Red Sox 2025 Trade Deadline Thread

[notin]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

There are 11 Banana Ball rules and only two that I'd think about: 2 hour time limit/no new inning after 1:50 and batters can't step out of batter's box (auto strike).  

Banana Ball has to have some extreme rules to speed up the game in order to squeeze in all that dancing…

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, notin said:

Banana Ball has to have some extreme rules to speed up the game in order to squeeze in all that dancing…

Like allowing fans to catch foul balls for outs or calling in middle aged retired guys to strike out or hit weakly to 2b. 

[notin]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Like allowing fans to catch foul balls for outs or calling in middle aged retired guys to strike out or hit weakly to 2b. 

Exactly.  
 

You can’t step out of the batters box, but the entire infield can do a 30 second synchronized line dance while the CF charges into to throw a pitch while vaulting over the pitcher’s head…

[mvp 78]

32 minutes ago, notin said:

Exactly.  
 

You can’t step out of the batters box, but the entire infield can do a 30 second synchronized line dance while the CF charges into to throw a pitch while vaulting over the pitcher’s head…

Wow, sounds like a little much! That’s nothing like Banana Ball!!!!!! 

[notin]

16 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Wow, sounds like a little much! That’s nothing like Banana Ball!!!!!! 

They do it in their promotional videos…

[Maxbialystock]

Deadline is slipping into the past.  

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Deadline is slipping into the past.  

But Breslow's deadline work is still on trial.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, notin said:

They do it in their promotional videos…

Ewww, they should keep it PG TBH. 

[mvp 78]

58 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

But Breslow's deadline work is still on trial.

He's got until the postseason ends for the verdict. 

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

But Breslow's deadline work is still on trial.

Meh.  He kept the guys Cora wanted to keep.  He brought in May, who stunk his first time out and looked pretty darn good @ Houston last night with 6 IP, 0 ER, and 8 K's--a whole lot better than Crochet Monday night.  

Houston has a good pitching staff and the Sox scored 6 and 14 runs in the first two games.

I don't like Toro either, but when and if Mayer or even Campbell returns, Cora will have options.  

The heart of the lineup are the four outfielders, Bregman, Story, Narvaez, Gonzalez--plus Ref and Yoshida.  The first seven are also good fielders.   Four Sox have each stolen 17 or more bases.  

Right now the Sox are ranked 2d in runs scored, just 8 behind #1 the Dodgers (who have played 1 less game than the Sox).  The giant caveat to that is the 14 runs last night skewed things because the Sox didn't need 12 of those runs.  They have had at least ten big margin wins like that this season.  Nevertheless . ..

The Sox ERA, 3.74, is ranked 8th in MLB.  

All those positive points notwithstanding,  the AL East is a dogfight with Toronto 4.5 ahead of the Sox, who right now have the 2d wild card slot. 

Absolutely nothing is guaranteed for this Sox team, but it's been a pretty good ride so far.  

 

 

 

[moonslav59]

The Sox are tied for 5th in ERA-. No AL team, ahead of us, has a better ERA-. We are at 88 and HOU is at 94, DET 96 & TOR 105.

Rotation:

91 DET

94 BOS

96 NYY

97 HOU

102 SEA

109 TOR

Pen:

79 BOS

88 HOU

95 SEA

100 TOR

103 DET

105 NYY

If these numbers stay relatively even, our chances look very good.

On offense:

wRC+

115 NYY .776 OPS (1st in MLB)

114 TOR .769 OPS (3rd in MLB)

109 SEA .730 (13th)

107 DET .742 (9th)

105 BOS .756 (6th but has Fenway helping)

104 HOU .731 (11th)

On paper, our pitching looks the best or top 3, and our batting looks to be near the worst of the top 5-6 teams contending for the AL playoffs, We are 3rd best by OPS in the AL.

We rank 3rd in the AL in everyday player fWAR:

25 TOR

24 NYY

20 BOS

19 DET

18 SEA

17 HOU

Pitching fWAR, we still look top 3, if we don't count TEX & KCR as contenders:

16 HOU

15 TEX

14 KCR & MIN

13 BOS

11 DET

10 NYY & SEA

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

Meh.  He kept the guys Cora wanted to keep.  He brought in May, who stunk his first time out and looked pretty darn good @ Houston last night with 6 IP, 0 ER, and 8 K's--a whole lot better than Crochet Monday night.  

Houston has a good pitching staff and the Sox scored 6 and 14 runs in the first two games.

I don't like Toro either, but when and if Mayer or even Campbell returns, Cora will have options.  

The heart of the lineup are the four outfielders, Bregman, Story, Narvaez, Gonzalez--plus Ref and Yoshida.  The first seven are also good fielders.   Four Sox have each stolen 17 or more bases.  

Right now the Sox are ranked 2d in runs scored, just 8 behind #1 the Dodgers (who have played 1 less game than the Sox).  The giant caveat to that is the 14 runs last night skewed things because the Sox didn't need 12 of those runs.  They have had at least ten big margin wins like that this season.  Nevertheless . ..

