Red Sox: Off Season 2024-2025

[Bellhorn04]

18 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

The Dodgers don't know what they're doing. They sign another kid who's never thrown a big league pitch, instead of their veteran champion who just beat the Yankees in the World Series.

Their loss is our gain. Boy, did the Red Sox' smart alecks fleece LA!

Sox owners must be thrilled that the balance of power is shifting so much to the NL.  

[Old Red]

Jim Bowden is reporting Roki already had a pre-cut deal with the Dodgers before the dog, and pony show started with other teams.🤫

[Bellhorn04]

12 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Jim Bowden is reporting Roki already had a pre-cut deal with the Dodgers before the dog, and pony show started with other teams.🤫

Hopefully we can get some controversy out of this at least. 😛

[moonslav59]

For quite a few years, the talk was about how the Dodgers outspend everyone else by so much, but keep coming up short. Their WS championship in the 60 game Covid season seemed more like the outlier. Last year, despite less season wins than 2021-2023, they won, again. 

On paper, they look like a mega dynasty type team, and maybe they will be, but they still need to get the job done in the playoffs. They've had 91+ wins, every year since 2013 (Except in 2020, they had their highest win %.) 2 rings in those 12 years and two since 1989.

The 2025 Roster:

SP: Snell, Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow, May/Gonslin/Sasaki

RP: Treinen, Vesla, Banda, Kopech, Graterol, Casparius, Brasier

C: Will Smith, A Barnes

1B: Freeman, Muncy

2B: Kim, (Edman, C Taylor)

SS: Betts, Rojas (Taylor)

3B: Muncy (Taylor)

LF: Teoscar

CF: Edman/Taylor

RF: Conforto (Betts/Teoscar)
DH: Ohtani (W Smith)

Did I miss anybody?

 

 

[dgalehouse]

The Dodgers have certainly assembled the most talented roster in baseball. But the randomness and luck involved in baseball, especially in a short series, makes the playoffs at least somewhat of a crapshoot. Winning the World Series is much more difficult than it was back when the Yankees were racking up championships. 

[Bellhorn04]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

For quite a few years, the talk was about how the Dodgers outspend everyone else by so much, but keep coming up short. Their WS championship in the 60 game Covid season seemed more like the outlier. Last year, despite less season wins than 2021-2023, they won, again. 

On paper, they look like a mega dynasty type team, and maybe they will be, but they still need to get the job done in the playoffs. They've had 91+ wins, every year since 2013 (Except in 2020, they had their highest win %.) 2 rings in those 12 years and two since 1989.

The 2025 Roster:

SP: Snell, Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow, May/Gonslin/Sasaki

RP: Treinen, Vesla, Banda, Kopech, Graterol, Casparius, Brasier

C: Will Smith, A Barnes

1B: Freeman, Muncy

2B: Kim, (Edman, C Taylor)

SS: Betts, Rojas (Taylor)

3B: Muncy (Taylor)

LF: Teoscar

CF: Edman/Taylor

RF: Conforto (Betts/Teoscar)
DH: Ohtani (W Smith)

Did I miss anybody?

 

 

4 WS appearances and 2 titles in the last 8 years seems pretty good to me.

But I'm sure they want to do better.  It certainly seems like they're trying.

[Bellhorn04]

19 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

The Dodgers have certainly assembled the most talented roster in baseball. But the randomness and luck involved in baseball, especially in a short series, makes the playoffs at least somewhat of a crapshoot. Winning the World Series is much more difficult than it was back when the Yankees were racking up championships. 

No repeat winners since 2000 certainly bears that out.

