Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

SP is crowded, but it wasn't crowded at the end of the year! Injuries are to be expected now. 

I'm just forecasting what they'll do, not what I'd want them to do TBH.

But 11 names on a 40 man roster alone is quite the crowd.  12 names if you count Criswell, who I believe is out of options as well…

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

But 11 names on a 40 man roster alone is quite the crowd.  12 names if you count Criswell, who I believe is out of options as well…

Criswell will be gone. His only value was the options. Some of the others are automatic 60 day IL.

[notin]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

Right now, I would happily do Duran for Marte, but Im not sure they would. Marte is easy a top 3 hitting middle infielder and serviceable defensively. On a team friendly deal.

I mean sign me up.  Id even throw in a pitching prospect that isnt Tolle , Early, Witherspoon but if they demand witherspoon i prob do it.  Cuz top talent is top talent and Marte is.

I am hoping Arizona does the following:

1. Realizes their top outfield prospects from a couple years back has produced one star (Carroll), one serviceable starter (Thomas) and one AAAA bench player (McCarthy).  And also that Lourdes Gurriel cannot field.

and

2. Maybe they need to move on from malcontent Marte, who has reportedly lost the faith of some teammates this past year.  And maybe put some faith in young infielders Blaze Anderson and Jordan Lawlor, at least for now.

Marte’s deal isnt that team-friendly any more.  He is 31 and signed for 5 more years at $91mill followed by an $11.5mill player option.  The contract has numerous incentives as well…

[notin]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Criswell will be gone. His only value was the options. Some of the others are automatic 60 day IL.

Houck and Dobbins so far.

Criswell might stick simply because he hasn’t been horrible.  He might start the season as 8th man in the bullpen…

[notin]

Two BTV-acceptable salary dump trades that make some sense but will not happen.

1. RHRP Jordan Hicks(2yrs $25mill) for C Sean Murphy (3 yrs $45mill).  Boston gets some pop at an unlikely position.  Atlanta saves $20mill and maybe can resurrect Hicks by keeping him out of the rotation.

2. DH Masataka Yoshida (2 yrs $36.4mill) and LHSP Kyle Harrison to Texas for 2b Marcus Semien (3 yrs $72mill).  Texas saves roughly $35mill and gets a young, controllable SP.  losing Semien (3.5 bWAR) is tough on their defense but a plus on their offense, given his recent decline..

[Tedballgame]

12 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

My favorite memory might be Chapman's K to end game 1.

Rafaela's CF wall ball was up there. A few of his catches, over the season, too.

Story's homer... at the time.

I am still peeved that Eaton did not score. This is an excert from the article from today's NBC Sports Boston website:

"Eaton was at third base and looking at Chisholm when the second baseman made the throw. Meanwhile, third baseman Ryan McMahon was almost standing in the shortstop position, paying no attention to Eaton. With speed and base running being major factors of Eaton's game, he should have known that he had plenty of room to get frisky by bouncing off third base toward home plate, knowing that there was nobody at the bag to tag him out if a throw came that way."

I blame it partly on Eaton for not having baseball instincts but its really all on Kyle Hudson who couldn't seize the moment and make a great decision. I have seen enough of him to know that the Sox need a new third base coach. Grady Little didn't survive a boneheaded decision in playoff loss to Yankees and neither should Hudson.

[cp176]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Unlikely. 

I’m certainly not predicting it but I was fairly surprised to see Tolle brought up this soon and I was really surprised to see Early moving up so quickly.  Things happen.  Some develop and some don’t.  

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, notin said:

Two BTV-acceptable salary dump trades that make some sense but will not happen.

1. RHRP Jordan Hicks(2yrs $25mill) for C Sean Murphy (3 yrs $45mill).  Boston gets some pop at an unlikely position.  Atlanta saves $20mill and maybe can resurrect Hicks by keeping him out of the rotation.

