The 2026 Red Sox Foundation & One Possible Plan

[moonslav59]

An all-healthy 2026 roster-minus Houck, who is out until 2026 and assuming Bregman & Gio return- yes big assumptions:

(AAA and on 40)

SP: Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Sandoval, Crawford, Dobbins

(Tolle, Fitts, Harrison, Criswell, Perales)

RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Weissert, Bernardino, Winckowski, Hicks

(Guerrero, Kelly, Murphy, Moran, Sandlin-R5)

C: Narvaez, Wong

1B: Lowe, Romy (Casas)

2B: Mayer, DHam (Grissom)

SS: Story (Sogard)

3B: Bregman

LF: Anthony/Duran (Campbell)

CF: Rafaela/Duran

RF: Abreu/Anthony

DH: Duran/Garcia (Yoshida)

To 60 Day IL on opening Day: Houck

Not returning: Wilson, Hendriks, May, I Campbell, Matz, Refsnyder, Eaton, A Sanchez)

 

[Duran Is The Man]

On 8/29/2025 at 12:57 PM, moonslav59 said:

I was surprised and pleased at the depth Brez put together for our 2025 rotation. IMO, it went at least 12 deep, but that included Sandoval who was due back in August, and we all know how those deals work out for the Sox.

Crochet, Houck, Giolito, Bello, Buehler, Crawford

Newcomb, Fitts, Priester, Criswell, Dobbins, Wink/Whitlock

We traded Priester, then traded for Harrison.

We traded newcomb, then traded for D May.

We just called up Tolle, who wasn't even listed in the top 12 to 13 on the winter depth chart.

Now, looking forward: No Houck, Buehler, DMay and Giolito (assuming to mutual option trigger.)

We added Tolle and maybe Early, Perales, Sandlin and someone else.

Crawford, Sandoval, Dobbins, Fitts, Criswell and Wink are all hurt.

One could argue we need two #2s and 2-3 more depth arms.

Priester won his 11th straight decision last nite.  good job Brez! 

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

Priester won his 11th straight decision last nite.  good job Brez! 

Rather shocking. The Yorke trade looked good, at the time (PLus for Brez.) Then we flipped Priester, when we felt we had a deep enough rotation depth. Then, we end up trading for May and forcing pen games. That part alone is bad enough. 

Priester's enormous success, although maybe not worthy of being undefeated, really hurts. It's like the Sale trade, where Sale went on to shock the baseball world, while Grissom sucked. The money "saved" being used to help sign Gio looked even worse. The return on the Priester trade is still TBD, but they have a lot to produce to even out this deal.

IMO, Brez has made way more good deals than bad ones.

[notin]

3 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

Priester won his 11th straight decision last nite.  good job Brez! 

Definitely not one of his better moves.

If you’re a pitcher, it would seem that nothing predicates a great season for you more than being traded away by Craig Breslow…

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, notin said:

Definitely not one of his better moves.

If you’re a pitcher, it would seem that nothing predicates a great season for you more than being traded away by Craig Breslow…

But Brez traded for him, too.

LOL

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, notin said:

Definitely not one of his better moves.

If you’re a pitcher, it would seem that nothing predicates a great season for you more than being traded away by Craig Breslow…

Here is another guy- not traded, but who had a 5.84 ERA with the Sox, last year in 25 IP (1.622 WHIP.)

He signed with the Cubs, this winter, and now has an 0.978 WHIP and 2.20 ERA in 61 relief innings...

Brad Keller.

[Hugh2]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

But Brez traded for him, too.

LOL

The best GMs who are unafraid to make moves have understandably made some bad ones.  
 

even DD made some bad bad moves in his day.  
 

id argue you can’t close the book on this one yet, we have no ideal what Marcus Phillips would turn into.  I’d also argue you have to tie Anthony Eyanson into that equation as well.  I don’t think they sign him without the Phillips pick

[Hugh2]

It’s like the best basketball players get the ball more and make plays, so naturally they’re going to miss more shots too

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

The best GMs who are unafraid to make moves have understandably made some bad ones.  even DD made some bad bad moves in his day.  

id argue you can’t close the book on this one yet, we have no ideal what Marcus Phillips would turn into.  I’d also argue you have to tie Anthony Eyanson into that equation as well.  I don’t think they sign him without the Phillips pick

Holobetz might turn into something, eventually, too.

I'm not so sure about YRod, but he's still only 19.

Between these two and Phillips, the jury is still out, but Priester's 2025 season is setting the bar pretty high.

[notin]

21 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Here is another guy- not traded, but who had a 5.84 ERA with the Sox, last year in 25 IP (1.622 WHIP.)

He signed with the Cubs, this winter, and now has an 0.978 WHIP and 2.20 ERA in 61 relief innings...

Brad Keller.

I’ve seen Keller pitch multiple times this year, including live games at Wrigley.

