Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Agree, but there was more than one staunch Duran supporters.

Well maybe in that respect sure. Diehard Duran supporters are probably still against a trade today even though evidence should be very clear that it would make sense to move either him or Abreu to make the team better. Other teams value Duran highly so the Sox would get a better return. Trade Duran! 

[notin]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Agree, but there was more than one staunch Duran supporters.

Was?

Theyre still here.  We have a poster using the moniker “Duran is the Man”, for one.  I mean, he’s not even subtle about it…

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Maybe? I don't really remember that because it's almost been a foregone conclusion that they've had to trade Abreu or Duran. 

It was one of the most talked about trade ideas, last winter. The reasons were obvious, namely Anthony's perceived readiness.

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Again, I wanted Mayer over KC, too. I'm not sure how many times I have to say that.

IMO, both may have been ML ready, and one was chosen for various reasons- and maybe not about higher "readiness."

When someone says he was rushed and gives no other reasons, even when in a debate about it being a major reason or the most important one, maybe I wrongly assume they think it's the most important reason. "Major" may not mean over 50% of the reason, either, if there are 3 or more reasons being suggested.

My point is nobody know the major reasons. We are all hypothesizing, and IMO, more so if we keep giving one reason over and over and not suggesting more easons were or could be involved.

To me it doesn’t really matter the main reason, or how many reasons there are for things not working out for KC last year, The fact is it didn’t, but if it was just a slump why didn’t KC come back up to Boston?🤔

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

It was one of the most talked about trade ideas, last winter. The reasons were obvious, namely Anthony's perceived readiness.

Anthony was the most ready. Mayer had the best spring. Kristian signed the extension.

They went with Kristian because he played ball with FO. 🤔

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

Was?

Theyre still here.  We have a poster using the moniker “Duran is the Man”, for one.  I mean, he’s not even subtle about it…

I know there still is, but I was really talking about last year.

[Old Red]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Anthony was the most ready. Mayer had the best spring. Kristian signed the extension.

They went with Kristian because he played ball with FO. 🤔

Thought he was ready, or hoped he was ready?🤔

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

Thought he was ready, or hoped he was ready?🤔

Roman didn't have any slowdowns after he was pushed to GRE. No big injury concerns. Most people thought he had the best k zone awareness and could fit into MLB better than the other two. The only problem was the Sox had Rafaela/Duran/Abreu. That didn't stop the Sox from using Campbell in the OF a bunch early on in '25 though.

[notin]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Anthony was the most ready. Mayer had the best spring. Kristian signed the extension.

They went with Kristian because he played ball with FO. 🤔

Campbell didn’t hurt his cause by destroying pitching at every level. There was a reason they offered him the extension, too..,

[notin]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

To me it doesn’t really matter the main reason, or how many reasons there are for things not working out for KC last year, The fact is it didn’t, but if it was just a slump why didn’t KC come back up to Boston?🤔

A big part might have been his lack of a position…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Favorite War Movies:

Cora -- Platoon.

Breslow -- Saving Private Ryan.

Anthony -- Inglorious Basterds (the guy with the bat)

Mayer -- MASH

Casas -- Stripes

Pitching Staff -- The Dirty Dozen

Devers -- The Great Escape

 

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

A big part might have been his lack of a position…

Agree, and it took him a long time to hit when he went back down to Woo.

[notin]

15 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Agree, and it took him a long time to hit when he went back down to Woo.

Yeah but that could have been part of what he was learning.

I like the Matt Shaw comp here.  The Cubs handed Matt Shaw 3b.  He struggled and got demoted.  Then the Cubs tried to fill 3b with a combo of Jon Berti and Vidal Brujan, which was worse.  Part of why the Cubs recalled Shaw was that Berti/Brujan was worse than Shaw’s growing pains.  Did the Sox have an equivalent position for Campbell?

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, notin said:

Campbell didn’t hurt his cause by destroying pitching at every level. There was a reason they offered him the extension, too..,

The question marks with Campbell were defense and ugly swing that could potentially be exploited at higher levels. 

[notin]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The question marks with Campbell were defense and ugly swing that could potentially be exploited at higher levels. 

And the pluses were his performances and extreme athleticism…

[Old Red]

35 minutes ago, notin said:

Campbell didn’t hurt his cause by destroying pitching at every level. There was a reason they offered him the extension, too..,

That could be true, but going as quickly as he did through the Minor Leagues could have hurt his developmental time, which might have been more needed.

[notin]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

That could be true, but going as quickly as he did through the Minor Leagues could have hurt his developmental time, which might have been more needed.

If only he had sucked at one level.

His rapid ascent is not uncommon for players with Division I college backgrounds.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

And the pluses were his performances and extreme athleticism…

The what? 

[Old Red]

Just now, notin said:

If only he had sucked at one level.