2. DH Masataka Yoshida (2 yrs $36.4mill) and LHSP Kyle Harrison to Texas for 2b Marcus Semien (3 yrs $72mill).  Texas saves roughly $35mill and gets a young, controllable SP.  losing Semien (3.5 bWAR) is tough on their defense but a plus on their offense, given his recent decline..

I'd do both and gladly include others like DHam or Grissom and Sandlin, Mullins, Castro, Bleis or Cespedes.

[Duran Is The Man]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

One starter, but not TOTR.

One late inning reliever.

Breggie leaves.

Mayer to 3b. Signs an extension.

Romy to 2b. 

Campbell is the bench guy 1b/2b/LF/RF.

Hard to forecast them trading Duran or Abreu. If I had to guess, it's Duran.

they need to get rid of Abreu. that's an easy call in my book. but of course, the idiots in the Sox FO will probably give Duran away for nothing.

[Duran Is The Man]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Romy Gonzalez would be a continuation of the struggles at 2b since Pedroia.  If Bregman opts out, I can’t predict but I can recommend Ketel Marte for 2b.  Mayer moves to third, where Story, possibly with impure motives, favorably compared him to Nolan Arenado.  Duran for Marte makes sense for both teams.

1b/Dh are the big questions.  While Ive said positive things about Lowe, Ive repeatedly said he will be non-tendered.  The Sox have Casas and Yoshida in the 1b/DH mix, and possibly Campbell as well.

Bullpen?  They could move Fitts and Tolle there, but it’s unlikely they move both.  (Really, it’s unlikely they move either.)  But they should at a minimum move Fitts.

SP is already crowded.  Once Houck (out for 2026) and Dobbins (out until June/July?) move to the 60 day IL, they still have Crochet, Bello, Sandoval, Harrison, Crawford, Early, and Perales.  (And maybe Fitts and Tolle.)Perales definitely starts in WOO.  Harrison, Crawford, Early, Fitts, Tolle and Harrison are TBD.  Some to WOO? Some dealt?

while all that makes sense, i'm a big NO on Hoskins. sign Alonso or Schwarbomber.

[Duran Is The Man]

46 minutes ago, notin said:

Two BTV-acceptable salary dump trades that make some sense but will not happen.

1. RHRP Jordan Hicks(2yrs $25mill) for C Sean Murphy (3 yrs $45mill).  Boston gets some pop at an unlikely position.  Atlanta saves $20mill and maybe can resurrect Hicks by keeping him out of the rotation.

2. DH Masataka Yoshida (2 yrs $36.4mill) and LHSP Kyle Harrison to Texas for 2b Marcus Semien (3 yrs $72mill).  Texas saves roughly $35mill and gets a young, controllable SP.  losing Semien (3.5 bWAR) is tough on their defense but a plus on their offense, given his recent decline..

i'd do those two in a heartbeat.

 

[notin]

13 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

while all that makes sense, i'm a big NO on Hoskins. sign Alonso or Schwarbomber.

I had ChatGPT do home runs projections for both Alonso and Hoskins at Fenway.

Interestingly, it had Hoskins hitting 27 to 35 and Alonso hitting 25 to 33.

I should point out that with ChatGPT, the AI stands for “Always Inaccurate”…

[notin]

14 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i'd do those two in a heartbeat.

 

But would Texas and Atlanta?

I think they make some sense for both.  But those crafty CBOs and their fancy “data analytics” sometimes just refuse to see it my way…

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Two BTV-acceptable salary dump trades that make some sense but will not happen.

1. RHRP Jordan Hicks(2yrs $25mill) for C Sean Murphy (3 yrs $45mill).  Boston gets some pop at an unlikely position.  Atlanta saves $20mill and maybe can resurrect Hicks by keeping him out of the rotation.

2. DH Masataka Yoshida (2 yrs $36.4mill) and LHSP Kyle Harrison to Texas for 2b Marcus Semien (3 yrs $72mill).  Texas saves roughly $35mill and gets a young, controllable SP.  losing Semien (3.5 bWAR) is tough on their defense but a plus on their offense, given his recent decline..

