Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[Hugh2]

54 minutes ago, notin said:

Hicks was the one player Breslow talked up after the trade.  Most of us just assumed he was a contract deadweight sent back as part of taking Devers whole deal.  Nope.  Apparently Hes a high end reliever or something.

Anyway, he going to the bullpen. Book it…

Yeah, that's what's happening.  Honestly I won't be surprised if he's a complete dud or he turns into a late inning reliever next year. It all depends on how effective they're with tinkering with his stuff this offseason.  Stuff seems fine, it's the control.  They see something they think they can fix.....they either can or they can't. 

[Cameron Tran]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I don't think Early is untouchable. He's ceiling is 4th starter unless he makes some crazy jump. Tolle's ceiling is higher due to the velo. If you're bringing and ace back, you can deal a guy like Early. 

Very fair. I like Early just because I love a crafty, funky lefty but I'd honestly be willing to trade either of them to get Greene back

[Cameron Tran]

Alex Bregman opting out according to Jon Heyman. Nothing we didn't expect. In my mind, we have to bring him back to lead the clubhouse. How does 6 years 165 sound?

[Hugh2]

1 hour ago, Cameron Tran said:

Alex Bregman opting out according to Jon Heyman. Nothing we didn't expect. In my mind, we have to bring him back to lead the clubhouse. How does 6 years 165 sound?

I wouldn't go above 4/120 for him and that would have me feeling really uneasy too.  That would give him the same money he signed up for last year plus the $40 mil he already got. 

He's going to be 32 next year, he's at that age where he can literally fall off a cliff any year. 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I wouldn't go above 4/120 for him and that would have me feeling really uneasy too.  That would give him the same money he signed up for last year plus the $40 mil he already got. 

He's going to be 32 next year, he's at that age where he can literally fall off a cliff any year. 

724 OPS 7-11 to end of season

559 OPS 8/26 to end of season

We saw the cliff. He was great at the start of the season. He wasn't worth 40M after June though. 

[Old Red]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

724 OPS 7-11 to end of season

559 OPS 8/26 to end of season

We saw the cliff. He was great at the start of the season. He wasn't worth 40M after June though. 

He was never worth $40M. As I said when the Red Sox signed him he was no Mike Schmidt. Bregman also did his best work batting behind Raffy.

[Cameron Tran]

27 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

724 OPS 7-11 to end of season

559 OPS 8/26 to end of season

We saw the cliff. He was great at the start of the season. He wasn't worth 40M after June though. 

Seems like there will be a long term market for him. Tigers offered 6 years last year, wouldn't be surprised if do it again.

[Hugh2]

I love how we all determine what someones is worth.  We don't have billions of dollars, we are not the market. 

An asset is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.  Bregman was worth about $28 million dollars last year according to the market.  Although, I guess we could say he was worth $40 mil but ya'll know what I mean.

[Hugh2]

If a team only used Bregmans 3.5 WAR and factored in 3% inflation he's worth $29 million a year next year.  If inflation rises to what it was the year prior  he's worth about 30.25.

I sitll don't see him getting more than 4-5 years.  But why wouldn't he bank even an extra 20-30 million if he could? I would. 

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I love how we all determine what someones is worth.  We don't have billions of dollars, we are not the market. 

An asset is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.  Bregman was worth about $28 million dollars last year according to the market.  Although, I guess we could say he was worth $40 mil but ya'll know what I mean.

I guess the way I look at it is if the Red Sox spend $40M on 1 player it makes less money available for other needs.

[mvp 78]

53 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

Seems like there will be a long term market for him. Tigers offered 6 years last year, wouldn't be surprised if do it again.

If they offer 5 years, he's free to go to DET. Too many years for me. 

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I love how we all determine what someones is worth.  We don't have billions of dollars, we are not the market. 

An asset is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.  Bregman was worth about $28 million dollars last year according to the market.  Although, I guess we could say he was worth $40 mil but ya'll know what I mean.

Yeah, we're playing pretend right now. That's what we all do when we post about what we'd offer a guy in FA. None of us have FO jobs. If we did, we should probably get back to work. 

[Cameron Tran]

50 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If they offer 5 years, he's free to go to DET. Too many years for me. 

Bregman is a guy I'd be willing to overpay for and pay into his late 30s. Should be better next season after having to rush back from the quad injury. I see him having a justin turner esque career path into his late 30s. This clubhouse also needs a leader, and its clear the young guys (Mayer and Anthony in particular) gravitate to him. 

[moonslav59]

If Hicks made it through 2025 without a DFA, he's a lock on a pen slot for 2026. He's out of options, so only the IL can keep him off the 26 man roster on opening day, IMO. Sad, but true.

There is a chance he can "be fixed."

I'm not worried about our #8 RP'er, anyway. His contract hurts, but I see it as part of the Devers salary dump attempt at a minor balancing act.

While I think Early has some high potential, I'd like to see us look at him as our #5 while keeping the depth we have in place as best as we can. I suggest we trade one SP'er with Duran and maybe Campbell or Jh Garcia for #2 SP'er or someone like K Marte.

[mvp 78]

54 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

Bregman is a guy I'd be willing to overpay for and pay into his late 30s. Should be better next season after having to rush back from the quad injury. I see him having a justin turner esque career path into his late 30s. This clubhouse also needs a leader, and its clear the young guys (Mayer and Anthony in particular) gravitate to him. 

Justin Turner had an OPS over 825 from age 29-36. Alex Bregman has been under that since 2019 when he was 25. Maybe he can stick around, but I wouldn't pay the premium price he's demanding. That's all I'm saying. He'd be insulted by my 25M AAV offer if I went longterm. 