His rapid ascent is not uncommon for players with Division I college backgrounds.

It’s not a big deal to be sent back down to the Minors. Look at Holliday of the O’s who was a highly rated prospect who struggled more than KC did, and had to be sent back down after being called up, and he hasn’t even come close yet to living up to all the hype he had. 

[notin]

Just now, Old Red said:

It’s not a big deal to be sent back down to the Minors. Look at Holliday of the O’s who was a highly rated prospect who struggled more than KC did, and had to be sent back down after being called up, and he hasn’t even come close yet to living up to all the hype he had. 

And neither is the last to blaze that trail.

KC will be back.  His biggest obstacle right now is that he is 5th or 6th on the OF depth chart, depending on how they rank him compared to Password…

[Old Red]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

And the pluses were his performances and extreme athleticism…

Sometimes your athleticism will only get you so far when you face tougher competition.

[notin]

Just now, Old Red said:

Sometimes your athleticism will only get you so far when you face tougher competition.

But it’s never slowed anyone down…

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

To me it doesn’t really matter the main reason, or how many reasons there are for things not working out for KC last year, The fact is it didn’t, but if it was just a slump why didn’t KC come back up to Boston?🤔

Well, you gave your reason several times. Forgive me for taking it as your opinion/belief.

Why wasn't he called back up? Many reasons, and I'd be guessing at this one, too.

Maybe because Romy was doing great?

Maybe because they wanted him to work on a new position and maybe a new approach at the plate and didn't think he made enough progress on either or both?

Maybe because they agreed with you that he was never truly ready, and they did not want to risk another mistake?

Maybe poor roster construction?

Maybe because of Cora's crush on DHam?

Maybe all of these- maybe some- maybe none.

[Hugh2]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

He had that rib injury in May. I don't buy the "lost weight" story. Every player struggles to maintain weight during the year. What's the plan to keep weight on his next season? How'd he lose the weight before summer even started? It doesn't make sense. 

You don't believe it because it doesn't make sense?

I mean I don't have the story, you don't have the story, we don't have the story but that's a very plausible thing to happen.  There are many, many different circumstances that would cause someone to lose a lot of weight.  Could have been sickness, maybe he became sedentary when he was injured and wasn't consuming enough calories to keep weight on, maybe he was cycling on steriods and came off of it.  

I'm not saying that's the root cause of his struggles, maybe it has nothing to do about it, but I don't think that's something you make up and then the Red Sox go along with and then corroborate that story.  To me, that makes zero sense. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Thought he was ready, or hoped he was ready?🤔

So you do care/wonder why?

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Favorite War Movies:

Cora -- Apocalypse Now.

Breslow -- War Games

Anthony -- Inglorious Basterds (couldn't change this one.)

Mayer -- Good Morning Vietnam

Casas -- Full Metal Jacket

Pitching Staff -- Dunkirk

Devers -- The Great Escape

Story-- Hacksaw Ridge

Duran--Dr. Strangelove...

Abreu--The Imitation Game

DHam-- The Darkest Hour

Yoshida-- Toro, Toro, Toro

Narvaez-- The Deer Hunter

 

I fixed it for you.

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I'm not saying that's the root cause of his struggles, maybe it has nothing to do about it, but I don't think that's something you make up and then the Red Sox go along with and then corroborate that story.  To me, that makes zero sense. 

Yeah, they are making excuses for him. He lost weight during the year, but all players do. I don't think that's the reason he flat out stunk. Rib injury started the decline. He never picked himself up out of it afterwards. 

Why didn't he lose weight in previous seasons? 

[moonslav59]

KC did hit .799 in Woo for over 300 PAs, so it's not like he slumped out the rest of the season, but his bar was set highly.

.911 FCL/A- '23 (age 21)

.997 A+/AA/AAA '24 (age 22)

Not that age matters much, but he is almost 1.5 years older than Roman and a half year older than the oft-injured Mayer.

 

[Old Red]

38 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Well, you gave your reason several times. Forgive me for taking it as your opinion/belief.

Why wasn't he called back up? Many reasons, and I'd be guessing at this one, too.

Maybe because Romy was doing great?

Maybe because they wanted him to work on a new position and maybe a new approach at the plate and didn't think he made enough progress on either or both?

Maybe because they agreed with you that he was never truly ready, and they did not want to risk another mistake?

Maybe poor roster construction?

Maybe because of Cora's crush on DHam?

Maybe all of these- maybe some- maybe none.

Last year is over, so I guess the only thing that matters now is if he is ready to win a roster spot wherever that may be, and produce, and earn that contract they gave him.

[Old Red]

40 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

So you do care/wonder why?

I wonder what the brain trust of the Red Sox actually thought yes. Were they throwing more spaghetti at 2B, and hoping it would stick, or did they actually believe he could handle it. Past history I could believe either one.