1. Yes, but ATL says no

2. No

[mvp 78]

54 minutes ago, cp176 said:

I’m certainly not predicting it but I was fairly surprised to see Tolle brought up this soon and I was really surprised to see Early moving up so quickly.  Things happen.  Some develop and some don’t.  

Tolle had one exceptional pitch and his rise was meteoric. Witherspoon doesn't have that one plus plus pitch to lean on so we wouldn't see him until '27 IMO. He may have a higher ceiling than Tolle, but Sox won't rush him to the bigs IMO.

[notin]

49 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

1. Yes, but ATL says no

2. No

So I guess the Sox are keeping Hicks and Yoshida…

[mvp 78]

Big opportunity to figure out offense for '26 at 1B/2B/DH. 3B will be most likely handled in house. 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

So I guess the Sox are keeping Hicks and Yoshida…

My guess is that they are stuck with those two contracts unless they are willing to DFA or eat a lot of the $$$. 

[notin]

17 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

My guess is that they are stuck with those two contracts unless they are willing to DFA or eat a lot of the $$$. 

Breslow did praise Hicks after the trade, referring him to a high leverage bullpen arm.  Granted, it’s not like he was going to trash some Player he just acquired, but most of us probably (correctly?) suspected Hicks was only included to offset some salary.

Maybe Hicks can return to being the 100mph gas throwing reliever he was in St. Louis before the Giants decided for some reason to make him a starter.

Yoshida, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be on Breslow’s list of favorites.  I think he gets moved with lots of money for very little…

[notin]

38 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Big opportunity to figure out offense for '26 at 1B/2B/DH. 3B will be most likely handled in house. 

With the exception of 2b, a lot of those can be handled in house.

Even if they offload Yoshida, they still have Casas and Campbell in search of positions/roles.

2b might come from moving an OF.  I’be mentioned Duran for Marte a dozen times, but other BTV Fair trades include Abreu to Detroit for Colt Keith, Campbell  to Miami for Xavier Edwards, or Password to Miami for Otto Lopez.

Obviously I don’t of those respective CBOs are so aligned with BTV or even looking to deal.  But that Miami got mentioned twice does indicate they have depth. (Although I believe they do use Edward’s at SS.)

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, notin said:

Breslow did praise Hicks after the trade, referring him to a high leverage bullpen arm.  Granted, it’s not like he was going to trash some Player he just acquired, but most of us probably (correctly?) suspected Hicks was only included to offset some salary.

Maybe Hicks can return to being the 100mph gas throwing reliever he was in St. Louis before the Giants decided for some reason to make him a starter.

Yoshida, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be on Breslow’s list of favorites.  I think he gets moved with lots of money for very little…

Moving Yoshida helps clear up some of the issues this roster has? Maybe an offseason helps Hicks? IDK. 

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

With the exception of 2b, a lot of those can be handled in house.

Even if they offload Yoshida, they still have Casas and Campbell in search of positions/roles.

2b might come from moving an OF.  I’be mentioned Duran for Marte a dozen times, but other BTV Fair trades include Abreu to Detroit for Colt Keith, Campbell  to Miami for Xavier Edwards, or Password to Miami for Otto Lopez.

Obviously I don’t of those respective CBOs are so aligned with BTV or even looking to deal.  But that Miami got mentioned twice does indicate they have depth. (Although I believe they do use Edward’s at SS.)

They moved Campbell off 1b fulltime, so it must not be a long term fit for him. I just don't have faith that Casas will be ready to go early on next year or at any point. 

[dgalehouse]

Looking to next year, I would go all in on the youth. Anthony ( obviously) , Mayer, Campbell , Password and the returning Casas.( I think it is too soon to quit on  Casas.) Plus the young pitchers that we got a look at late in the season. I would not use the available spending money on  Bregman, but spend it on more pitching, which is something that I heard you can never have enough of. 

