Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[notin]

20 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Other teams should check in on Crochet and see if he's available. Sox have lots of holes to fill! 

Exactly.  
 

If (when?) the Sox explore the trade market for SPs, there will be decent pitchers available, but Skenes, Peralta, Greene and (per MLBTR) Lodolo will not be among them.

I think the list of available pitchers will include Ryan, Mitch Keller, Sandy Alcantara, Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Sonny Gray, and Jose Berrios (who apparently requested a trade at some point this year per some questionable sources and can opt out after 2026).

Skubal might be shopped, but since that means asking Detroit to give up on 2026, I expect the price to be exorbitant…

[mvp 78]

34 minutes ago, notin said:

Exactly.  
 

If (when?) the Sox explore the trade market for SPs, there will be decent pitchers available, but Skenes, Peralta, Greene and (per MLBTR) Lodolo will not be among them.

I think the list of available pitchers will include Ryan, Mitch Keller, Sandy Alcantara, Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Sonny Gray, and Jose Berrios (who apparently requested a trade at some point this year per some questionable sources and can opt out after 2026).

Skubal might be shopped, but since that means asking Detroit to give up on 2026, I expect the price to be exorbitant…

Should have just signed Sonny Gray a few years ago when available. 

[notin]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Should have just signed Sonny Gray a few years ago when available. 

A move repeatedly floated at that time  by an anonymous astute poster known only as notin…

[Old Red]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Should have just signed Sonny Gray a few years ago when available. 

The Red Sox did not want to spend $75M on a 34 yr old, or spend on Snell, or Monty that some wanted on here. Monty didn’t turn out so well. Shorter term contracts like they gave to Gio is more to their liking.

[moonslav59]

53 minutes ago, notin said:

Exactly.  
 

If (when?) the Sox explore the trade market for SPs, there will be decent pitchers available, but Skenes, Peralta, Greene and (per MLBTR) Lodolo will not be among them.

I think the list of available pitchers will include Ryan, Mitch Keller, Sandy Alcantara, Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Sonny Gray, and Jose Berrios (who apparently requested a trade at some point this year per some questionable sources and can opt out after 2026).

Skubal might be shopped, but since that means asking Detroit to give up on 2026, I expect the price to be exorbitant…

I think Cincy need offense enough that they may trade from pitching depth. Yes, Singer would make the most sense, but for the right offensive player(s) they may part with Lodolo. I don't think they'll offer Greene.

I think they'd take Duran and Garcia for Lodolo. Campbell could be subbed for Garcia, but we might want something more from their side, or force then to take Hicks with KC & Duran.

I'm not sure I add KC, even with Hicks. Does BTV have KC+ Hicks about equal to Jh Garcia?

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Red Sox did not want to spend $75M on a 34 yr old, or spend on Snell, or Monty that some wanted on here. Monty didn’t turn out so well. Shorter term contracts like they gave to Gio is more to their liking.

I think we'd have to force Yoshida or Hicks into the deal as a salary balance or partial balance part of any offer made.

[moonslav59]

22 minutes ago, notin said:

A move repeatedly floated at that time  by an anonymous astute poster known only as notin…

Several of us wanted him.

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Red Sox did not want to spend $75M on a 34 yr old, or spend on Snell, or Monty that some wanted on here. Monty didn’t turn out so well. Shorter term contracts like they gave to Gio is more to their liking.

Snell only pitched 60 innings in the regular season. I'm glad they didn't sign him TBH. 

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Several of us wanted him.

Missing out on Gausman was a big oopsie as well. 

[notin]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think Cincy need offense enough that they may trade from pitching depth. Yes, Singer would make the most sense, but for the right offensive player(s) they may part with Lodolo. I don't think they'll offer Greene.

I think they'd take Duran and Garcia for Lodolo. Campbell could be subbed for Garcia, but we might want something more from their side, or force then to take Hicks with KC & Duran.

I'm not sure I add KC, even with Hicks. Does BTV have KC+ Hicks about equal to Jh Garcia?

Maybe Cincy trades Lodolo for Duran, but really, I would have no way of knowing how much they want to break up their strength. 
 

Im not wild about soft-tossing lefty Bubic, who had several years of mediocrity finally turning into his one productive season that was cut short by injury….

[notin]

28 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Red Sox did not want to spend $75M on a 34 yr old, or spend on Snell, or Monty that some wanted on here. Monty didn’t turn out so well. Shorter term contracts like they gave to Gio is more to their liking.

Gray also signed very early that off-season.  Do we even know if the Sox talked to his people?

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Maybe Cincy trades Lodolo for Duran, but really, I would have no way of knowing how much they want to break up their strength. 
 