The Sox ERA, 3.74, is ranked 8th in MLB.  

All those positive points notwithstanding,  the AL East is a dogfight with Toronto 4.5 ahead of the Sox, who right now have the 2d wild card slot. 

Absolutely nothing is guaranteed for this Sox team, but it's been a pretty good ride so far.  

 

 

 

Meh.

[Bellhorn04]

21 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He's got until the postseason ends for the verdict. 

In the words of Franz Kafka:

"Only our concept of time makes it possible for us to speak of the Day of Judgement by that name; in reality it is a constant court in perpetual session.

 

[Maxbialystock]

2 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Meh.

Well, I liked it--just as I like this year's Sox even though the known universe has chastised them for not making any big July acquisitions--ditto for sending Devers to the Giants.  I agree Breslow has made bad moves, but overall I like what the 2025 version looks like.  

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Well, I liked it--just as I like this year's Sox even though the known universe has chastised them for not making any big July acquisitions--ditto for sending Devers to the Giants.  I agree Breslow has made bad moves, but overall I like what the 2025 version looks like.  

There are a few posters who are happy, or very happy like me, with Breslow's total body of work- from the 26 to the 40 and the farm upgrades.

[Bellhorn04]

17 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Well, I liked it--just as I like this year's Sox even though the known universe has chastised them for not making any big July acquisitions--ditto for sending Devers to the Giants.  I agree Breslow has made bad moves, but overall I like what the 2025 version looks like.  

Sorry Max, I was just being snippy because you "Meh"d me.  Nobody likes being "Meh"d.  

[mvp 78]

34 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry Max, I was just being snippy because you "Meh"d me.  Nobody likes being "Meh"d.  

Everyone has been a little snippy lately even though the Sox are currently holding a WC spot in the middle of AUG for the first time in several years. 🤐

[moonslav59]

49 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry Max, I was just being snippy because you "Meh"d me.  Nobody likes being "Meh"d.  

Meh me and see what happens!

[oldtimer]

23 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Meh.  He kept the guys Cora wanted to keep.  He brought in May, who stunk his first time out and looked pretty darn good @ Houston last night with 6 IP, 0 ER, and 8 K's--a whole lot better than Crochet Monday night.  

Houston has a good pitching staff and the Sox scored 6 and 14 runs in the first two games.

I don't like Toro either, but when and if Mayer or even Campbell returns, Cora will have options.  

The heart of the lineup are the four outfielders, Bregman, Story, Narvaez, Gonzalez--plus Ref and Yoshida.  The first seven are also good fielders.   Four Sox have each stolen 17 or more bases.  

Right now the Sox are ranked 2d in runs scored, just 8 behind #1 the Dodgers (who have played 1 less game than the Sox).  The giant caveat to that is the 14 runs last night skewed things because the Sox didn't need 12 of those runs.  They have had at least ten big margin wins like that this season.  Nevertheless . ..

The Sox ERA, 3.74, is ranked 8th in MLB.  

All those positive points notwithstanding,  the AL East is a dogfight with Toronto 4.5 ahead of the Sox, who right now have the 2d wild card slot. 

Absolutely nothing is guaranteed for this Sox team, but it's been a pretty good ride so far.  

 

 

 

Last night the Sox ran into especially good pitching. It happens, and one can't be too upset when that happens. What bothered me more is two if the earlier games where the Sox took two one run losses, Going back to the lack of action at the trade deadline, possibly we could have brought at least one of those games home. The dog fight you speak of is real and the possibilities of getting to the playoffs could hinge on a margin of a couple of wins. Too late now, but it seems that year to year, the Sox don't seem to learn their lessons. Will we need yet another change in management to push this club forward? 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

16 minutes ago, oldtimer said:

Last night the Sox ran into especially good pitching. It happens, and one can't be too upset when that happens. What bothered me more is two if the earlier games where the Sox took two one run losses, Going back to the lack of action at the trade deadline, possibly we could have brought at least one of those games home. The dog fight you speak of is real and the possibilities of getting to the playoffs could hinge on a margin of a couple of wins. Too late now, but it seems that year to year, the Sox don't seem to learn their lessons. Will we need yet another change in management to push this club forward? 

What, the Red Sox' offense isn't good enough for you? Boston has the greatest offense in the MLB that can go 2-4 on a road trip by winning two blow-outs, then only score 1 or 2 in two others, and of course, lose two more one-run games.

They traded away a guy who has more homers and RBIs than anyone on the club and didn't replace him... not just his level of production, but with any established big league hitter. 

The Raffy savings definitely made it easier to pay Anthony, but if they are committing to youth, then the Mayer injury delayed the plan... and probably made it easier not to recall Campbell, since there may not be a need for more young quick twitch skills if the Sox aren't quite all-in this Fall...

