The 2026 Red Sox Foundation & One Possible Plan

[notin]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

I don't know if Romero's hit tool will be good enough to be playable at MLB. He may need another full year in AAA for a true breakout. Health is also a concern for him. 

Romero might not be an option if Mayer got injured in April.  But he might be one in August.

Hes less likely to be one ever if he battling Mayer for PT in Worcester…

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Depth is a good thing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean burying Mayer in the minors where he starts blocking those coming up behind him.

If Bregman doesn’t come back, Mayer is the best internal option for 3b.  Trevor Story compared him to a Nolan Arenado, which is high praise.  (Although Story might also have been motivated to keep Mayer at 3b for obvious reasons.)

Mayer could certainly get injured again, although maybe surgery finally corrects this problem.  But the Sox could backup him up internally (Romy?), from below (Romero?) or with a multipurpose free agent (Luis Rengifo?) that also fills other needs. Or, if they tender arbitration to Nate Lowe, trade Casas for a candidate.  (Also an option in the unlikely event the Sox put a Polar Bear at 1b.)

If Mayer is healthy, he's starting on my MLB club. My point was we cannot pencil him in as the FT 2Bman, 3Bman or SS for the entire 2026 season, and we can rely on DHam, Sogard or Rafaela to cover, when he is out.

To me, if Bregman goes, we need to add Alonso or Suarez. Marte would be fine in trade, but for what? Torres is not a suitable replacement for Bregman.

Even if Bregman comes back and we put Story and Mayer at middle infield, who is the back up? Can we risk seeing DHam, Rafaela, Romy, Casas and Lowe covering the right side infield, if Mayer goes down,  for yet one more year?

[moonslav59]

Since Bregman determines his own destiny, we can't count on him for 2026. Here is who we have under team control:

1B: Lowe (last arb or non tender?) Casas, Romy, Campbell

2B: Mayer/Story, DHam, Rafaela, Romy, Sogard

SS: Mayer/Story, Rafaela, Sogard, Romy, DHam (Arias)

3B: Mayer/Story, Romy, Sogard (Romero)

There are just way to many question marks muddying the waters.

[notin]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Since Bregman determines his own destiny, we can't count on him for 2026. Here is who we have under team control:

1B: Lowe (last arb or non tender?) Casas, Romy, Campbell

2B: Mayer/Story, DHam, Rafaela, Romy, Sogard

SS: Mayer/Story, Rafaela, Sogard, Romy, DHam (Arias)

3B: Mayer/Story, Romy, Sogard (Romero)

There are just way to many question marks muddying the waters.

I actually wonder if Bregman would really opt out.  Granted, probably not fully healthy, but his OPS this half is .732.  With him turning 32 in March and coming off the last part of this season, is there really a 5 year deal out there for him?  And is it one that will not make him regret walking away from $40mill? I don’t think this is such as easy call for him and his agent, especially since he didn’t get the deal he wanted last time at one year younger.  Free agency might not be his favorite thing and he might not be so eager to do it again.  The difference is, this time he doesn’t have to…

[mvp 78]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If Mayer is healthy, he's starting on my MLB club. My point was we cannot pencil him in as the FT 2Bman, 3Bman or SS for the entire 2026 season, and we can rely on DHam, Sogard or Rafaela to cover, when he is out.

To me, if Bregman goes, we need to add Alonso or Suarez. Marte would be fine in trade, but for what? Torres is not a suitable replacement for Bregman.

Even if Bregman comes back and we put Story and Mayer at middle infield, who is the back up? Can we risk seeing DHam, Rafaela, Romy, Casas and Lowe covering the right side infield, if Mayer goes down,  for yet one more year?

Alonso doesn't fill a current hole if the hole is 2b/ss/3b. 

[notin]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Alonso doesn't fill a current hole if the hole is 2b/ss/3b. 

Alonso would be a monster at Fenway, especially since he would set the record for the number of Wall Ball Singles.

