The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Red Sox. The team is located in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

, and plays its home games at JetBlue Park in the

Fenway South Fenway South is the spring training base of the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, Florida. The purpose-built training and player development complex is used year-round by the Red Sox and its minor league farm teams—Worcester Red Sox, Portland Sea ...

complex. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of

, either as draftees or non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

s from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, among other countries. Injured players from the major-league Red Sox and their minor-league system occasionally play rookie-level games as their first step on a rehabilitation assignment.

History

In 1988, the

and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

fielded a cooperative rookie-level team in the Arizona League (AZL), known as the

AZL Mariners/Red Sox The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is com ...

. The cooperative was not renewed beyond that single season. In 1989, the Red Sox began fielding their own rookie-level team in the Gulf Coast League (GCL). The team first played in

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making i ...

, moved to

City of Palms Park City of Palms Park is a baseball stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. It served as the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) from its opening in 1993 to 2011. It has hosted college baseball games for Florida SouthWe ...

in Fort Myers in 1993, then moved to its current facility in 2012. Prior to the 2021 season, the Gulf Coast League was renamed as the Florida Complex League (FCL).

Notable players

At least one

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

inductee has played for the team,

Jeff Bagwell Jeffrey Robert Bagwell (born May 27, 1968) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros. Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth- ...

in 1989. Various players who have been MLB All-Stars have played for the team; those who were selected as All-Stars multiple times in their careers include:

Carl Crawford Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

,Per player's minor-league history at

Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

Carl Everett, Nomar Garciaparra, Jon Lester, Hanley Ramírez, Anthony Rizzo, and Chris Sale.

Yearly team records

The team has finished first in its division 12 times, most recently in 2018. The team has won the league championship three times: 2006, 2014, and 2015. The team's best record came in 2015 when the club was 41–17, a .707

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

Roster

References

External links

Official websiteThe Baseball Cube – Gulf Coast Red Sox (1989–present)Baseball Reference – Gulf Coast League Encyclopedia and History
Gu Florida Complex League teams Professional baseball teams in Florida Baseball teams established in 1989 1989 establishments in Florida Sports in Fort Myers, Florida {{Florida-baseball-team-stub