Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[Bellhorn04]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

The weird thing about 2025 was that Bello & Gio were not our original 2 & 3. Houck and Buehler were.

I don't think this really counts as weird any more with the way pitchers go down.     

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think this really counts as weird any more with the way pitchers go down.     

The Bad Boston injury ju Ju as I call it.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Maybe they just call the Cardinals about Arenado don't give up any top 30 prospects. 

I would do that.  FG has him as a 2.0 player.  Good stats in limited time at Fenway.

[Hitch]

There's a lot of talk around that we're pivoting to a stop gap at 3rd/2nd and looking to improve the rotation even further. Making it about run prevention.

Which means you can kiss goodbye to Suarez and Paredes you'd imagine. 

I can't say run prevention excites me quite as much as run scoring....

[Hitch]

5 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I would do that.  FG has him as a 2.0 player.  Good stats in limited time at Fenway.

The fanbase will lose it's mind. Like, REALLY lose it's mind.

Twitter will be popcorn central that day.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, Hitch said:

There's a lot of talk around that we're pivoting to a stop gap at 3rd/2nd and looking to improve the rotation even further. Making it about run prevention.

Which means you can kiss goodbye to Suarez and Paredes you'd imagine. 

I can't say run prevention excites me quite as much as run scoring....

Agreed, but as long as they make a legit effort to add a few more wins I can live with it.  

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Rafaela is a below average bat and an average 2b. His entire value is locked into playing CF.

I love Ceddanne in CF, but see no reason to expect him to out-perform a Romy/DHam platoon at 2B.

[Hitch]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Agreed, but as long as they make a legit effort to add a few more wins I can live with it.  

Question is how. Surely we can't do another trade. And there's not many pitchers on the FA list without a QO attached to them that I think we'll go after. 

So possibly one of - 

Framber Valdez 
Zac Gallen
Ranger Suárez 

I can't see us laying out for any of them.

Bet you Gio will be brought back now. 

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Harrison

for

Bogaerts + 85M

No.  Still too much.  IMHO, at least the final four years, there is a chance he won't be in BB.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, Hitch said:

The fanbase will lose it's mind. Like, REALLY lose it's mind.

Twitter will be popcorn central that day.

Twitter probably loses its mind everyday about the Red Sox. Should the FO care? It's about putting the best team on the field that it can afford. 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

No.  Still too much.  IMHO, at least the final four years, there is a chance he won't be in BB.

If he retires, the remaining money comes off the CBT.

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, Hitch said:

Question is how. Surely we can't do another trade. And there's not many pitchers on the FA list without a QO attached to them that I think we'll go after. 

So possibly one of - 

Framber Valdez 
Zac Gallen
Ranger Suárez 

I can't see us laying out for any of them.

Bet you Gio will be brought back now. 

Would you rather Giolito in the rotation or Early? 

I'd rather Early. 

[JoeBrady]

17 minutes ago, Hitch said:

There's a lot of talk around that we're pivoting to a stop gap at 3rd/2nd and looking to improve the rotation even further.

To me, it is all about getting the best possible players.  I'd rank getting a #2 higher than a big bat at 3rd, but understand the arguments.  But if we go cheap at 3rd, we should increase our investment in a #2.  Or leave Gray as our #2 and invest more heavily at 3rd/IF.

[JoeBrady]

23 minutes ago, Hitch said:

The fanbase will lose it's mind. Like, REALLY lose it's mind.

Twitter will be popcorn central that day.

It's an ancillary benefit, like watching them melt down every time we pick up AAA depth.

Or really blow their minds and trade for both Arenado & Donovan, paying full freight, in exchange for a non-premium prospect package.  The folks that love Donovan will hate it because of Arenado.  The folks calling JH cheap will have to find a way to call him cheap, even after blowing thru the 2nd threshold.

Watching heads explode will keep me entertained until opening day.

[JoeBrady]

21 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If he retires, the remaining money comes off the CBT.

He won't retire, but we might have to cut him at age 37.  That's old even for an accountant.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It's an ancillary benefit, like watching them melt down every time we pick up AAA depth.

