Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[JoeBrady]

52 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We need a big bat, but why say "no help?"

Contreras offers a solid solution to a 1B issue we have had for a long time. Sure, we've had brief moments of competency at 1B, or someone who can hit well but sucks on D, but we added "help."

It's just not enough.

He's just copying his previous posts.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

He's just copying his previous posts.

I can understand if statements like that are made as hyperbole, but it's been pointed out several times that Contreras was a significant add, and he even agreed that it was significant but just not enough. I agree on the "not enough" point, but continuing the on with the same false statements is getting tiring.

Our rotation has improved by leaps and bounds, and it's hard to know if that improvement does or will outweigh the losses on offense and perhaps defense, too (worse at 3B but better at 1B.)

My hope is we add a 3B/2Bman without dropping off in another areas, except depth at OF or SPer. It may not be enough, and it will never be enough for some posters, but such is life.

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

We need a big bat, but why say "no help?"

Contreras offers a solid solution to a 1B issue we have had for a long time. Sure, we've had brief moments of competency at 1B, or someone who can hit well but sucks on D, but we added "help."

It's just not enough.

I could live with "no further help" or "not enough help". Regardless, they have not done enough and IMO are unlikely to do so. And we all know the reason for that.

[FredLynn]

18 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

He's just copying his previous posts.

And they are still 100% spot on.

[notin]

On 10/4/2025 at 4:01 PM, Bellhorn04 said:

The Red Sox need a #2 starter, but they also need offense.  The offense looked like crap without Anthony in the lineup.  And we're talking about trading Duran and/or Abreu, and possibly losing Bregman as well.  Somebody needs to figure out where the offense comes from.

They do have a full lineup now, but it’s not optimized defensively.  If the season started tomorrow, we’d probably see Rafaela at 2b with Anthony-Duran-Abreu in the OF.  Or back to Hamilton/Romy at 2b with Yoshida on the bench.  Campbell might even get another shot at some point.

It’s not a great offense, but it’s better than last year’s injury-fueled postseason lineup. The biggest improvement is at 1b, with Contreras over Toro.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Quoting my first sentence of my post that the semantics police are attacking today:

"To take a step up in the standings -- let's say 90 plus wins in an AL East where the Jays and O's have already fortified themselves this winter -- the Red Sox simply cannot regress on offense."

The rest of my post is about the offense, which is a frequent worry of mine -- and many other Red Sox fans, even those who in the mood to argue for the sake of it.

But if you really read the post, maybe you'd see that all I did was offer ways that the returning bats could improve or revert to past stardom.

I actually thought that was being optimistic when I wrote it... and MLB.com was the source that said the Jays, O's and Sox showed they were going for it this year because of their offseasons.

Btw: nowhere in the post did I say the Sox didn't fortify, though replacing Bregman with Ranger Suarez doesn't really help the offense for me... but that's just my opinion.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

I could live with "no further help" or "not enough help". Regardless, they have not done enough and IMO are unlikely to do so. And we all know the reason for that.

You mean that JH won't spend more and the $50M more than 2024 is a mirage?

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

And they are still 100% spot on.

And my position is that they have at least one more big move left.  But I am not going to sign every day to repeat that assertion.  But you be you.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, notin said:

They do have a full lineup now, but it’s not optimized defensively.

Fair enough.  The way I see it, we have 12 automatics, plus Casas (IL), and either Eaton or Sogard.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say, "MY" preferred roster is one player away.  Just imho, we are currently a playoff team, with 1st place aspirations.  With the addition of someone like Paredes, particularly if we can keep Duran, then we are a 1st place team with aspirations of the WS.

[notin]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Quoting my first sentence of my post that the semantics police are attacking today:

"To take a step up in the standings -- let's say 90 plus wins in an AL East where the Jays and O's have already fortified themselves this winter -- the Red Sox simply cannot regress on offense."

The rest of my post is about the offense, which is a frequent worry of mine -- and many other Red Sox fans, even those who in the mood to argue for the sake of it.

But if you really read the post, maybe you'd see that all I did was offer ways that the returning bats could improve or revert to past stardom.

I actually thought that was being optimistic when I wrote it... and MLB.com was the source that said the Jays, O's and Sox showed they were going for it this year because of their offseasons.

