Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[Hitch]

17 hours ago, notin said:

What makes no sense is this constant need to replace Devers.  The Sox were one game over .500 with Devers and 15 games over .500 without him.  Why do you keep reverting to that .500 team as the baseline?

Also why is power only measured in home runs?

Several other people have responded to the nonsensical Devers point so I won't add to it, other than to say I know you're smart enough to understand that argument has no basis and is not in good faith. 

We want to replace Devers power. Because we are a team lacking in power. It's not that complicated. And we're just going of Breslow's words - HR power isn't everything but we see in the playoffs especially that it can carry a team, so we do need to add that element (paraphrasing).

Alonso will supply a lot of that you'd think and hope. I'd just like another masher in there like a Marte if possible. If it's Bo (I think we have next to no chance personally) then I'll live with that just fine, too.

[Hitch]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Who are you talking about benching 70% of the games? Rafaela- the only RHB of the 4?

Clearly, his value would be greater on another team playing 95% of the games than to us in 30% of the games and as a late inning defensive replacement. Sure, he'd be valuable as a depth piece, but I see it as a waste to keep him on the bench, when we could trade him for value we could use everyday at another position.

No way I want to bench one of our LHB OF'ers vs RHPs, even on some sort of rotation. That would be a gross misuse of talent. One would have to DH, which is another form of wasted value, as they'd be worth more to another team as an OF'er than to us as a DH. This is all before we even think about Masa and even Campbell-Romy-Garcia as possible DHs.

We have too many otehr needs to be able to afford the luxury of 4 FT OF'ers and Campbell, Garcia, Masa in reserve.

I'd recycle them through the DH role to keep them fresh. Not ideal with Masa there, but it's hardly some massive issue. And it guards us against inevitable injury. Campbell and Masa are not good enough back ups that we should even consider them, and Garcia can start in AAA and get more seasoning.

That said, again, I think trading one of them for our other needs is more optimal and likely. I just don't subscribe to it being the crime you do if we keep them all (as long as we've filled our other holes).

[mvp 78]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Mayer is better at 3B than Polanco, so why?

I doubt this is a good idea, either:

vs RHP

2B: Polanco/ 3B Mayer

vs LHPs

2B: Romy/ 3B Polanco

I'd rather not do this.

IF they signed Polanco for 3B, it would just be a Mayer/Romy platoon at 2b. 

[moonslav59]

Cora sheds a little light...

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25302331-red-soxs-cora-has-no-regrets-about-rafael-devers-trade-team-needed-make-deal

[UtahSox]

52 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Cora sheds a little light...

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25302331-red-soxs-cora-has-no-regrets-about-rafael-devers-trade-team-needed-make-deal

So my question is did we whiff on Hicks? Or was Devers trade value so bad, we had to take a bad contract to get him out of here? RD11 in later life will regret being such a baby. “What could have been as a redsox IF he was team player in 2025”

[notin]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

IF they signed Polanco for 3B, it would just be a Mayer/Romy platoon at 2b. 

It’s a serviceable solution…

[moonslav59]

48 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

So my question is did we whiff on Hicks? Or was Devers trade value so bad, we had to take a bad contract to get him out of here? RD11 in later life will regret being such a baby. “What could have been as a redsox IF he was team player in 2025”

Reports were that we wanted him, but I have my doubts. It makes sense that SFG wanted to cut some cost. My guess is we'd have gotten worse players in return, if we did not take Hicks.

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s a serviceable solution…

Is Polanco better at 3B than Mayer?

I agree he probably is better than Romy at 3B.

[Hugh2]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Is Polanco better at 3B than Mayer?

I agree he probably is better than Romy at 3B.

His arm is weaker than Mayer and Story, Polanco to 3B is not a good ideal

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

His arm is weaker than Mayer and Story, Polanco to 3B is not a good ideal

I wouldn't be so sure about that. 2b is dinged a little in mph due to the proximity to 1b. 

For example, Gabriel Arias throws 92.9 mph at SS and 85.7 mph at 2b. 

If Polanco is at 79 mph at 2b and Story and Mayer are 82 and 81, I wouldn't rule out Polanco being able to have a stronger arm elsewhere. When he split time in '21, he was 78.5 at 2b and 83.9 at SS, which would be better than Story and Mayer. When Story was at 2b, he was only hitting 76 mph. 