Or really blow their minds and trade for both Arenado & Donovan, paying full freight, in exchange for a non-premium prospect package.  The folks that love Donovan will hate it because of Arenado.  The folks calling JH cheap will have to find a way to call him cheap, even after blowing thru the 2nd threshold.

Watching heads explode will keep me entertained until opening day.

I don't think it's likely that they acquire Donovan AND Arenado. Probably one or the other. 

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

He won't retire, but we might have to cut him at age 37.  That's old even for an accountant.

That is not true. A lot of accountants die in their chairs. Many public firms can't get their partners to retire and churning those spots to younger senior managers. 

[JoeBrady]

44 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

A lot of accountants die in their chairs.

That's why I'm universally beloved.  I've probably had more relocation packages than other people have had jobs.  Why stress it when you can just offer me more severance.

[Hitch]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Would you rather Giolito in the rotation or Early? 

I'd rather Early. 

Tricky one. Trying to win this year I'd prefer Gio. But Early is almost ready and needs to play at MLB level at some point and is more exciting long term.

[Hitch]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

To me, it is all about getting the best possible players.  I'd rank getting a #2 higher than a big bat at 3rd, but understand the arguments.  But if we go cheap at 3rd, we should increase our investment in a #2.  Or leave Gray as our #2 and invest more heavily at 3rd/IF.

I tilt the other way. I think we need a good bat more, but I won't complain if we improve the rotation. 

[mvp 78]

21 minutes ago, Hitch said:

Tricky one. Trying to win this year I'd prefer Gio. But Early is almost ready and needs to play at MLB level at some point and is more exciting long term.

I'm worried about regression with Giolito's numbers too. His ERA should be closer to his FIP or worse next season. He was lucky as all get out in '25. 

[mvp 78]

21 minutes ago, Hitch said:

I tilt the other way. I think we need a good bat more, but I won't complain if we improve the rotation. 

It's the point in the offseason where it's almost "best player available." 

They can still bring in a premium player at another position and grab a stopgap for 3b (like Arenado).

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

It's an ancillary benefit, like watching them melt down every time we pick up AAA depth.

Or really blow their minds and trade for both Arenado & Donovan, paying full freight, in exchange for a non-premium prospect package.  The folks that love Donovan will hate it because of Arenado.  The folks calling JH cheap will have to find a way to call him cheap, even after blowing thru the 2nd threshold.

Watching heads explode will keep me entertained until opening day.

Relishing in his fellow fan's pain and disappointment 

[drewski6]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

It's the point in the offseason where it's almost "best player available." 

They can still bring in a premium player at another position and grab a stopgap for 3b (like Arenado).

Yeah, agreed.  At this point, you start looking for anyone who can move the needle. At least in terms of free-agency.  Probably still a few quality guys can be had via trade route

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

It's the point in the offseason where it's almost "best player available." 

They can still bring in a premium player at another position and grab a stopgap for 3b (like Arenado).

I can get on board with that.  To me, and feel free to disagree, a big upgrade at #2 is slightly more important than the big bat, but I am pretty indifferent to one or the other.

So long as a I get one or the other.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

Relishing in his fellow fan's pain and disappointment 

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.  So if 10 million RS fans can be happy with acquisitions that make us better, then the 1 million that hate it, will have to be sacrificed.

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I'd rather a FA too, but Suarez is a stepdown from Bregman. 

They are too cheap to get Bo so that's not going to happen. 

Maybe they just call the Cardinals about Arenado don't give up any top 30 prospects. 

Arenado is already at Yoshida dump level, except he can play defense. His OPS will be 100-150 below Masa's.

Masa for Arenado, okay. I'd still want Paredes, too.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think this really counts as weird any more with the way pitchers go down.     

No, the weird part is we think our top 3 starters all gave us 26+ GS and 145+ IP, but two were not really our top 3.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

I would do that.  FG has him as a 2.0 player.  Good stats in limited time at Fenway.

Arenado's AAV is $3M less than what Breggie got. It's hard to take this idea seriously, unless they take Yoshida & Hicks. Even then, the trade would put us almost over the tax line.

[moonslav59]

I'd rather have Mayer/Romy/Eaton at 3B and Romy/DHam/Sogard at 2B than a no-cost Arenado.

Correction: I'd prefer a min wage Arenado over DHam, Sogard or Eaton.