Btw: nowhere in the post did I say the Sox didn't fortify, though replacing Bregman with Ranger Suarez doesn't really help the offense for me... but that's just my opinion.

It might not help the offense, but does it help the team?

[notin]

20 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Fair enough.  The way I see it, we have 12 automatics, plus Casas (IL), and either Eaton or Sogard.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say, "MY" preferred roster is one player away.  Just imho, we are currently a playoff team, with 1st place aspirations.  With the addition of someone like Paredes, particularly if we can keep Duran, then we are a 1st place team with aspirations of the WS.

Still plenty of time to make additions.   The Sox are in a good spot to deal because they have SP depth. 
 

In fact, they might even be wise to hold until ST injuries kick in snd teams get a little desperate for SP.  Personally I think if they do that, it’s not intentional and just worked out that way.  I think they add an infielder before games start…

[moonslav59]

Good points, Joe & notin.

Not many teams have the luxury of not even counting on Tolle or Early to be on the opening day 26 man roster. When you couple that with the fact that we have Oviedo, Sandoval, Crawford and Harrison all having a legitimate shot at being the 5th starter at some point early in the 2026 season, our rotation looks as good as I have ever seen it look, in terms of overall quality of depth.

Some of those SP'ers will likely help out in the pen, so I'm not too worried about losing Wilson, Bernardino and several others from our pen and pen depth.

The everyday 13 does have one big hole: 2B or 3B, but with Mayer and Romy, we should be fine at one, if we add a quality player at "the other" slot. The Masa question continues to loom, and with Duran looking to play DH a lot, it seems pointless to carry a pretty much DH only guy on the MLB bench. If he can start the season in AAA, he could be useful depth, but I'm not sure that works.

To me, the sure 10 are: Narvaez, Wong, Contreras, Romy, Mayer, Story, Duran, Anthony, Rafaela & Abreu. I'm pretty sure DHam makes the 26, even if we add a 2Bman not a 3Bman. That's 11, not counting Masa. We add a 3B/2Bman and it leaves 1 slot for Eaton or Sogard, with Campbell, Masa and maybe Romero as the AAA depth.

[moonslav59]

Great news for Yankee fans:

Rodon is now able to button up his shirt!

https://www.mlb.com/news/carlos-rodon-gives-update-on-elbow-rehab-at-ny-baseball-writers-gala

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

And my position is that they have at least one more big move left.  But I am not going to sign every day to repeat that assertion.  But you be you.

Henry is too cheap to pay for a high quality player 

[FredLynn]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

You mean that JH won't spend more and the $50M more than 2024 is a mirage?

What was it? 23rd spent as a percentage of revenue spent on player salaries?

That.

[notin]

11 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Henry is too cheap to pay for a high quality player 

Ranger Suarez?

[FredLynn]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Ranger Suarez?

Insufficient 

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

What was it? 23rd spent as a percentage of revenue spent on player salaries?

That.

Is it still 23rd?

If you divide this years $259.3 by the $574M revenue (2025) number, our % goes up to 45.1%, which places us 18th. While still not good, it is moving back into the right direction. 1% from middle of the pack.

Yes, that is a major concern. I have voice displeasure over that, but I refrain from saying JH isn't spending any money on quality players and won't again.

I don't know what he'll do.

I thought last winter was a big step forward, then he dumped Devers.

I don't disagree with your position that JH can and should spend more. I just disagree with the wording and your excessive pessimism.

 

[JoeBrady]

20 minutes ago, notin said:

Ranger Suarez?

Fred forgets quickly, but the purpose of the post was to use the word 'cheap'.  So his to-do list is done.

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, notin said:

Ranger Suarez?

He's also paying over $20M for Crochet, Gray and Contreras

[notin]

7 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Fred forgets quickly, but the purpose of the post was to use the word 'cheap'.  So his to-do list is done.

I think I’d be ok if he would just change to piker…

[JoeBrady]

8 hours ago, notin said:

I think I’d be ok if he would just change to piker…

Awww dude, another great word I haven't heard in a long time.  One of my goals is going to be to enhance Fred's vocabulary.

