Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[moonslav59]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

You may have liked how it looked, but the execution of it left something to be desired. The 2026 version may be better than the 2025 version. It depends on health and Bello TBH.

The depth did better than I imagined, as did Gio & Bello. Crochet pitched more innings and better than I imagined. (Priester did better, but for another team.)

I hope our 2026 rotation can do as well as 2025. If we get another SP, we can do better, as we should try to be.

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, notin said:

He can always come out of retirement, like Rush…

Personally I won't get fooled again.  

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

“I learned a lot about the value of building relationships and having clear communication and spending time with the coaching staff and spending time with the players and certainly with (manager) Alex (Cora),” Breslow added. “And having honest conversations, uncomfortable as they may be at times. So I think the short answer there is, I’ve learned a ton.”

So we had a trainee running our ball club? I can't imagine DD every saying what Breslow admitted here. 

 

They did make the playoffs, which I think most of us figured was a reasonable goal for 2025.

Also FWIW one of the rumors about DD being fired by Henry was that Dave was not communicating well with the rest of the front office.

 

[moonslav59]

34 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Paez is too far away IMO. Hasn't thrown above High A and didn't pitch 20 innings last season. Good pitcher, but hard to stash on a MLB roster. 

Mullins is a bubble guy, but do the Sox really need another LH reliever on the 40 man? 

Probably not, but we lose Wilson and some of the others are kinda sketchy.

[notin]

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

Personally I won't get fooled again.  

That was actually the original title of that song.  But I think the consensus was it lacked the necessary urgency.  
 

“Meet the new boss.  Got lots in common with the old boss.”…

 

Not their best writing…

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Probably not, but we lose Wilson and some of the others are kinda sketchy.

They lose Matz and Wilson. Sox replace one of them via FA for sure. 

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They lose Matz and Wilson. Sox replace one of them via FA for sure. 

I would not be surprised if we pass on any RP'ers other than minor league depth signings.

I thinking we convert starters to the pen and we rely more on Moran, Murphy, Kelly and Guerrero than we did in 2025.

I think Fitts, Criswell and Tolle might be pen arms, at some point in 2026.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I would not be surprised if we pass on any RP'ers other than minor league depth signings.

I thinking we convert starters to the pen and we rely more on Moran, Murphy, Kelly and Guerrero than we did in 2025.

I think Fitts, Criswell and Tolle might be pen arms, at some point in 2026.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/free-agent-tracker?undefined&pos=rp

They probably don't go for a big name like Devin Williams, but I could see them grabbing a guy like Seranthony Dominguez (lots of k's, lots of bb's), a LHP with good offspeed stuff like Gregory Soto, or an all purpose guy like Jalen Beeks. 

[drewski6]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We could likely get by with 3, maybe even two major additions, but I mean major. 

3B or 2B (Mayer or Story plays the other.)

SP2

1B (Not DH)

My only difference is I would be fine if the third get was a DH.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

My only difference is I would be fine if the third get was a DH.

To me, all these guys would be better at DH than another position:

Yoshida, Refsnyder (if he returns) Duran, Casas, Campbell and maybe even Romy.

Or 1B options are Lowe (high arb cost projected, so might be nontendered) Casas, Romy & Campbell.

Assuming we count Mayer at 3B or 3B (Or Mayer at SS and Story at 3B or 2B) what else do we have as options?

DHam (2B only) Eaton (3B) Romy (2B, 3B?) Sogard, Grissom (yuck)

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

The depth did better than I imagined, as did Gio & Bello. Crochet pitched more innings and better than I imagined. (Priester did better, but for another team.)

I hope our 2026 rotation can do as well as 2025. If we get another SP, we can do better, as we should try to be.

Problem is finite resources and more holes than you would expect for a playoff team

[notin]

18 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

My only difference is I would be fine if the third get was a DH.

Crazy limb here - but if the Sox get a 1b, the DH is probably Casas or Yoshida…

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Crazy limb here - but if the Sox get a 1b, the DH is probably Casas or Yoshida…

Breslow totally going to trade away 2 OFers, a 1b and a DH in one offseason to clear room for a DH and a 1B. Will still need to find a 3b or 2b too! Hope he can hire that GM quickly because he's got work to do. 

[moonslav59]

48 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Problem is finite resources and more holes than you would expect for a playoff team

IMO, we have 3 major holes, and in theory, losing the contracts of Devers, Bregman, Buehler and Giolito should allow us to fill them, despite several large extensions kicking in, next season.

If we focus all resources on just 3 slot (4 tops) instead of trying to go cheap on 5-6 additions, I think we can improve enough to be considered a top 4-6 team. (This year, we were a top 8-12 team.)

1. 3B or 2B (Suarez, Bregman, K Marte, Torres is borderline)

2, SP2

3. 1B (Alosno, Schwarber, Suarez with Hoskins and Naylor as borderline)

( optional ) 2B or 3B (We'd have to count on Mayer, Romy, Sogard, Eaton & DHam to fill a slot, instead)

If we add 2 borderlines, we'd need 4 tota

[drewski6]

55 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To me, all these guys would be better at DH than another position:

Yoshida, Refsnyder (if he returns) Duran, Casas, Campbell and maybe even Romy.

Or 1B options are Lowe (high arb cost projected, so might be nontendered) Casas, Romy & Campbell.

Assuming we count Mayer at 3B or 3B (Or Mayer at SS and Story at 3B or 2B) what else do we have as options?

DHam (2B only) Eaton (3B) Romy (2B, 3B?) Sogard, Grissom (yuck)

An elite hitter who plays a position will cost you 70m/yr

An elite hitter who is a DH will cost you 25m/yr

Save the 45m and put anybody at 1b.  

