Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[jad]

I see the left-fielder for the best baseball team in the world picked up a couple of hits last night.   How come we can't get guys like that?

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, jad said:

I see the left-fielder for the best baseball team in the world picked up a couple of hits last night.   How come we can't get guys like that?

Will the Red Sox be hitting against Chinese Taipei this season? 

[Hitch]

"The Red Sox have a policy of not doing this."

"But they did this..."

"I didn't say never!"

 

And rinse and repeat. 

[Hitch]

25 minutes ago, notin said:

Can he talk himself into a Peyton Tolle bullpen role?

Not for me. Keep him developing his arsenal and bring up to be (hopefully) eventually a top end starter. 

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, notin said:

Can he talk himself into a Peyton Tolle bullpen role?

No. 

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, drewski6 said:

Was he a 40 man roster crunch casualty? Please remind me :)

Traded for Bennett.

https://soxprospects.com/players/bennett-jake.htm

[mvp 78]

The guy that Japan blasted early this AM has 8 innings in the ACL, a few years in the Chinese league and had a 13 ERA pitching in the Independent League in '22. Not a high quality arm there. 

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, UtahSox said:

Wait what? Moon are you saying he physically has the ability to hit 30+ HRs? (Every big leaguer CAN) Or are you predicting IF healthy he will hit .800-.850 w/ 30+ HR’s? That would be a bold prediction. 

The key word is "can" as you capitalized it as acknowledgement.

I certainly think he can. I am not sure he will.

The biggest qualifier is the health aspect and not the "can hit 30" part, IMO.

Here is my opinion, and this is a big if: If Casas stays healthy and gets 600+ PAs, this year or next, I'd put the odds at greater than 50-50 he hits 30 bombs and has an OPS around .825ish.

I really think he's a very good hitter. He already has averaged 30 HRs per 650 in his career. I don't see this as being BOLD, at all.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, jad said:

I see the left-fielder for the best baseball team in the world picked up a couple of hits last night.   How come we can't get guys like that?

Haters here might also note that the coaching staff of the defending WBC champs are batting Masa Yoshida clean-up, ahead of Okamoto and Murikami. But what do they know.

[Old Red]

7 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Haters here might also note that the coaching staff of the defending WBC champs are batting Masa Yoshida clean-up, ahead of Okamoto and Murikami. But what do they know.

Haters is a pretty strong word. I have no problem with Masa if he is the full time DH. What I have a problem with is if Masa is taking up a roster spot as a backup DH.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Haters here might also note that the coaching staff of the defending WBC champs are batting Masa Yoshida clean-up, ahead of Okamoto and Murikami. But what do they know.

Have Okamoto and Murakami shown that they can hit MLB pitching yet? 

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Haters is a pretty strong word. I have no problem with Masa if he is the full time DH. What I have a problem with is if Masa is taking up a roster spot as a backup DH.

Yup. If they had traded Duran for prospects and Casas doesn't come back healthy, there isn't a reason to move on from Masa yet. 

[mvp 78]

It's not that we hate Masa, we think the roster needs an adjustment somewhere because it's very clunky. If the Sox want to compete for the playoffs and succeed there, it's not going to be with a no power/no speed/LF only guy sitting on the bench. 

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Yup. If they had traded Duran for prospects and Casas doesn't come back healthy, there isn't a reason to move on from Masa yet. 

I like how you worded this.

[moonslav59]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

It's not that we hate Masa, we think the roster needs an adjustment somewhere because it's very clunky. If the Sox want to compete for the playoffs and succeed there, it's not going to be with no power/no speed/LF only guy sitting on the bench. 

Exactly.

His only current role is to fill in at DH, if there is a serious OF injury and PH for Narvaez, Wong or Rafaela.

He's basically a DH only player on a team with Duran/Anthony at DH, now and a guy named Casas, who averages 30 Hrs per 650 on the same roster. The other killer is that all 3 of these guys are lefties, too, so he can't even fill a platoon DH role, as the roster is set-up, now.

If it ends up with KC as a DH, then maybe he can platoon at DH, but KC should not be called up to start about 30-35% of all games, only.

[jad]

28 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Haters here might also note that the coaching staff of the defending WBC champs are batting Masa Yoshida clean-up, ahead of Okamoto and Murikami. But what do they know.

But c'mon--it's just  a pick-up sandlot team with a bunch of furriners--not a well-oiled machine like you find in every town in the u s OF a.

[mvp 78]

If he had a second tool, it would make sense. He only contacts the ball. That's it. For a bench guy, that's not great. Contact with speed or defense? Great! Maybe if he had an unbelievable platoon split you'd hold onto him, but it's not the case. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Kristian Campbell hasn't shown that he can hit MLB pitching with any consistency, or even other team's pitching prospects in Spring Training. He has also not show he can play any position on the field at any level with any consistency...

Let's all be honest about this guy: he needs to play every day all season at a level he can master on both sides of the ball before the Sox even think about bringing him up -- to play every day somewhere on the major league diamond. He can't sit in any dugout and just watch; it's already too late for that.