 

[moonslav59]

Fangraphs Projections:

Rotations:

BOS: 4.8 Crochet, 2.7 Houck, 2.5 Bello, 1.8 Crawford, 1.4 Buehler, 1.2 Giolito

LAD: 3.7 Glasnow, 3.4 Snell, 3.1 Yamo, 2.5 Ohtani, 1.0 May, 0.9 Gonsoli

Pens:

BOS: 1.1 Chapman, 1.0 Hendriks, 0.7 Whitlock. 0.6 Slaten

LAD: 0.9 Treinen, 0.7 Phillips, 0.4 Miller, 0.3 Vesla, 0.2 Banda

Everyday Players:

BOS: 4.2 Devers, 3.3 Duran, 2.4 Casas, 1.9 Campbell, 1.6 Abreu, 1.3 Rafaela, 1.1 Yoshida, 1.1 Story, 0.8 Anthony, 0.7 Ref/Grissom, 0.6 Wong/Narvaez
LAD: 6.1 Betts, 5.6 Ohtani, 4.1 Freeman, 3.1 Smith, 2.4 Muncy, 2.3 Teoscar, 1.8 Edman, 1.4 Kim, 1.3 Conforto/Edman

On the everyday players, the LAD look to be Betts + Ohtani better than us. Start with our #1 and their #3, and we match up okay. That is pretty damn bad.

Our pitching seems pretty close to theirs.

 

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

No repeat winners since 2000 certainly bears that out.

 

Yup, and 9 different winners in the last 11 years (HOU & LAD have 2 each.)

If we go back 12 years, the Sox join the 2 time winner club.) Go back 13 and the SFG make it 4 teams with 2.

[dgalehouse]

4 hours ago, Old Red said:

Jim Bowden is reporting Roki already had a pre-cut deal with the Dodgers before the dog, and pony show started with other teams.🤫

I would not be surprised. I learned a long time ago that many things are not quite on the level. I have become more cynical and skeptical with the passing years.

[Bellhorn04]

They need to do something to prevent signings like Sasaki from happening again.  It's just not right that the Dodgers are getting him for such chicken feed.   

[Larry Cook]

I have no problem with the dodgers signing saki. I think we are building our team properly and I feel good about our farm team 

[Hugh2]

19 hours ago, Old Red said:

Jim Bowden is reporting Roki already had a pre-cut deal with the Dodgers before the dog, and pony show started with other teams.🤫

No, Jim Bowden is not reporting that.  He said there are several front offices who believe there was a pre-cut deal and that there may be an investigation, there’s already been an investigation.

 

sounds like sour grapes to me.

[Hugh2]

14 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

They need to do something to prevent signings like Sasaki from happening again.  It's just not right that the Dodgers are getting him for such chicken feed.   

International draft

[Hugh2]

Super teams make a sport.  It’s been proven that a sport does better when there’s a super team.

the fans love it and their base grows exponentially, and the rest of the league needs a villain.  
 

how much sweeter was 2004 because we beat the New York Yankees?

The Dodgers will become the villain baseball needs, and they’re in the N.L. 
 

in hope we get to beat them in the World Series again some day.

[notin]

15 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

They need to do something to prevent signings like Sasaki from happening again.  It's just not right that the Dodgers are getting him for such chicken feed.   

Lose their inexplicable deferment rules and maybe the Dodgers will stop spending at some point.

We really shouldn’t have a situation where the Dodgers have more money committed to 2033 than the Pirates have committed today…

[Hugh2]

41 minutes ago, notin said:

Lose their inexplicable deferment rules and maybe the Dodgers will stop spending at some point.

We really shouldn’t have a situation where the Dodgers have more money committed to 2033 than the Pirates have committed today…

Sasaki is going to cost them nothing.  $6 million bonus aside he’s going to cost what any good cost controlled player would cost any team.

stopping deferred payments would do absolutely nothing to prevent the dodgers from signing someone Sasaki. 

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:No, Jim Bowden is not reporting that.  He said there are several front offices who believe there was a pre-cut deal and that there may be an investigation, there’s already been an investigation.

 

sounds like sour grapes to me.

.My bad. I should have said Bowden had spoken to several GM, and Assistant GM who believes that’s what had happened. No sour grapes at all for me. I’ve liked the Dodgers since the early 60’s. I LOVE IT. Wine, and roses for me.👍👍👍

[Old Red]

18 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Sasaki is going to cost them nothing.  $6 million bonus aside he’s going to cost what any good cost controlled player would cost any team.

stopping deferred payments would do absolutely nothing to prevent the dodgers from signing someone Sasaki. 