They might call him the Polar Bear, but he runs like a penguin trying to sprint while wearing stilts…

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, notin said:

I actually wonder if Bregman would really opt out.  Granted, probably not fully healthy, but his OPS this half is .732.  With him turning 32 in March and coming off the last part of this season, is there really a 5 year deal out there for him?  And is it one that will not make him regret walking away from $40mill? I don’t think this is such as easy call for him and his agent, especially since he didn’t get the deal he wanted last time at one year younger.  Free agency might not be his favorite thing and he might not be so eager to do it again.  The difference is, this time he doesn’t have to…

If I had to guess, I'd say he's with the Sox, next year. They will rework the deal by maybe adding a year (from 2 more to 3 more,) while keeping the AAV about the same or a little less.

I'm not so worried about losing him as I was when he was over .900.

[notin]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If I had to guess, I'd say he's with the Sox, next year. They will rework the deal by maybe adding a year (from 2 more to 3 more,) while keeping the AAV about the same or a little less.

I'm not so worried about losing him as I was when he was over .900.

In my ideal world, the Sox bring back Lowe, trade for Marte and Bregman doesn’t opt out.  There is an extremely good chance none of those things happen…

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

Alonso would be a monster at Fenway, especially since he would set the record for the number of Wall Ball Singles.

They might call him the Polar Bear, but he runs like a penguin trying to sprint while wearing stilts…

Could be a nice Franklin Park Zoo tie in though... 

https://www.boston.com/news/wickedpedia/2023/09/20/history-abandoned-bear-cages-franklin-park-boston-ma/

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

In my ideal world, the Sox bring back Lowe, trade for Marte and Bregman doesn’t opt out.  There is an extremely good chance none of those things happen…

You think they'd non-tender Lowe? We always project non-tenders and it rarely happens. They'll probably need a 1b going into the season with Casas on the shelf IMO. 

[notin]

27 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

You think they'd non-tender Lowe? We always project non-tenders and it rarely happens. They'll probably need a 1b going into the season with Casas on the shelf IMO. 

I think they do, but I prefer Lowe to Casas.  I’d offer arbitration to Lowe and trade/non-tender Casas.  But Lowe will be $10-12mill more expensive and I expect that will be a bigger factor than I want it to be…

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, notin said:

I actually wonder if Bregman would really opt out.  Granted, probably not fully healthy, but his OPS this half is .732.  With him turning 32 in March and coming off the last part of this season, is there really a 5 year deal out there for him?  And is it one that will not make him regret walking away from $40mill? I don’t think this is such as easy call for him and his agent, especially since he didn’t get the deal he wanted last time at one year younger.  Free agency might not be his favorite thing and he might not be so eager to do it again.  The difference is, this time he doesn’t have to…

Im not sure i 100% want him opting in

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Alonso doesn't fill a current hole if the hole is 2b/ss/3b. 

who cares , he fills a more important hole. 2nd/3rd in the batting lineup

[moonslav59]

40 minutes ago, notin said:

In my ideal world, the Sox bring back Lowe, trade for Marte and Bregman doesn’t opt out.  There is an extremely good chance none of those things happen…

That would be more than acceptable, to me, and it does not mean Mayer is penciled in as FT'er anywhere. Where does he fit in this scheme?

[drewski6]

I dont care who plays 2b or 3b. I care very much who is batting second and third in our lineup

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Alonso doesn't fill a current hole if the hole is 2b/ss/3b. 

Nope, but he fills the hole Bregman's line-up loss.

It also forces us to rely on Mayer at 3B over Lowe/Casas at 1B. I see that as similar issues.

[drewski6]

5 hours ago, notin said:

Marte might be more available than you think.

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/diamondbacks-rumors-arizona-open-trading-140557610.html

The internet is littered with stories about his diva attitude, some of which might even be true.  Certainly that makes a good argument against acquiring him, but he is also a legitimate superstar who is the best overall player at a position at which the Sox have had a void for well over half a decade now.

