The 2026 Red Sox Foundation & One Possible Plan

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The problem with Casas is that he is his inability to protect the plate or be aggressive with 2 strikes. He carried a 37% strike out looking, when league average is 23.5%. Other Sox hitters above 30 were Campbell, Sogard, Eaton and Sabol (not exactly a wrecking crew). His overall strike looking % was only 21.2% which means he was more likely to watch a called third strike than any other pitch. 

That is aggravating, but he produces. It's a by-product of having a high BB%, to some extent.

He hits enough HRs for me to get over that.

[mvp 78]

51 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That is aggravating, but he produces. It's a by-product of having a high BB%, to some extent.

He hits enough HRs for me to get over that.

'23 was his best season when the strike out looking % was down to 27%. All other seasons were 10 points higher. If he wants to be productive, he needs to keep that rate down. 

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

The problem with Casas is that he is his inability to protect the plate or be aggressive with 2 strikes. He carried a 37% strike out looking, when league average is 23.5%. Other Sox hitters above 30 were Campbell, Sogard, Eaton and Sabol (not exactly a wrecking crew). His overall strike looking % was only 21.2% which means he was more likely to watch a called third strike than any other pitch. 

Also his speed.

[drewski6]

Yeah, when you are fast, draw a walk. Steal a bag.  When you are the slowest dude in the mlb, i dont even really want you at first base.

Casas approach to maximize walks is bunk.  Dont leave HRs on the table becasue you are trying to draw walks.  Hunt mistakes and crush them.  30 HRs isnt fantastic.  When you consider his speed and D which are both terrible. 

[drewski6]

Casas should be looking to punish.  If im the manager and hes taking fastballs, im getting aggravated.  Even if they result in a walk.

[drewski6]

old school: you learned it 4-5 years ago
new school: you learned it less than 3 years ago

Anything youve known for more than 5 years is too old to be useful.

I dont care that OBP , OBP , OBP was a buzzword 20+ years ago

[moonslav59]

I still think I'm fine with a player having a 50% K rate, if he hits 30+ HRs and has an OBP over .350.

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I still think I'm fine with a player having a 50% K rate, if he hits 30+ HRs and has an OBP over .350.

Has that happened before? Seems unlikely? 

[moonslav59]

57 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Has that happened before? Seems unlikely? 

Of course it never happened, but the point is just produce and who cares about K rates?

I realize a high K rate probably means a player can't produce like this, but Casas has hit more than his hsare of HRs and walks more than most, so the Ks are okay by me.

Can he keep it up?

I don't know, but hit .820 with 30Hrs in 650 PAs, and I call him a keeper.

[a700hitter]

On 8/21/2025 at 2:43 PM, mvp 78 said:

Nothing that jumps out at you. This offseason is just to sign Rhys Hoskins at 1b/DH. 

I would rather have Pete Alonso.

[a700hitter]

On 8/22/2025 at 11:11 AM, notin said:

We have a legitimate home run threat.  His name rhymes with Towman Tanthony…

He might become a big bopper, i.e. 35 HRs, or he might not.  They should still add another thumper.

[a700hitter]

They need to add a big bopper— at least one.

They need to shed Yoshida and Casas.  They head the list.  They have been and will be nothing but disappointments.

From among Abreu, Rafaela. Lowe, Duran, Wong, Hamilton, and Eaton, move on from half of them.

Starting pitching - Crochet, Bello, Early and Thole and I would look to add a #2.

 

[notin]

On 9/30/2025 at 1:58 PM, drewski6 said:

Also his speed.

Is he a fast driver?

[notin]

29 minutes ago, a700hitter said:

They need to add a big bopper— at least one.

They need to shed Yoshida and Casas.  They head the list.  They have been and will be nothing but disappointments.

From among Abreu, Rafaela. Lowe, Duran, Wong, Hamilton, and Eaton, move on from half of them.

Starting pitching - Crochet, Bello, Early and Thole and I would look to add a #2.

 

Wong, Hamilton and Eaton are just bench players.  Any replacement isnt likely to be an improvement.

As of now, the Sox have the following starting pitchers who will all need a spot on the 40 man roster, at least until March:  Crochet, Bello, Sandoval, Houck, Early, Tolle, Harrison, Fitts, Perales and Dobbins.  Houck is out for 2026, and Dobbins likely until July.  I’m assuming Giolito opts out.  Criswell, I think, is out of options, so he likely makes the team but not the rotation.

If it was up to me, I’d move Fitts, Tolle and Perales to the bullpen and package Harrison and Password for a SP.  No names yet, but probably someone with a contract or arbitration price that some cheap ass team wants to move on from. I’ve been pushing for Fitts to go to the pen for 2 years, but history has taught me with Whitlock that I need to push for 3 years before the Sox listen.

OF should be set.  INF is up in the air, with only Story and Mayer most likely in the picture.  Lowe will be non-tendered and Casas, well, he probably injured himself watching the game tonight.  I think Bregman returns.  But few else do.

Im a Yoshida fan, but I think Breslow isnt.  We’ll see what happens to him.  And I like the idea of swapping Hicks (2 yrs $25mill) to Atlanta for Sean Murphy (3yrs $45 mill).  I think Atlanta would, too, but if I’m being honest, I haven’t discussed it with them…

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, a700hitter said:

I would rather have Pete Alonso.