 

 

[moonslav59]

31 minutes ago, oldtimer said:

Last night the Sox ran into especially good pitching. It happens, and one can't be too upset when that happens. What bothered me more is two if the earlier games where the Sox took two one run losses, Going back to the lack of action at the trade deadline, possibly we could have brought at least one of those games home. The dog fight you speak of is real and the possibilities of getting to the playoffs could hinge on a margin of a couple of wins. Too late now, but it seems that year to year, the Sox don't seem to learn their lessons. Will we need yet another change in management to push this club forward? 

We had a few chances, early in last night's game, to take advantage of Hunter Brown's struggling moments. Then, he kicked it into another gear, as good pitchers often do, and we lost.

A bad pitch by Buehler hurt.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I really think Abreu should bat 5th- not Yoshida. It might have helped, last night, but who knows.

[Bellhorn04]

In one of those losses we scored 6 runs with Crochet on the mound.  Win that one and we're 3-3 and we're feeling more Polly and less Nelly.  Such is baseball.   

[Bellhorn04]

Personally I still like the way the team is playing.  That was a tough road trip and it was the conclusion of one of the toughest stretches of games I've seen in a while, starting with the Cubs series.  With this new Manfredized schedule you have to play everybody, and sometimes the good ones get strung together.

[notin]

4 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry Max, I was just being snippy because you "Meh"d me.  Nobody likes being "Meh"d.  

Meh…

[Maxbialystock]

7 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry Max, I was just being snippy because you "Meh"d me.  Nobody likes being "Meh"d.  

I shall cease and desist.  It's an idiom I love but use to excess.  

[Kimmi]

On 8/11/2025 at 5:05 PM, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

A pitch a batter sees heading for the strike zone is no longer in the strike zone after the batter's brain has told him to swing..

I get that.  I'm just thinking that the hitter should be aware that he's being set up for the breaking ball away, and should, therefore, tell himself not to swing.  OTOH, I guess that's perhaps why we see batters often take strike 3 right down the pipe.  LOL

You have to love the battle between pitcher and batter.

[Kimmi]

On 8/12/2025 at 11:50 AM, mvp 78 said:

There are three Banana Ball rules that could increase scoring:

1. stealing 1st base during and at bat

2. ball 4 sprints

3. golden batter rule (MLB has considered this one) 

Please, no, to any Banana Ball rules coming to MLB.

[Kimmi]

On 8/13/2025 at 12:22 PM, moonslav59 said:

The Sox are tied for 5th in ERA-. No AL team, ahead of us, has a better ERA-. We are at 88 and HOU is at 94, DET 96 & TOR 105.

Rotation:

91 DET

94 BOS

96 NYY

97 HOU

102 SEA

109 TOR

Pen:

79 BOS

88 HOU

95 SEA

100 TOR

103 DET

105 NYY

If these numbers stay relatively even, our chances look very good.

On offense:

wRC+

115 NYY .776 OPS (1st in MLB)

114 TOR .769 OPS (3rd in MLB)

109 SEA .730 (13th)

107 DET .742 (9th)

105 BOS .756 (6th but has Fenway helping)

104 HOU .731 (11th)

On paper, our pitching looks the best or top 3, and our batting looks to be near the worst of the top 5-6 teams contending for the AL playoffs, We are 3rd best by OPS in the AL.

We rank 3rd in the AL in everyday player fWAR:

25 TOR

24 NYY

20 BOS

19 DET

18 SEA

17 HOU

Pitching fWAR, we still look top 3, if we don't count TEX & KCR as contenders:

16 HOU

15 TEX

14 KCR & MIN

13 BOS

11 DET

10 NYY & SEA

The Red Sox have the best run differential in the AL, and by a pretty decent margin over the other teams except for the Yankees.  Cleveland has a -27 run differential.  They have no business being 1 game out of the wildcard.  Only the Brewers and the Cubs have a better run differential than the Red Sox.  On the whole, we are playing good baseball.

[moonslav59]

47 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

The Red Sox have the best run differential in the AL, and by a pretty decent margin over the other teams except for the Yankees.  Cleveland has a -27 run differential.  They have no business being 1 game out of the wildcard.  Only the Brewers and the Cubs have a better run differential than the Red Sox.  On the whole, we are playing good baseball.

We have to start spreading out the offense. We bunch it up, too much and then go lean for whole games.

This is not a skill set or something that can be coached or changed, as far as I know.

I think we have to just hope the random nature of baseball will create a more spread out run production over the last 1/4 of the season.

What can be done by Cora or Brez?

"Tell the players to be more consistent and timely with their hitting." LOL!

[Kimmi]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We have to start spreading out the offense. We bunch it up, too much and then go lean for whole games.

This is not a skill set or something that can be coached or changed, as far as I know.

I think we have to just hope the random nature of baseball will create a more spread out run production over the last 1/4 of the season.

What can be done by Cora or Brez?

"Tell the players to be more consistent and timely with their hitting." LOL!

We do tend to bunch up our runs at times.  That said, it's a good sign that we're typically not getting blown out in our losses, but we are able to win games by larger margins.

We are 15-23 in one run losses.  We are 21-10 in blowouts.  Pythagoras has still not caught up with us.