Im not wild about soft-tossing lefty Bubic, who had several years of mediocrity finally turning into his one productive season that was cut short by injury….

No, we don't know if Cincy will trade a good pitcher, other than maybe Singer, but we do have what they need, and they have what we need, so there is some logic to thinking something might get done.

More likely, we trade for Ryan, Keller or Alcantara. Those are known teams looking towards the future. (They may not be looking for Duran, but rather our young pitchers, Campbell, Garcia or Arias.)

[Old Red]

14 minutes ago, notin said:

Gray also signed very early that off-season.  Do we even know if the Sox talked to his people?

Don’t know of any interest then. The Rumors at the time was more on Monty.

[moonslav59]

Just now, Old Red said:

Don’t know of any interest then. The Rumors at the time was more on Monty.

Yes. I don't recall any rumors linking the Sox to Gray. (Too bad.)

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes. I don't recall any rumors linking the Sox to Gray. (Too bad.)

I've said for the last three years I didn’t see the Red Sox signing any long term like 5yrs, and any $100M+ contracts for a pitcher and I still feel that way. 

[drewski6]

45 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Missing out on Gausman was a big oopsie as well. 

Splitter ...so hot right now

[drewski6]

44 minutes ago, notin said:

Maybe Cincy trades Lodolo for Duran, but really, I would have no way of knowing how much they want to break up their strength. 
 

Im not wild about soft-tossing lefty Bubic, who had several years of mediocrity finally turning into his one productive season that was cut short by injury….

Im not really loving any of these pitchers on the trade front, now that the better ones e.g. the 2 reds ones that are good but also others, have been pulled back

We may have come full circle on ryan. Top target, but then combination of him ending his season not great + sexier names getting mentioned (at least to me) but now , Ryan may be back at pitching target #1

[drewski6]

I dont want Bubic and I dont want singer

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Old Red said:

I've said for the last three years I didn’t see the Red Sox signing any long term like 5yrs, and any $100M+ contracts for a pitcher and I still feel that way. 

I'll believe it when I see it, and I don't expect to see it.

The Sox did extend Devers, and I doubt they had dumping him in mind. They also extended Crochet to $170M/6, but that's not a FA signing. It is a long term commitment (over 5 years and over $100M for a pitcher.)

Their last biggest SP signings were extending Sale ($145M/5) and re-signing Nate at $68M/4. Although signed near the same time, Sale's kicked in 2020- Nate's in 2019.

That Price deal at $217M/7 was the shocker and very likely the outlier.

This season, I don't see any SP'er worth going even 3+ years on, so I hope they extend their trend. I'm hoping (not expecting) we trade for a solid SP'er and sign one big bat and a second pretty good one. Maybe add Matz and Ref, if we can.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, drewski6 said:

I dont want Bubic and I dont want singer

I wouldn't mind Singer, but I'm not overpaying for a one and done #3/4 SP'er. We need a 1/2 type. I'll overpay for that.

[moonslav59]

Not saying all these guys are available or realistic Sox targets, but here are some selected ERA- leaders from 2024-2025 (300+ IP- only 54 pitchers in sample size)

2. Skubal 57

3. Sale 59

5. C Sanchez 68

(Crochet is #6 at 72)

7. Nate 73

8. Hunter Brown 73

12. Peralta 77

13. R Suarez 79

14. Imanaga 80

15. Framber 82

17. Lugo 83

(Pivetta is #18 at 83)

19. Ryan 86

20. Wacha 86

22, N Martinez 87

24. Singer 90

26. Littell 92

(Bello is #28 at 93)

29. Quintana 94

31. Flaherty 95

32. Berrios 96

33. Bibee 96

34. Gore 97

35. Kikuchi 99

36. Cease 99

37. Keller 99

Bassitt 101, Gallen 102

Set the IP limit to 200 IP, and we have these additions (114 pitcher sample size)

5. Hunter Greene 63

8 C. Burnes 71

14. M Boyd 76

27. Tr. Rogers 84

38. M Kelly 88

40. Lodolo 90

44. P Lopez 91

(Houck is at 59 with 97)

60. E Cabrera & Lorenzen 97

66. S Gray 100

 

[Larry Cook]

Red Sox signed a 31 year old catcher from the braves minor league system today to a minor league contract. 
 

 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Red Sox signed a 31 year old catcher from the braves minor league system today to a minor league contract. 
 

 

There is a whole article about it.