[Maxbialystock]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They moved Campbell off 1b fulltime, so it must not be a long term fit for him. I just don't have faith that Casas will be ready to go early on next year or at any point. 

You're probably right about Campbell, but how hard can 1b be?   I ask because, pending any trades, the outfield looks pretty full.  

[drewski6]

4 hours ago, notin said:

I am hoping Arizona does the following:

1. Realizes their top outfield prospects from a couple years back has produced one star (Carroll), one serviceable starter (Thomas) and one AAAA bench player (McCarthy).  And also that Lourdes Gurriel cannot field.

and

2. Maybe they need to move on from malcontent Marte, who has reportedly lost the faith of some teammates this past year.  And maybe put some faith in young infielders Blaze Anderson and Jordan Lawlor, at least for now.

Marte’s deal isnt that team-friendly any more.  He is 31 and signed for 5 more years at $91mill followed by an $11.5mill player option.  The contract has numerous incentives as well…

Top players make 70m / yr. That contract is team friendly. 

ALso Zona and sox wont be negotiating in a vacuum. 

I think you need to dangle more than Duran. But have at it, hoss

[drewski6]

49 minutes ago, notin said:

With the exception of 2b, a lot of those can be handled in house.

Even if they offload Yoshida, they still have Casas and Campbell in search of positions/roles.

2b might come from moving an OF.  I’be mentioned Duran for Marte a dozen times, but other BTV Fair trades include Abreu to Detroit for Colt Keith, Campbell  to Miami for Xavier Edwards, or Password to Miami for Otto Lopez.

Obviously I don’t of those respective CBOs are so aligned with BTV or even looking to deal.  But that Miami got mentioned twice does indicate they have depth. (Although I believe they do use Edward’s at SS.)

If you are filling holes on major league team with internal candidates (e.g. guys with options), then you arent leaving room for much 40 man depth. Send down the dudes you can send down. Hoard.

[drewski6]

5 hours ago, sk7326 said:

Overall the season was a success.  The team was flawed and probably deserved its fate.  When you lose your #2 starter and arguably your best hitter, the margin for error goes away.

That said, it's 2025 - and you see how the league OBP has dropped 20 points from where it was when Boston broke the curse ... it's hard out there when you don't hit tons of homeruns.  It sounds crude - but the Red Sox need to see the ball leave the yard more consistently.  Over the season this was fine - but when you get to the playoffs, that sort of margin of error would have come in really handy.  In particular, they need to solve the black hole at 1B and 2B ... maybe Campbell can take one of those positions.  Casas?  I need to see him not shattered into a thousand pieces first.  

Pitching-wise, things look promising.  Crochet is unimpeachable.  Bello wore down, but tracks to be a perfectly good #3 starter type at worst.  The team could use another starter because of course they could.  I'd definitely see if Giolito wanted to come back - his injury at the end of the season might have increased that possibility.   Considering his velocity, Early was shockingly effective coming up at the end of the year.  I am excited about him - maybe as lot a #2 starter or anything, but as a quality rotation arm.  Tolle's range of outcomes is wider.  While a team cannot plan for this - I would not be surprised is Kyson Weatherspoon cracks the rotation at some point later in 2026 - we see how college pitchers are being moved across the game.  

this is great.

[notin]

12 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

You're probably right about Campbell, but how hard can 1b be?   I ask because, pending any trades, the outfield looks pretty full.  

The Sox could move 3 outfielders and still field a lineup.  Trade away Duran, Abreu and Password? You can still start Campbell, Rafaela and Anthony…

[drewski6]

43 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Moving Yoshida helps clear up some of the issues this roster has? Maybe an offseason helps Hicks? IDK. 

what issue would that be? hitting the ball at all?

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, notin said:

The Sox could move 3 outfielders and still field a lineup.  Trade away Duran, Abreu and Password? You can still start Campbell, Rafaela and Anthony…

aim higher