BTV gives him a surplus value of $77mill.  A deal sending Duran ($60mill) and LHP Brandon Clarke ($16mill) certainly seems fair.  Another player (2b replacement David Hamilton? 1b Tristin Casas? Rule 5 eligible RHP Jedixson Paez) could make tjis deal more enticing.

Does Arizona need Duran? Maybe.  A couple years ago, their OF of the future appeared to be set with Carroll, Alek Thomas, and Jake McCarthy.  But it turns out, there is a really good chance Thomas and McCarthy both suck.

Still ridiculous?

 

 

Yes, I think it is ridiculous to trade Duran for anybody.

Now Id trade Cedanne and Mayer for Marte in a heartbeat. And Id throw in sandlin too.

[drewski6]

No way alonso is slower than casas.  Granted they both make vlad jr look like hamilton (vlad jr has sneaky wheels)

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

If Mayer is healthy, he's starting on my MLB club. My point was we cannot pencil him in as the FT 2Bman, 3Bman or SS for the entire 2026 season, and we can rely on DHam, Sogard or Rafaela to cover, when he is out.

To me, if Bregman goes, we need to add Alonso or Suarez. Marte would be fine in trade, but for what? Torres is not a suitable replacement for Bregman.

Even if Bregman comes back and we put Story and Mayer at middle infield, who is the back up? Can we risk seeing DHam, Rafaela, Romy, Casas and Lowe covering the right side infield, if Mayer goes down,  for yet one more year?

Please dont be 1-2 likely injuries away from being half-noodle bats.

[drewski6]

We've got 4 non noodle bats for next year. Duran, Abreu, Story, Anthony.  We need more non-noodle bats and cant trade any of the aforementioned 4 to do it.  

[drewski6]

At this point, Im angry if Story opts out.  Partly because of how much hes made from us.  But mostly because hes the man.

[drewski6]

a true comeback story.

[drewski6]

they do comeback player of the year? we have 2 great candidates (chapman being the other)

[drewski6]

we got more candidates than that, gio too and could make a case for bello.

[moonslav59]

As much as I have focused on adding a solid 1/2 type SP'er this coming winter, I can see the argument that adding a big bat is more important, and that means two, if Bregman bolts.

With all the young arms in the system and 4-5 promising arms coming off the IL for 2016, maybe we can roll the roll the dice there and go large on offense.

I'm still firmly in the "add a Joe Ryan type" camp, I'd love to see us add another big bat, like Alonso, Marte or Suarez. I'd love Schwarber, but DH only players are problematic to a team with 3-4 guys on the roster who look like DH is their best landing spot (Yoshida, Refsnyder, Casas, Campbell and maybe eventually Duran. We also have an OF overload that might be alleviated by DH'ing one of them, daily.

If JH would see this open window for what it is, and open his damn wallet, maybe we could keep Bregman, add Alonso, Suarez or Marte and pull off a trade for Joe Ryan.

 

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Yes, I think it is ridiculous to trade Duran for anybody.

Now Id trade Cedanne and Mayer for Marte in a heartbeat. And Id throw in sandlin too.

I can see the logic in trading away the injury-risk players like Mayer, and the huge question marks on offense like Rafaela. I could also see trading the positionless Campbell, but I'm not for handing any of these three away. (Not that you are.)

Maybe I'm too high on Jh Garcia as a viable "non noodle" bat as the guy who is now 1-2 injuries away from the line-up, if we trade Rafaela. Maybe I'm relying on Story staying healthy for 2 years in a row by trading away a likely "non noodle" bat as his, Bregman's and whoever we play at 2B reserve. Maybe trading away Campbell comes back to bite me in the ass as he might become one our best "non noodle bats" in the future.

