A Realistic View of the 2025 Red Sox: Part II

[Larry Cook]

Chris fragile put on the DL for a fractured rib!!!

I guess that talk of Atlanta trading him to the Red Sox caused the injury 

[moonslav59]

44 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Chris fragile put on the DL for a fractured rib!!!

I guess that talk of Atlanta trading him to the Red Sox caused the injury 

LOL.

He missed the playoffs, last year, too.

[moonslav59]

BAL is looking god-awful, this year. Yanks up 9-0, as I type.

[Larry Cook]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

LOL.

He missed the playoffs, last year, too.

At least we did not trade for him !!!!  Dude should pitch wrapped in bubble wrap 

[moonslav59]

Just now, Larry Cook said:

At least we did not trade for him !!!!  Dude should pitch wrapped in bubble wrap 

You can't bubble wrap rib bones. LOL.

[dgalehouse]

The Braves let Sale throw 116 pitches last Wednesday. I don't know if that had anything to do with the injury, but it was a very dumb thing to do. One of many dumb things Atlanta has done the last couple of years. 

[Larry Cook]

Atlanta still needs a shortstop and we got one they might like when Bregman is healthy again. 
and we can throw in a beuhler for free 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Atlanta still needs a shortstop and we got one they might like when Bregman is healthy again. 
and we can throw in a beuhler for free 

ATL would be sellers and have no use for Buehler, even if he starts doing well.

I doubt they even want Story, unless we pay a big chunk of change. They'd want Mayer or maybe Arias.

[Larry Cook]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

ATL would be sellers and have no use for Buehler, even if he starts doing well.

I doubt they even want Story, unless we pay a big chunk of change. They'd want Mayer or maybe Arias.

Dude, we have to figure the bres-slow will figure a way to move story along!!! 

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Dude, we have to figure the bres-slow will figure a way to move story along!!! 

He might, just not with Buehler. I was only speaking to that aspect.

Story and a bunch of cash for Ozuna might be the foundation of a trade, but ATL would need a prospect, included.

[Larry Cook]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He might, just not with Buehler. I was only speaking to that aspect.

Story and a bunch of cash for Ozuna might be the foundation of a trade, but ATL would need a prospect, included.

Maybe we keep story and move him to 2nd base when Bregman comes back, 

[moonslav59]

Just now, Larry Cook said:

Maybe we keep story and move him to 2nd base when Bregman comes back, 

I'm fine with that, at least until we see what shakes out with Campbell and the 2025 season.

I'm thinking trading an OF'er is more likely. Our 2B position has sucked for 7+ years.

[moonslav59]

It still looks like 2B is our major weak area beyond pitching:

C: Narvaez, Wong (Jo Garcia way down the line?)

1B: Toro/Romy w Casas in 2026 (Jordan and Justin Gonzalez/Encarnacion way down the line.)

2B: DHam/Romy (Campbell in AAA and Grissom a big Q) Story, Romero & Cespedes

SS: Story and Mayer w Romy/DHam (Arias way down the line) Romero

3B: Bregman and Mayer w Toro/Romy (Romero, Cespedes?)

LF: Duran, Refsnyder (Jh Garcia)

CF: Rafaela and Duran  w Jh Garcia (Bleis way down the line) Yoshida?

RF: Abreu/Refsnyder w Rafaela (Nelly Taylor way down the line)

DH: Casas in '26 and Yoshida/Refsnyder and Toro/Romy/Duran

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Dude, we have to figure the bres-slow will figure a way to move story along!!! 

Prob not to ATL unless they go on a run and Sox fade.

[cp176]

Story I think will be our ss as long as he is here.  He is doing a decent job currently.  Mayer should go to second.  The last thing this team needs right now is another crisis over trying to move a veteran to another position needlessly.  Moving Mayer to second is quick and easy and obviously upgrades the defense at second.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

1 hour ago, cp176 said:

Story I think will be our ss as long as he is here.  He is doing a decent job currently.  Mayer should go to second.  The last thing this team needs right now is another crisis over trying to move a veteran to another position needlessly.  Moving Mayer to second is quick and easy and obviously upgrades the defense at second.