Keller was one of those guys I recommended Boston acquire multiple times, knowingly giving the rather mediocre Keller more attention than he ever really deserved.  Always loved his fastball velocity.  But when Boston finally did get him, it just didn’t work out.

So his transformation in Chicago has been remarkable…

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, notin said:

I’ve seen Keller pitch multiple times this year, including live games at Wrigley.

Keller was one of those guys I recommended Boston acquire multiple times, knowingly giving the rather mediocre Keller more attention than he ever really deserved.  Always loved his fastball velocity.  But when Boston finally did get him, it just didn’t work out.

So his transformation in Chicago has been remarkable…

I'm sure other teams have examples like this, but we have our share, for sure.

[mvp 78]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Holobetz might turn into something, eventually, too.

I'm not so sure about YRod, but he's still only 19.

Between these two and Phillips, the jury is still out, but Priester's 2025 season is setting the bar pretty high.

Of the three, the hopes are highest for Phillips. I'd rank it Phillips > Holobetz > Yophery. I just don't believe in Yophery. 

[notin]

On 8/29/2025 at 8:57 AM, moonslav59 said:

Even if we open the DH slot for an OF'er, we can't play them all. I guess Rafaela at 2B would allow 5 to play. We still have 7 that all deserve to play, either as platoon (Ref, if he returns and maybe Abreu & Duran) or by Cora's insistence (Yoshida.)

LHB: Anthony, Abreu, Duran & Yoshida

RHB: Rafaela (reverse splits), Jh Garcia, Campbell

I'm NOT okay with Rafaela at 2B or SS, unless for a short term emergency, so to me, it's 4 slots for 7 guys. If we rid Cora of the Yoshida choice, this winter, it's still 6 for 4 slots. Maybe Ref retires and we have a manageable 5 for 4 slots, with one being Jh Garcia mostly on the bench in a platoon role. That could be doable, but I also think it's a waste of value putting even our worst defensive OF'er (arguable Duran) at DH near FT or on some sort of rotation/rest basis. Duran's value on another team as an OF'er is way higher than to the Sox as a DH, and that goes even more so with Anthony, Abreu and Rafaela, assuming they DH some games.

All the pitchers you listed are here, this year, and we still have only 3 solid SP'ers, with one likely to become a FA. No way am I pencilling in Sandoval, Dobbins & Crawford into meaningful SP'er roles, until we see they are healthy and back. Dobbins proved nothing. Sandoval and Crawford have promise, as does Dobbins, but neither none are even close to sure bets to take over Gio's #3 slot, and even as 4/5's I wonder. As much as we needed SP'ers, this year, Criswell got one start. He's on your list. You also added Harrison at the last minute, and he has yet to start a game during a time where we used pen games, Criswell for one start and now called up a prospect over him.

I feel very strongly we need two #2/3 type starters- one, if we get Gio to come back.

I'm not saying our offense needs no help or additions, but we will have Anthony for the full season and hopefully Bregman, as well. Much of our everyday roster is pre-prime and nearing prime quickly. I expect more growth than sophomore slumps. We also added Lowe.

Our offense is 8th in OPS and 4th in runs. If we bring back Bregman, we should get better not worse or the same. Our SP'ers are ranked 11th in ERA with Gio being a big part of keeping it top 15. The starters are 11th in fWAR and 7th in ERA-. Our pen is second in fWAR and ERA-.

Without Gio, our rotation is our highest need area.

Without Bregman, our line-up might pass the rotation in higher need.

If the Sox cannot retain Bregman, maybe they should move on Ketel Marte and solidify 2b for the first time since Pedroia.  Mayer, if healthy, can resume playing 3b…

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

If the Sox cannot retain Bregman, maybe they should move on Ketel Marte and solidify 2b for the first time since Pedroia.  Mayer, if healthy, can resume playing 3b…

The IF FA list is rough this year. The replacements either need to be via trade or internal. Marte is great. What would it take to get him? 

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Of the three, the hopes are highest for Phillips. I'd rank it Phillips > Holobetz > Yophery. I just don't believe in Yophery. 

I think Holobetz and Phillips are tied.

Holobetz has already shown he can do well. Phillips has more "unknown" upside.

[notin]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The IF FA list is rough this year. The replacements either need to be via trade or internal. Marte is great. What would it take to get him? 

I will ask Mike Hazen.

Marte is a tremendous talent but appears to have started wearing out his welcome in Arizona…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

7 hours ago, notin said:

If the Sox cannot retain Bregman, maybe they should move on Ketel Marte and solidify 2b for the first time since Pedroia.  Mayer, if healthy, can resume playing 3b…

I like your Bregman back-up plan. With Mayer the starting 3rd baseman, there better be a capable utility player who can play 3rd when Mayer goes on the IL. Because that what he does.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I like your Bregman back-up plan. With Mayer the starting 3rd baseman, there better be a capable utility player who can play 3rd when Mayer goes on the IL. Because that what he does.