[Hugh2]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I wouldn't be so sure about that. 2b is dinged a little in mph due to the proximity to 1b. 

For example, Gabriel Arias throws 92.9 mph at SS and 85.7 mph at 2b. 

If Polanco is at 79 mph at 2b and Story and Mayer are 82 and 81, I wouldn't rule out Polanco being able to have a stronger arm elsewhere. When he split time in '21, he was 78.5 at 2b and 83.9 at SS, which would be better than Story and Mayer. When Story was at 2b, he was only hitting 76 mph. 

This is a good point that I did not think of, but from what I can find....he does not have good arm strength. 

It's an old scouting report, but I'd love to be wrong and get his bat in the line up

 

https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/eyewitness_bat.php?reportid=98

[moonslav59]

I'd go Mayer at 3B vs RHPs.

Polanco at 2B FT.

I'm okay with Romy at 3B for 30% of all starts. Mayer can come in to PH or as a defensive replacement, if needed.

Without Alonso at 1B, I'm not sure Polanco gets it done, in terms of adding offense to replace Bregman.

Alonso needs to replace the lost Devers offense to get us better than 2025.

[Larry Cook]

49 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'd go Mayer at 3B vs RHPs.

Polanco at 2B FT.

I'm okay with Romy at 3B for 30% of all starts. Mayer can come in to PH or as a defensive replacement, if needed.

Without Alonso at 1B, I'm not sure Polanco gets it done, in terms of adding offense to replace Bregman.

Alonso needs to replace the lost Devers offense to get us better than 2025.

MLB ranked the top free agents. But did not list us as a player for Alonso. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

MLB ranked the top free agents. But did not list us as a player for Alonso. 

They often miss the mark, even on the top FAs.

I'll be surprised if we get any big FA, so trying to pick the one from many is a longshot.

[JoeBrady]

9 hours ago, UtahSox said:

So my question is did we whiff on Hicks?

My pure guess is that he was wrapped up with Harrison.  The Giants wanted payroll relief, the RS balked and asked for Harrison if they had to take Hicks.  Maybe a little hubris by the RS thinking they could revert Hicks back into a good BP piece?

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

My pure guess is that he was wrapped up with Harrison.  The Giants wanted payroll relief, the RS balked and asked for Harrison if they had to take Hicks.  Maybe a little hubris by the RS thinking they could revert Hicks back into a good BP piece?

I do agree the Sox felt Harrison was the prize.

[Larry Cook]

Bres-slow said he was after a number 2 pitcher and a big bat! 
 

he has a number 2 pitcher in gray. 
 

he has prospects, Duran, hicks, yoshida and cutter as trade assets!  
 

the New York radio guys say he asked Texas about Corey seiger???? 
 

free agent bres-slow is linked to is realmuto. 
some believe Alonso may go unsigned and fall into our lap 

[Hitch]

@notin while I'm in fantasy outcome mindset - how does Abreu and Duran as a combo match up on BTV to Tatis?

[notin]

11 minutes ago, Hitch said:

@notin while I'm in fantasy outcome mindset - how does Abreu and Duran as a combo match up on BTV to Tatis?

I absolutely love that idea.

Duran ($49.5mill) and Abreu ($26.2) give a surplus value of $75.7mill to SD.  This is just shy of Tatis ($83.2mill)

Adding in a single player like Mikey Romero (8.3), Jhostnyxon Garcia (7.8), or Kyle Harrison (9.4) makes it a fair trade package on that metric.  I imagine they prefer Harrison. Young, cheap pitching is like a trump card in these deals…

[notin]

9 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Bres-slow said he was after a number 2 pitcher and a big bat! 
 

he has a number 2 pitcher in gray. 
 

he has prospects, Duran, hicks, yoshida and cutter as trade assets!  
 

the New York radio guys say he asked Texas about Corey seiger???? 
 

free agent bres-slow is linked to is realmuto. 
some believe Alonso may go unsigned and fall into our lap 

Did you just refer to Hicks and Yoshida as “trade assets”?

[moonslav59]

The only way I'm okay with Gray as our #2, is if we do not skimp on the two big bats we need.

I keep hearing "a" big bat. We lost Bregman AND Devers and need to improve on even that!