[drewski6]

45 minutes ago, notin said:

Crazy limb here - but if the Sox get a 1b, the DH is probably Casas or Yoshida…

The market is wrong on DH.  Take advantage.  According to the market , soto is worth 70m becasue he plays a bad OF. And honestly, whether he plays a bad OF vs just plays DH has more to do with a manager decision.  Now if there was a great hitter who just had no position, he would be like 1/3 the price tag. Thats silly.  50m out of Sotos 70m is NOT from the fact that the manager plays him in the OF even though he stinks at it.

[drewski6]

The fact that Ortiz DH'd was a big part of his value.  Because he was half-as-expensive as a dude who would have the same bat but play a lousy 1b.

If you are an elite ss or an elite cf thats one thing.  Other than that, its easy to overpay for defense.  You should go D at Cf, ss, C and then if you need to fill a hole on the cheap. Because we need to save money at lf, for example, and we have nobody to put there, but we have no budget so might as well get a cheap guy who can defend.

But you dont pay big dollars for lf d or 1b d

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

An elite hitter who plays a position will cost you 70m/yr

An elite hitter who is a DH will cost you 25m/yr

Save the 45m and put anybody at 1b.  

Alonso got $70M? Alonso got only $30M from the one of the richest owners in MLB, last year, and now he's a year older. How is he getting $70, next year? $70M/2 is not even happening.

Alonso plus Schwarber might get $70M a year.

Suarez is getting old. He might get $70M/3.

Tucker might get $45M x 5, $40M x 6 or $35M x 7.

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

The market is wrong on DH.  Take advantage.  According to the market , soto is worth 70m becasue he plays a bad OF. And honestly, whether he plays a bad OF vs just plays DH has more to do with a manager decision.  Now if there was a great hitter who just had no position, he would be like 1/3 the price tag. Thats silly.  50m out of Sotos 70m is NOT from the fact that the manager plays him in the OF even though he stinks at it.

One owner overpaid Soto. That does not mean every elite hitter gets $70M.

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Alonso got $70M? Alonso got only $30M from the one of the richest owners in MLB, last year, and now he's a year older. How is he getting $70, next year? $70M/2 is not even happening.

Alonso plus Schwarber might get $70M a year.

Suarez is getting old. He might get $70M/3.

Tucker might get $45M x 5, $40M x 6 or $35M x 7.

was alonso a UFA when he got 30m? If its an extension when the team had control thats a massive variable thats not apples to apples

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

was alonso a UFA when he got 30m? If its an extension when the team had control thats a massive variable thats not apples to apples

Alonso was 100% an unrestricted FA after 2024 after playing 162 games in 2024 and hitting a huge HR in the playoffs.

He got an optout after year one and $30M/1 w player option for $24M from one of the two biggest spending owners in MLB history.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

One owner overpaid Soto. That does not mean every elite hitter gets $70M.

Mets would have been better off splitting Soto's contract in half and signing two guys. More likely that they get into the playoffs that way TBH. Soto is too passive of a hitter and needs to be surrounded by guys that are gonna swing it. 

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Mets would have been better off splitting Soto's contract in half and signing two guys. More likely that they get into the playoffs that way TBH. Soto is too passive of a hitter and needs to be surrounded by guys that are gonna swing it. 

Brez was a genius to drive up the price- never intending to sign Juan.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Soto is too passive of a hitter and needs to be surrounded by guys that are gonna swing it. 

You just described Casas, but he needs to be surrounded by guys that are gonna goon it. 

Being surrounded by hackers flailing at sweepers in the dirt of the opposite batter's box gives pitchers no reason to ever challenge anyone with a fastball below the letters.

[drewski6]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Alonso was 100% an unrestricted FA after 2024 after playing 162 games in 2024 and hitting a huge HR in the playoffs.

He got an optout after year one and $30M/1 w player option for $24M from one of the two biggest spending owners in MLB history.

So Vlad gets 500m and Alonso gets 30m?

[drewski6]

 

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Mets would have been better off splitting Soto's contract in half and signing two guys. More likely that they get into the playoffs that way TBH. Soto is too passive of a hitter and needs to be surrounded by guys that are gonna swing it. 

Agreed , dont overpay for OBP

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

So Vlad gets 500m and Alonso gets 30m?

You think the Mets paid Alonso $30M/1 and next year he gets $70M a year?

[drewski6]

7 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

You just described Casas, but he needs to be surrounded by guys that are gonna goon it. 

Being surrounded by hackers flailing at sweepers in the dirt of the opposite batter's box gives pitchers no reason to ever challenge anyone with a fastball below the letters.

I dont want either Soto or Casas going up there looking to draw walks.  Things change, and we are living in an era where due to the pitching dominance, you want instant runs and not a "keep the line moving" philosophy.

I dont pay Soto 70m to work counts.  Anybody can go up there and not swing until 2 strikes. He should be hunting fastballs early in the count. If hes not , hes grossly overpaid.

If you got out on the first pitch, you use to get an earful. No matter what, you do NOT do that.  Now , its the opposite.  You wanna get an earful? Let a hittable pitch go by.  Taking a meatball is much worse than flailing at a well thrown sweeper.  

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

You think the Mets paid Alonso $30M/1 and next year he gets $70M a year?

Im confused why they paid soto so much but are watching every penny w alonso.

[moonslav59]

Just now, drewski6 said:

Im confused why they paid soto so much but are watching every penny w alonso.

Think of it as a massive overpay for Soto that does not set the "market rate." Nor might Vladdy's deal.