We got choose a lane, this winter. There is a bit of a contradiction involved here, since both of us agree we need "non noodle bats" in reserve, but here I am suggesting we trade away our depth (Mayer at 3B, SS and 2B), starting OF'er (Rafaela not Duran or Abreu) and possible future big bats (Campbell.) We shouldn't need to trade all 3 to get a Joe Ryan, so it's not as bad it sounds, but if we can pull that off, keep Bregman and sign Alonso or Suarez, I'd be thrilled.

To get Ryan and Marte over Alonso or Suarez, we'd need to trade those 3 plus other serious talent, like some young pitching.

 

 

 

 

 

[drewski6]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I can see the logic in trading away the injury-risk players like Mayer, and the huge question marks on offense like Rafaela. I could also see trading the positionless Campbell, but I'm not for handing any of these three away. (Not that you are.)

Maybe I'm too high on Jh Garcia as a viable "non noodle" bat as the guy who is now 1-2 injuries away from the line-up, if we trade Rafaela. Maybe I'm relying on Story staying healthy for 2 years in a row by trading away a likely "non noodle" bat as his, Bregman's and whoever we play at 2B reserve. Maybe trading away Campbell comes back to bite me in the ass as he might become one our best "non noodle bats" in the future.

We got choose a lane, this winter. There is a bit of a contradiction involved here, since both of us agree we need "non noodle bats" in reserve, but here I am suggesting we trade away our depth (Mayer at 3B, SS and 2B), starting OF'er (Rafaela not Duran or Abreu) and possible future big bats (Campbell.) We shouldn't need to trade all 3 to get a Joe Ryan, so it's not as bad it sounds, but if we can pull that off, keep Bregman and sign Alonso or Suarez, I'd be thrilled.

To get Ryan and Marte over Alonso or Suarez, we'd need to trade those 3 plus other serious talent, like some young pitching.

 

 

 

 

 

cedanne is about 33 units, ditto for campbell, mayer is about 50. arias is 30, sandlin is like 16. PW is like 18. witherspoon is like 18. Keep gio, keep bregman, sign one of alonso or schwarber. And you have enough there to get marte and ryan.  If you have to empty the farm, do it.  Just keep Tolle and early.  We are good and young, and mostly locked up. This is when you move the chips in. Create a 3 yr window. Get greedy. :)

[notin]

47 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Yes, I think it is ridiculous to trade Duran for anybody.

Now Id trade Cedanne and Mayer for Marte in a heartbeat. And Id throw in sandlin too.

If the Sox trade anyone, it’s most likely an OF.  The most likely candidates are Duran and Abreu.

On BTV, Duran has more trade value than anyone on the Sox except Anthony.  Couple that with his limited defense and struggles vs LHP, and I see him as the obvious candidate of the four.

Hes an exciting player.  But an outfield of Anthony-Rafaela-Abreu gives plenty of reasons to be excited on both sides of the ball.

I wouldn’t be broken up if the Sox dealt Abreu instead.  But they have to add more worthwhile pieces to that deal, at least according to BTV…

[drewski6]

trade mayer and dobbins for marte

trade cedanne, sandlin, and arias for ryan

sign alonso or schwarber. Keep bregman and gio

crochet, ryan, bello, gio, tolle, sandoval, early, crawford

Duran
Anthony
Schwarber/alonso
marte
bregman
Abreu
Story
campbell/pw/grissom
Nav

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

If the Sox trade anyone, it’s most likely an OF.  The most likely candidates are Duran and Abreu.

On BTV, Duran has more trade value than anyone on the Sox except Anthony.  Couple that with his limited defense and struggles vs LHP, and I see him as the obvious candidate of the four.

Hes an exciting player.  But an outfield of Anthony-Rafaela-Abreu gives plenty of reasons to be excited on both sides of the ball.

I wouldn’t be broken up if the Sox dealt Abreu instead.  But they have to add more worthwhile pieces to that deal, at least according to BTV…

He has more trade value than any position player on this team because he is the best position player on this team.