Not many other options.

Alonso at 1B? (Bellinger?)

G Torres?

[Hugh2]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I think Holobetz and Phillips are tied.

Holobetz has already shown he can do well. Phillips has more "unknown" upside.

I'll say it again, and I'm sure not everyone will agree with this, but I think you have to tie Anthony Eyanson in with those guys too.  I get the argument against it, because he is not directly related to that trade at all, but I think it's very plausible that the Sox do not have the money to sign him without the Phillips pick, which netted them 573,000 more money in the draft (after the Phillips signing).

 

That was the largest savings from any signing, and aside from their 11th rounder Barret Morgan who got 350K over slot Eyanson was their only other overslot guy, and there highest overslot signing.  So I firmly believe you do not get Eyanson without the Phillips pick. 

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I'll say it again, and I'm sure not everyone will agree with this, but I think you have to tie Anthony Eyanson in with those guys too.  I get the argument against it, because he is not directly related to that trade at all, but I think it's very plausible that the Sox do not have the money to sign him without the Phillips pick, which netted them 573,000 more money in the draft (after the Phillips signing).

 

That was the largest savings from any signing, and aside from their 11th rounder Barret Morgan who got 350K over slot Eyanson was their only other overslot guy, and there highest overslot signing.  So I firmly believe you do not get Eyanson without the Phillips pick. 

Good points, but the guy we might have gotten instead of Eyanson could end up outshining him.

[Hugh2]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Good points, but the guy we might have gotten instead of Eyanson could end up outshining him.

But Eyanson was actually drafted by the Sox.

[moonslav59]

42 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

But Eyanson was actually drafted by the Sox.

Yes, and if we didn't get Phillips and the money, we'd have darfted someone else besides Eyanson, who could have ended up better.

[notin]

12 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I like your Bregman back-up plan. With Mayer the starting 3rd baseman, there better be a capable utility player who can play 3rd when Mayer goes on the IL. Because that what he does.

Internally, Mikey Romero.  Or bring on someone like Luis Rengifo.   Or both, which happens if they sign Rengifo…

[notin]

20 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The IF FA list is rough this year. The replacements either need to be via trade or internal. Marte is great. What would it take to get him? 

BTV accepts Duran, Clarke and Hamilton for Marte.  I doubt Hamilton’s inclusion is a dealbreaker.  The Sox have plenty of equally valued replacements in their farm to plug in instead.

Would AZ accept this? They are loaded with young outfielders, but only Carroll doesn’t suck.  No one is turning down Duran because they already have Jake McCarthy…

[Hugh2]

42 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, and if we didn't get Phillips and the money, we'd have darfted someone else besides Eyanson, who could have ended up better.

Yes, but that's true for every single pick ever made.  If we didn't draft anyone we drafted someone else, but we know the Sox liked Eyanson and he was their highest overslot bonus.  I think it's very fair to assign his development into the return for Preister, regardless of who they would have taken or who else they would have. 

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

BTV accepts Duran, Clarke and Hamilton for Marte.  I doubt Hamilton’s inclusion is a dealbreaker.  The Sox have plenty of equally valued replacements in their farm to plug in instead.

Would AZ accept this? They are loaded with young outfielders, but only Carroll doesn’t suck.  No one is turning down Duran because they already have Jake McCarthy…

I'm fine with that trade. 

[notin]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Not many other options.

Alonso at 1B? (Bellinger?)

G Torres?

Torres isnt horrible, but Marte might be the best second baseman in MLB.  

Bellinger is unlikely to leave the Bronx, especially if they can retain Grisham (Trent, not John), which the Yankees really should do.

Alonso is an obvious monster at Fenway.  His future is unclear, since it odds hard to see the Mets letting him walk.  But at some point, they will stop spending.  Just not sure he is where.

[Hugh2]

Money spent on the draft equals results, it's no coincidence that before the last couple years the Sox were dead last in bonus pool money spent on pitchers in the draft for over a decade and that coincided with having very little pitching depth.  

[notin]

34 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm fine with that trade. 

Any chance Arizona hires you to be CBO in the next 3 months?

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Yes, but that's true for every single pick ever made.  If we didn't draft anyone we drafted someone else, but we know the Sox liked Eyanson and he was their highest overslot bonus.  I think it's very fair to assign his development into the return for Preister, regardless of who they would have taken or who else they would have. 

I do agree that Eyanson looks better than anyone else we might have drafted, instead. I get your point about the added money and overslot signings. I'm glad we got both Phillips and Eyanson.

I hope the Priester deal pays off for us, at some point. I think the odds that one of the three guys we got (or Eyanson) will give us some plus value is pretty high.