[oldtimer]

An observation about how teams are coached and how  they perform in the playoffs;

Some teams are coached to grind out at bats and by doing so to accumulate pitches against the opponents starting pitches. The idea is to get to the bull pen early and wear down the opponents pitching staff. I'd say the Dodgers generally fall into that category as did the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Other teams seem to take a more aggressive approach where they are encouraged to swing at any count where they see a pitch they can handle. I'd say this approach generally fits what the Blue Jays and Seattle follow. Maybe it suits their team makeup better or it is a more effective approach in general.

Of course it helps to have better quality players on the roster and also having clean defense is important, but in the selection of approach to the game, the coaching staff should also be looking at what is working best. 

 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, oldtimer said:

An observation about how teams are coached and how  they perform in the playoffs;

Some teams are coached to grind out at bats and by doing so to accumulate pitches against the opponents starting pitches. The idea is to get to the bull pen early and wear down the opponents pitching staff. I'd say the Dodgers generally fall into that category as did the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Other teams seem to take a more aggressive approach where they are encouraged to swing at any count where they see a pitch they can handle. I'd say this approach generally fits what the Blue Jays and Seattle follow. Maybe it suits their team makeup better or it is a more effective approach in general.

Of course it helps to have better quality players on the roster and also having clean defense is important, but in the selection of approach to the game, the coaching staff should also be looking at what is working best. 

 

Jays see 3.77 pitches per PA. Sox see a league Av 3.87. 

Ernie Clement 3.18! (42.7% 1st pitch swing, 85.5% contact)

Free swinger Rafaela 3.61. (48.9% 1st pitch swing, 73.2% contact)

[oldtimer]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Jays see 3.77 pitches per PA. Sox see a league Av 3.87. 

Ernie Clement 3.18! (42.7% 1st pitch swing, 85.5% contact)

Free swinger Rafaela 3.61. (48.9% 1st pitch swing, 73.2% contact)

It's easy to find examples on any  team that draw into question my findings, just as it is also easy to find examples that support my observations. Kiki Hernandez is a more aggressive hitter while Mookie Betts almost never swings at the first pitch, for instance. But the general discussion surrounding the Yankees and Red Sox this year was about how they were so patient about their approach to hitting. I for one believe that the approach is ingrained in the team's culture and supported by the coaching staff. It may also be expressed in the talent they look for and add to the team.

[drewski6]

Its one of the ways the games have changed.  You really arent looking to chase pitchers generally any more because the studies have shown that OPS agianst skyrocket third time through the lineup. So its almost a trap to get quick outs because if you are working counts you are never going to see that pitcher a third time.

Against an elite pitcher, it might be different.  

You use to get yelled at for getting out on the first pitch. Now its more accepted, and if you wanna get an earful, let a fastball go by.

Everyone is first pitch fastball hunting these days, except for very bottom of the order guys (not ours) trying to work counts because what else are they going to do.

But league wide, swinging on the first pitch is way up. Its literally more than doubled since the early 2000s "draw a walk" bill james/youk era

Sweepers/sliders/sinkers/splitters are just too nasty if you are behind in the count.  It will continue to evolve because pitchers are obviously gonna start throwing less fastballs on pitch 1 becaue nobody is giving them a get me over strike 1. I like throwing a 2 seamer pitch 1 that runs away from righties.  Also sets up my specialty, the back door slider.

[drewski6]

My strategy is usually try to work counts against lefties, cuz i cant hit them nearly as well, even with a righty batter so i want them outta there.  Also against elite pitchers.  But I still try to never take a meatball.   My buddy will. So if we are playing somebody online and trading off innings, he'll literally sip his beer on a 3-0 count. Puts the xbox controller down!

Im never ever ever committed to not swinging. But when Im trying to work a count im keyholing, so its gotta be a meatball ear;y in the count, but im still pulling the trigger if its juicy to me.

Similarly, Im okay wth sox players keyholing early in the count, but I freaking hate deciding you arent going to swing pitch 1.  Its very often the most hittable pitch of the at-bat.

[Randy Red Sox]

On 10/25/2025 at 1:26 PM, Larry Cook said:

Do we need a power bat at DH or first base. 
 

the albatross yoshida is the contract we need to move this offseason 

yet he was one of the few guys who actually hit in the postseason. just saying. now if getting rid of him means adding Pete Alonso then I'm all in

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

yet he was one of the few guys who actually hit in the postseason. just saying. now if getting rid of him means adding Pete Alonso then I'm all in

Yoshida is not a plus at DH, even if he was paid just $3-4M. He's okay, but we need power and our other positions seem full and deep, other than 1B and 3B/2B.

Yoshida may seem like a better hitter than Casas/Romy at 1B, Mayer/Romy at 2B and Mayer/Romy at 3B, but not by much and not with power.