For Worcester, absolutely. In the majors, it’s getting harder to imagine that it is the case.

2019: Is it time for the universal DH to be implemented? It seems that’s the only thing that has thus far been agreed to between the league and the players, two years later.

2016: Look out for Carson Smith in the bullpen; This is low-key one of the most disappointing trade results I can remember.

2014: Ryan Dempster is not returning to the Red Sox; Probably not the worst thing to miss out on that team.

Today in Red Sox History

2021: Hirokazu Sawamura and the Red Sox agree on a two-year deal; We saw some flashes that indicated Sawamura can be an impact reliever, but command inconsistencies came back to bite him a bit too often.

2004: Alex Rodriguez is officially traded to the Yankees; The Red Sox, of course, had a deal for the shortstop before the players union nixed it. We all know what happened the next season, but this is absolutely one of the greatest what-ifs in baseball history.

Today in Red Sox Birthdays

Happy 40th birthday to Manny Delcarmen, who is a Boston native and spent six years in the Red Sox bullpen. That includes playing a big role for the much-underappreciated 2007 team.

Many thanks to Baseball-Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History for assistance here. Also thanks again to Talking Chop for the inspiration for these posts.