Hoskins would be cheaper and has a better pull swing that would produce big numbers at Fenway like O'Neill and Duvall IMO. Alonso is more of an all fields hitter and would lose some HR's to the large RF in Fenway. 

[drewski6]

11 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Hoskins would be cheaper and has a better pull swing that would produce big numbers at Fenway like O'Neill and Duvall IMO. Alonso is more of an all fields hitter and would lose some HR's to the large RF in Fenway. 

Schwarber?

[moonslav59]

I think we need a big bat. Alonso & Suarez are RHB that can play 1B. Schwarber is a LHB that can play 1B better than Casas. I'll leave it at that. To me, we need one of these three.

Don't spend bigly on Valdez, Cease, Gallen, King or any other big name SP'ers in free agency. May be sign G Torres or trade for Marte at 2B.

Use the money on a bat and the trade capital on pitching. I can see us signing Merrill Kelly to a 2 year deal. Keep those pitcher contracts short.

Even this is probably too expensive for JH:

Sign Suarez (shorter deal than Alonso would get) M Kelly and G Torres.

Trade Duran, Tolle & Sandlin for Joe Ryan.

Pray that Anthony and Mayer (3B) stay healthy all year. (Suarez could play 3B, if Mayer goes down.)

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Schwarber?

I'd love him back, but I think the RHBs of Alonso & Suarez might be more appealing.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

I'd love him back, but I think the RHBs of Alonso & Suarez might be more appealing.

Suarez is 5'11 and had an outlier year. Alonso may be hyper expensive.  More options the better though.

[drewski6]

Id try to trade for Rooker, but I dont think hes available.

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Schwarber?

Not a 1b, really. I don't see him leaving Philly. I know Cora really wants him.

[drewski6]

8 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not a 1b, really. I don't see him leaving Philly. I know Cora really wants him.

Well going into this series, I would have countered with Romy at 1B. But sometimes you have to adjust based on a short sample when a short sample is all that youve got even though you understand the inherent risks of yanking Romys starting spot over 3 games.

Still though.  Between Romy/Masa/Schwarber/Casas, I think they can figure out DH/1B.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Well going into this series, I would have countered with Romy at 1B. But sometimes you have to adjust based on a short sample when a short sample is all that youve got even though you understand the inherent risks of yanking Romys starting spot over 3 games.

Still though.  Between Romy/Masa/Schwarber/Casas, I think they can figure out DH/1B.

I'd rather try and get some HR pop at 1b than Romy. Good player, but I think they can do better than Romy there. 

[drewski6]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'd rather try and get some HR pop at 1b than Romy. Good player, but I think they can do better than Romy there. 

Oh I agree, but I would say 1b/dh than just 1b to open up schwarber (and a few other guys) as a possibility to provide the pop that we lack. We do need pop fo sho.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 hours ago, notin said:

If it was up to me, I’d move Fitts, Tolle and Perales to the bullpen and package Harrison and Password for a SP.  No names yet, but probably someone with a contract or arbitration price that some cheap ass team wants to move on from. 

His name is Sonny Gray. Bloom is taking over the Cardinals, and you know he'll be shedding payroll like a Golden Retriever in Springtime. He also might covet a few mid-level prospects in the Boston system that he once drafted and signed.

Gray is still good -- led the NL in shutout -- and would be a reliable veteran for the rotation. But he is owed at least $40 million ($35M for '26, with a $5M buyout for '27). Breslow can take that on, as long as Bloom agrees to throw in Ivan Herrerra, a 25-year old righty-swinging DH who led the Cards in OBP and Slugging. He also has experience as a back-up backstop.

If Bloom insists on pushing Willson Contreras on Brez, then he'll have to take back Yoshida. Or we can just offer him Wong and the locker name plates of Verdugo and Jeter Downs.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

Suarez is 5'11 and had an outlier year. Alonso may be hyper expensive.  More options the better though.

He hit 49 HRs another year, so I'm not sure it's a major outlier, but yes, there are concerns about repeatability. He also just turned 34. For this reason, he will get a shorter contract, which JH might prefer.

HRs nd OPS+ last few years

49/ 126 2025

30/ 115 '24

22/ 103 '23

31/ 129 '22

31/ 82 '21 Ooops!

15/ 100 '20 short season

49/ 131 '19

34/ 136 '18

Last 4 years: 34 Hrs per 162 gms and 118 OPS+

Bregman: 26/ 125

Alonso: 40/ 134 (Turns 31, soon and will get a longer deal)

Schwarber: 48/ 134(turns 33 in March)

[mvp 78]

That's the foundation. That's it. 

[harmony]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I think we need a big bat. Alonso & Suarez are RHB that can play 1B. Schwarber is a LHB that can play 1B better than Casas. I'll leave it at that. To me, we need one of these three.

Eugenio Suarez has played 13,540 innings in the field over his 12-year career.

But only six of those innings were at first base:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suareeu01.shtml

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, harmony said:

Eugenio Suarez has played 13,540 innings in the field over his 12-year career.

But only six of those innings were at first base:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suareeu01.shtml

He can't be worse than Casas. Impossible.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, harmony said:

Eugenio Suarez has played 13,540 innings in the field over his 12-year career.

But only six of those innings were at first base:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suareeu01.shtml

Baseball vagabond. Possibly a bad clubhouse guy.