The NY Post says. The Dodgers getting Roki with an already stacked lineup is bad for baseball . Now that’s Sour grapes.🤫

[Hugh2]

32 minutes ago, Old Red said:

.My bad. I should have said Bowden had spoken to several GM, and Assistant GM who believes that’s what had happened. No sour grapes at all for me. I’ve liked the Dodgers since the early 60’s. I LOVE IT. Wine, and roses for me.👍👍👍

Ah dude I’m with you there.  And for the record my “sour grapes” comment was directed at those front offices not you.

i admire the dodgers.  They invest heavily in scouting, drafting and developing player AND THEN go out and are unafraid to spend the money..  the only thing that is going stop LA is if their ownership group comes down with John Henry disease 

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Super teams make a sport.  It’s been proven that a sport does better when there’s a super team.

the fans love it and their base grows exponentially, and the rest of the league needs a villain.  

Not sure I buy this at all.  

If this was true, being a Sox fan would have been wicked good fun during that 16 year stretch from 1949 to 1964 when the Yanks won 14 pennants and 9 rings. 

But I believe the actual story is that the Sox franchise was really floundering during a lot of that time and it took 1967 to revive interest in the team.  

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Ah dude I’m with you there.  And for the record my “sour grapes” comment was directed at those front offices not you.

i admire the dodgers.  They invest heavily in scouting, drafting and developing player AND THEN go out and are unafraid to spend the money..  the only thing that is going stop LA is if their ownership group comes down with John Henry disease 

Oh no JH disease! Even tons of injuries couldn’t stop them last year. It’ll be even scarier this year if they don’t have all those injuries. 

[Bellhorn04]

I haven't complained about the Dodgers getting Ohtani or Yamamoto, but this Sasaki deal is ridiculous.  It's not that they're getting him but they're getting him for peanuts.  It's like a handout to them. 

Someone should have seen this problem coming.  

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Not sure I buy this at all.  

If this was true, being a Sox fan would have been wicked good fun during that 16 year stretch from 1949 to 1964 when the Yanks won 14 pennants and 9 rings. 

But I believe the actual story is that the Sox franchise was really floundering during a lot of that time and it took 1967 to revive interest in the team.  

I know Fenway was pretty empty during the early 60’s, and you could get a seat pretty much wherever you wanted too. 1967 definitely changed all that. Of course the Red Sox were a pretty bad team in those early 1960’s too.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I haven't complained about the Dodgers getting Ohtani or Yamamoto, but this Sasaki deal is ridiculous.  it's not that they're getting him but they're getting him for peanuts.  Someone should have seen this coming.  

Sasaki is a whole different deal though as he was signed as an amateur international FA.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

6 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Not sure I buy this at all.  

If this was true, being a Sox fan would have been wicked good fun during that 16 year stretch from 1949 to 1964 when the Yanks won 14 pennants and 9 rings. 

But I believe the actual story is that the Sox franchise was really floundering during a lot of that time and it took 1967 to revive interest in the team.  

As great as Yaz and Lonborg were in '67, it's notable that the Red Sox won their first pennant in the Integration Era when they finally started as many as six black players. 

[Bellhorn04]

21 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Sasaki is a whole different deal though as he was signed as an amateur FA.

I know, but this is much different from the international free agent system.  This is clearly a bad setup.  It should be a draft or bid system of some sort.  

You can't have mega-rich teams getting a relatively proven elite talent for next to nothing.  

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

As great as Yaz and Lonborg were in '67, it's notable that the Red Sox won their first pennant in the Integration Era when they finally started as many as six black players. 

Foy, Reggie Smith, and Boomer Scott were there in 67, so that was a good start. 

[Bellhorn04]

Yes, 1967 was fun.  But Hugh is telling us all those years of sucking the Yankees fumes were a party too.  Because we "had a villain".

(Hugh: I'm laying it on a little thick here to make things interesting.)  

[Bellhorn04]

As far as the Dodgers 2020 title is concerned, it really irks me from a fairness perspective when people try to discount it.  They won fair and square under the terms everyone agreed to in an emergency situation.  

I don't think any Sox fan can say with a straight face that if we won that year it would have an asterisk.

I also don't believe there were many who wanted to cancel the season instead of having a shortened one.