Bringing Bregman back or replacing him with Bichette is a sideways move but would count as one. That still leaves replacing Devers, and to me I see three possibilities: Alonso, Schwarber and K Marte (by trade.) The good thing about the Gray trade is that we still have the trade capital to make a winning offer for KMarte. He has a $19.4M AAV, so that fits in better than Alonso or Schwarber will, and if we add Bichette or bring back Bregman we likely can't afford the other two.

So, maybe we sign Bregman or Bichette and trade for K Marte. (I might be okay with Polanco, but he'd have to play 3B.)

1. L Anthony

2. S K Marte

3. R Bergman/Bichette

4. L Duran (DH?) 

5. R Story

7.  L Casas/R Romy 1B

8. R Narvaez

9. R Rafaela

(Assuming Mayer plus others for K Marte.)

[notin]

24 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The only way I'm okay with Gray as our #2, is if we do not skimp on the two big bats we need.

I keep hearing "a" big bat. We lost Bregman AND Devers and need to improve on even that!

Bringing Bregman back or replacing him with Bichette is a sideways move but would count as one. That still leaves replacing Devers, and to me I see three possibilities: Alonso, Schwarber and K Marte (by trade.) The good thing about the Gray trade is that we still have the trade capital to make a winning offer for KMarte. He has a $19.4M AAV, so that fits in better than Alonso or Schwarber will, and if we add Bichette or bring back Bregman we likely can't afford the other two.

So, maybe we sign Bregman or Bichette and trade for K Marte. (I might be okay with Polanco, but he'd have to play 3B.)

1. L Anthony

2. S K Marte

3. R Bergman/Bichette

4. L Duran (DH?) 

5. R Story

7.  L Casas/R Romy 1B

8. R Narvaez

9. R Rafaela

(Assuming Mayer plus others for K Marte.)

Is Devers really a loss?  The team was so much better once he left…

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, notin said:

Is Devers really a loss?  The team was so much better once he left…

The team was BEST when they had Roman AND Devers together. They had a higher win % for that stretch. 

[Old Red]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

Is Devers really a loss?  The team was so much better once he left…

Yes Devers was a loss that definitely showed up in the postseason against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Yes the Red Sox had a better record after Raffy left town that you attribute to to the better record, but as been discussed on here more than once that the Red Red Sox having the better record after Raffy left had a lot more to do with the good starting pitching for an extended period of time especially from Crochet, Gio, and Bello. The Red Sox would have had a lot better chance of beating the Yankees in the postseason with Raffy in the lineup IMO.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Did you just refer to Hicks and Yoshida as “trade assets”?

I we going to start using "trade liabilities" around here?

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

The team was BEST when they had Roman AND Devers together. They had a higher win % for that stretch. 

Agree on that.👍

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Yes Devers was a loss that definitely showed up in the postseason against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. Yes the Red Sox had a better record after Raffy left town that you attribute to to the better record, but as been discussed on here more than once that the Red Red Sox having the better record after Raffy left had a lot more to do with the good starting pitching for an extended period of time especially from Crochet, Gio, and Bello. The Red Sox would have had a lot better chance of beating the Yankees in the postseason with Raffy in the lineup IMO.

Anything to back that up?

Before trading Devers, their biggest move Sox scored 355 run in 73 games, an average of 4.86 RPG.

After trading Devers, their biggest move Sox scored 431 runs in 89 games, or 4.84 RPG.  

That difference of 1 run every 50 games is inconsequential.  Sure, Roman Anthony was a huge factor, but that means they’ve already replaced Devers and not that they still need to…

[drewski6]

3 hours ago, notin said:

I absolutely love that idea.

Duran ($49.5mill) and Abreu ($26.2) give a surplus value of $75.7mill to SD.  This is just shy of Tatis ($83.2mill)

Adding in a single player like Mikey Romero (8.3), Jhostnyxon Garcia (7.8), or Kyle Harrison (9.4) makes it a fair trade package on that metric.  I imagine they prefer Harrison. Young, cheap pitching is like a trump card in these deals…

Hi, you are vastly overrating Cedanne McNoodlebat the Fourth (outfielder)

Swap him with Abreu, add Harrison and dont look back.

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Is Devers really a loss?  The team was so much better once he left…

Yes, a catastrophic loss.

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Is Devers really a loss?  The team was so much better once he left…

Aristotles scientific method, ever hear of it? You have to keep other variables constant to assess one variables impact. So many changing variables heres, makes argument transparently bad-faith.