[Hugh2]

1 minute ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Kristian Campbell hasn't shown that he can hit MLB pitching with any consistency, or even other team's pitching prospects in Spring Training. He has also not show he can play any position on the field at any level with any consistency...

Let's all be honest about this guy: he needs to play every day all season at a level he can master on both sides of the ball before the Sox even think about bringing him up -- to play every day somewhere on the major league diamond. He can't sit in any dugout and just watch; it's already too late for that.

I'm not getting too worked up over spring training, Campbell looks a ton better this year if you're looking under the hood.  His swing is better, his exit velocity is creeping back up and it's just spring training. 

But I do think he needs substantial time in AAA, even if he's hitting, let him have some sustained success for a while, he's still just 23 years old. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I'm not getting too worked up over spring training, Campbell looks a ton better this year if you're looking under the hood.  His swing is better, his exit velocity is creeping back up and it's just spring training. 

But I do think he needs substantial time in AAA, even if he's hitting, let him have some sustained success for a while, he's still just 23 years old. 

Campbell should never sit on a big league bench at his age. How can he possibly go off that way like he did for two months in the minors one summer?

I have no problem with a professional veteran hitter like Yoshida in the dugout. He has just as much 18-home run potential playing part-time as all the other projected 18-homer regulars.

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Kristian Campbell hasn't shown that he can hit MLB pitching with any consistency, or even other team's pitching prospects in Spring Training. He has also not show he can play any position on the field at any level with any consistency...

Let's all be honest about this guy: he needs to play every day all season at a level he can master on both sides of the ball before the Sox even think about bringing him up -- to play every day somewhere on the major league diamond. He can't sit in any dugout and just watch; it's already too late for that.

His defense is highly suspect, and it may end up that DH is his best or even only landing spot.

I think his bat is still very promising. I don't read too much into his 150 PA or so poor stretch, last year in MLB. The guys was not named Minor League Player of the Year over some fluke. I suppose it could have been an outlier, but I think KC will end up being a very good, if not great, MLB batter.

[drewski6]

17 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Campbell should never sit on a big league bench at his age. How can he possibly go off that way like he did for two months in the minors one summer?

I have no problem with a professional veteran hitter like Yoshida in the dugout. He has just as much 18-home run potential playing part-time as all the other projected 18-homer regulars.

Sure, but Yoshida is more competing with Eaton and Ward than Campbell

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Kristian Campbell hasn't shown that he can hit MLB pitching with any consistency, or even other team's pitching prospects in Spring Training. He has also not show he can play any position on the field at any level with any consistency...

Let's all be honest about this guy: he needs to play every day all season at a level he can master on both sides of the ball before the Sox even think about bringing him up -- to play every day somewhere on the major league diamond. He can't sit in any dugout and just watch; it's already too late for that.

He just completely changed his swing mechanics so he's going to need considerable time in AAA no matter what. 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Sure, but Yoshida is more competing with Eaton and Ward than Campbell

Ward is not competing for an Opening Day roster spot. He could hit .500 with his IF dinks and dunks and it's not going to get him a spot. 

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Ward is not competing for an Opening Day roster spot. He could hit .500 with his IF dinks and dunks and it's not going to get him a spot. 

Eaton?

[Hugh2]

22 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Campbell should never sit on a big league bench at his age. How can he possibly go off that way like he did for two months in the minors one summer?

I have no problem with a professional veteran hitter like Yoshida in the dugout. He has just as much 18-home run potential playing part-time as all the other projected 18-homer regulars.

He's still 1 whole year younger than Duran was before he made his debut, 3 years younger than he was before it took him to become a viable MLBer.   He's young, I'm still hopeful he can be an impactful everyday player. 

[Old Red]

44 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

He's still 1 whole year younger than Duran was before he made his debut, 3 years younger than he was before it took him to become a viable MLBer.   He's young, I'm still hopeful he can be an impactful everyday player. 

I agree on hope that he becomes an impactful everyday player, but he’s still a suspect who might have been set back a year by rushing him last year, and bouncing all around the field trying to find a position for him. He’s still a work in progress and needs more time in Woo.

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

His defense is highly suspect, and it may end up that DH is his best or even only landing spot.

I think his bat is still very promising. I don't read too much into his 150 PA or so poor stretch, last year in MLB. The guys was not named Minor League Player of the Year over some fluke. I suppose it could have been an outlier, but I think KC will end up being a very good, if not great, MLB batter.

It wasn’t just the 150 PA poor stretch, but the fact also that he didn’t work his way back up to Boston, which also was telling. He’s got a long way to go to be a very good hitter let alone a great one. Still suspect, and still a work in progress.

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Kristian Campbell hasn't shown that he can hit MLB pitching with any consistency, or even other team's pitching prospects in Spring Training. He has also not show he can play any position on the field at any level with any consistency...

Let's all be honest about this guy: he needs to play every day all season at a level he can master on both sides of the ball before the Sox even think about bringing him up -- to play every day somewhere on the major league diamond. He can't sit in any dugout and just watch; it's already too late for that.

Well said.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

Eaton?

Eaton has a much better shot at the Opening Day roster as he's already on the 40 man.