[notin]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

He's also paying over $20M for Crochet, Gray and Contreras

Sportrac has the Sox payroll at 6th highest in MLB, behind the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies and Blue Jays.

While they’re not at their limit yet, the notion of the Sox being cheap might be a bit overblown.  They will get problem is,  the cheap label often means “not signing free agents”, and there are reasons to not do so that go beyond simple monetary ones…

[mvp 78]

49 minutes ago, notin said:

Sportrac has the Sox payroll at 6th highest in MLB, behind the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies and Blue Jays.

While they’re not at their limit yet, the notion of the Sox being cheap might be a bit overblown.  They will get problem is,  the cheap label often means “not signing free agents”, and there are reasons to not do so that go beyond simple monetary ones…

It's more fun to empty out your farm system with trades instead? 

[FredLynn]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Is it still 23rd?

If you divide this years $259.3 by the $574M revenue (2025) number, our % goes up to 45.1%, which places us 18th. While still not good, it is moving back into the right direction. 1% from middle of the pack.

Yes, that is a major concern. I have voice displeasure over that, but I refrain from saying JH isn't spending any money on quality players and won't again.

I don't know what he'll do.

I thought last winter was a big step forward, then he dumped Devers.

I don't disagree with your position that JH can and should spend more. I just disagree with the wording and your excessive pessimism.

 

You mean excessive REALISM. I look at what Henry has recently (past few years) done and he has gone dumpster diving more than signing top talent. I comment on that-as well as commenting on signing Suarez and will comment again if he surprises everyone and gets a top notch bat.

[moonslav59]

52 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

You mean excessive REALISM. I look at what Henry has recently (past few years) done and he has gone dumpster diving more than signing top talent. I comment on that-as well as commenting on signing Suarez and will comment again if he surprises everyone and gets a top notch bat.

Speaking mistruths is not realism. You said JH would not spend and he signed Suarez. Yes, you said that surprised you, then you continue with the same comments, like "He's cheap," and "He doesn't spend," or "won't spend." That's not "realism" but yes it's excessive.

He has spent- just not enough for you and most of us. Some of the big spending has not worked out (Yoshida, Story until '25 & others) and some has been horrible (Buehler, Kluber, Richards & Sandoval, so far.)

No doubt we dropped down to rankings and the revenue vs spending low points of JH's era. We've all been upset over that and it deserves criticism, but since the Devers extension, there has been a clear and significant shift in spending and spending philosophy, such as extending young talent. That is "realism," too.

There is no way the Suarez signing fit into your excessive realism mantra. To continue the mantra looks lame, to me, despite having a kernel of truth within it.

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Speaking mistruths is not realism. You said JH would not spend and he signed Suarez. Yes, you said that surprised you, then you continue with the same comments, like "He's cheap," and "He doesn't spend," or "won't spend." That's not "realism" but yes it's excessive.

He has spent- just not enough for you and most of us. Some of the big spending has not worked out (Yoshida, Story until '25 & others) and some has been horrible (Buehler, Kluber, Richards & Sandoval, so far.)

No doubt we dropped down to rankings and the revenue vs spending low points of JH's era. We've all been upset over that and it deserves criticism, but since the Devers extension, there has been a clear and significant shift in spending and spending philosophy, such as extending young talent. That is "realism," too.

There is no way the Suarez signing fit into your excessive realism mantra. To continue the mantra looks lame, to me, despite having a kernel of truth within it.

Of course he SPENDS. Every owner spends SOMETHING. But as I stated its REALISM when I say he more often dumpster dives than pays for top talent-Soto, Schwarber, Alonso, even Bregman. He wouldn’t pay for any of them. He gets a lollipop for signing Suarez. Whooppee! We are still not talented enough to compete for a ring. 

[notin]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

It's more fun to empty out your farm system with trades instead? 

Well, it’s less fun to keep paying topflight salaries to numerous players well into their less effective late 30’s…

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, notin said:

Well, it’s less fun to keep paying topflight salaries to numerous players well into their less effective late 30’s…

Instead trade for the youthful Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras? 

[jad]

Things are pretty bad when "getting close to middle-of-the-pack-on-spending" is regarded as a positive.