But how long can they carry story's .640 OPS? Especially now missing devers, who was the only big bat in the lineup. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

17 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

BAL is looking god-awful, this year. Yanks up 9-0, as I type.

They have been playing a little better over the last couple of weeks.

tampa is the team that gives me the most concern. They've been playing very well as of late.

[Bellhorn04]

6 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

But how long can they carry story's .640 OPS? Especially now missing devers, who was the only big bat in the lineup. 

Story has an 819 OPS in June and plays a pretty good SS.  He's overpaid but he's not so much a problem that he needs to be replaced.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Story has an 819 OPS in June and plays a pretty good SS.  He's overpaid but he's not so much a problem that he needs to be replaced.

That's great, doesn't change the fact that he has a .640 OPS season to date.

[Bellhorn04]

18 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

That's great, doesn't change the fact that he has a .640 OPS season to date.

Funny, you were just talking about how Baltimore is playing better.  Story is playing better.  

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, cp176 said:

Story I think will be our ss as long as he is here.  He is doing a decent job currently.  Mayer should go to second.  The last thing this team needs right now is another crisis over trying to move a veteran to another position needlessly.  Moving Mayer to second is quick and easy and obviously upgrades the defense at second.

I can see this point, and I do feel like the rest of 2025, for sure.

He is getting older, and showed some regression on D, earlier this season. Maybe it was just shaking off the cobwebs, and he'll continue doing a fabulous job on D at SS for the remainder of his time, here, but he could decline by enough to warrant a swap with Mayer, who should get better, over time.

The thing about Story is, I doubt he bitches and moans about it, if it ends up happening. I also think Cora is not the guy to want to move a vet off position, as we have seen, recently- up close and personal.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

But how long can they carry story's .640 OPS? Especially now missing devers, who was the only big bat in the lineup. 

It's only been 12 games, but he's hit .912 over the past 2 weeks, so I think he's got some slack on his leash.

.794 last 84 PAs and 21 games.

I'm not sure he can even hit .700 the rest of the way, but to me, with the league OPS at .714, I'm thinking .650 to .675 is sustainable, as long as his D stays plus.

[Larry Cook]

Bregman starting to ramp up baseball activities! It would be nice to have his bat back in the lineup! 

[notin]

20 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

LOL.

He missed the playoffs, last year, too.

Let’s be fair - the Braves missed the playoffs despite Sale doing everything possible to get them there…

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

Let’s be fair - the Braves missed the playoffs despite Sale doing everything possible to get them there…

The Braves lost the WC series 2-0 to SDP, without Sale.

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Bregman starting to ramp up baseball activities! It would be nice to have his bat back in the lineup! 

This is not an easy injury to come back from. We may be more than a month or even 6 weeks away from joining the Sox.

[Larry Cook]

Fitts on his way to San Francisco! Buehler may be going to the DL again!!! 
 

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Fitts on his way to San Francisco! Buehler may be going to the DL again!!! 
 

Fitts has not looked very good at Woo. Maybe because he was told to work on his secondary pitches, but this is not a comforting thought.

I wonder if Uberstine might be added to the 40, soon.

[Larry Cook]

55 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Fitts has not looked very good at Woo. Maybe because he was told to work on his secondary pitches, but this is not a comforting thought.

I wonder if Uberstine might be added to the 40, soon.

Uberstine’s stuff is decent at best!  But definitely better than stock or Kelly’s 

fitts biggest problem is two find: first, he does not have a go to pitch to put batters away!!  And second, he does not induce many ground balls!!!  Kansas City should trade for Fitts, he fits their ballpark perfectly!!! 

[notin]

23 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Atlanta still needs a shortstop and we got one they might like when Bregman is healthy again. 
and we can throw in a beuhler for free 

While at one point, I envisioned a trade involving Story and Sean Murphy, the simple reality is Atlanta is far, far more likely to make a deal with Arizona for either Jordan Lawlor or Blaze Alexander…