[Cameron Tran]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Justin Turner had an OPS over 825 from age 29-36. Alex Bregman has been under that since 2019 when he was 25. Maybe he can stick around, but I wouldn't pay the premium price he's demanding. That's all I'm saying. He'd be insulted by my 25M AAV offer if I went longterm. 

That's fair. Demand for Bregman will probably be fairly high though. Wouldn't be surprised if he got offers of 5+ 30M AAV. I love Bremgan, but a pivot to Alonso or Schwarber would honestly be better. We need a clubhouse leader, and both of them are proven voices.

[Cameron Tran]

43 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If Hicks made it through 2025 without a DFA, he's a lock on a pen slot for 2026. He's out of options, so only the IL can keep him off the 26 man roster on opening day, IMO. Sad, but true.

There is a chance he can "be fixed."

I'm not worried about our #8 RP'er, anyway. His contract hurts, but I see it as part of the Devers salary dump attempt at a minor balancing act.

While I think Early has some high potential, I'd like to see us look at him as our #5 while keeping the depth we have in place as best as we can. I suggest we trade one SP'er with Duran and maybe Campbell or Jh Garcia for #2 SP'er or someone like K Marte.

I'd be interested to see how much other teams value KC, especially with that contract. The only role I can see him having with the Sox is as long time 2B, but Mayer likely wins that (with a Romy platoon) if Bregman comes back. If Bregman doesn't and Mayer shifts to 3rd, I'm not sure KC beats Romy for an everyday role. Doesn't make sense for him not to play if it isn't in an every day role. 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

That's fair. Demand for Bregman will probably be fairly high though. Wouldn't be surprised if he got offers of 5+ 30M AAV. I love Bremgan, but a pivot to Alonso or Schwarber would honestly be better. We need a clubhouse leader, and both of them are proven voices.

The Sox need a leader AND HR power. Bregman is only half of that equation. If Alonso is signed long term, it would be fun to watch for a few years. 

[Cameron Tran]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The Sox need a leader AND HR power. Bregman is only half of that equation. If Alonso is signed long term, it would be fun to watch for a few years. 

True, we need right hand power. As much as Kyle from Waltham rocks, Alonso should honestly be our top target this offseason. Casas can DH coming off a serious knee injury. Bregman can be replaced by Mayer. Pitching is the problem, but at the end of the day we lost the WC series cause we couldn't hit.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

True, we need right hand power. As much as Kyle from Waltham rocks, Alonso should honestly be our top target this offseason. Casas can DH coming off a serious knee injury. Bregman can be replaced by Mayer. Pitching is the problem, but at the end of the day we lost the WC series cause we couldn't hit.

I loved Schwarber while he was here, but they are stuck with Masa now. They just don't have a spot for him IMO. It's part of the puzzle that has to be overcome when trying to fix this roster. 

[Cameron Tran]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I loved Schwarber while he was here, but they are stuck with Masa now. They just don't have a spot for him IMO. It's part of the puzzle that has to be overcome when trying to fix this roster. 

Sucks that Masa is such a roster crunch right now. I really don't see a role for him on this team. At this point, he's a primary DH who doesn't hit for power but is getting paid 18M for the next 2 years. Maybe we can eat some money, package him with some prospect, and dump him on some team for a comp pick or something of the sorts.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

Sucks that Masa is such a roster crunch right now. I really don't see a role for him on this team. At this point, he's a primary DH who doesn't hit for power but is getting paid 18M for the next 2 years. Maybe we can eat some money, package him with some prospect, and dump him on some team for a comp pick or something of the sorts.

If they eat money, they could deal him. They didn't eat any money in the Devers deal unless you count Hicks.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Cameron Tran said:

I'd be interested to see how much other teams value KC, especially with that contract. The only role I can see him having with the Sox is as long time 2B, but Mayer likely wins that (with a Romy platoon) if Bregman comes back. If Bregman doesn't and Mayer shifts to 3rd, I'm not sure KC beats Romy for an everyday role. Doesn't make sense for him not to play if it isn't in an every day role. 

I could be wrong, but KC showed me he is not a 2Bman. I see him as a LF'er, DH or maybe 1B with 2B as an emergency role.

I do not think $7.5M a year is a big turn off, but certainly some GM would not be interested, unless we took salary back.

A couple month slump is not as devastating to a player's value as some might think, IMO, but when his value was so speculative to begin with, it's hard to know anything.

I kinda feel like trading KC would be "selling low," but I might be in the minority on that one. If we needed a DH or LF'er, I'd be less inclined to look at trading him. I'm not for adding him as a throw in. I only trade him, if the other GM asks for him and will give back real value for him. For that reason, he will likely not be traded. Maybe Jh Garcia is the add-on, despite his better defense and known position..

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I loved Schwarber while he was here, but they are stuck with Masa now. They just don't have a spot for him IMO. It's part of the puzzle that has to be overcome when trying to fix this roster. 

When you see how bad Casas and Alonso are at 1B defense, can Schwarber really be all that much worse? He need not be our DH in light of these facts.

I'm not sure Suarez would be any better at 1B than the three I just mentioned, but again, he can't be worse- or much worse.

I know I sound like a broken record, but Suarez will cost less and get less years than Alonso & Schwarber. I am afraid of steep decline from a 34 year old, but these guys will be these ages for most of 2026:

28-29 Naylor

31 Alonso

32 O'Hearn

33 Schwarber, Hoskins. Josh Bell

Suarez turns 35 in July 2026.

[Duran Is The Man]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If Hicks made it through 2025 without a DFA, he's a lock on a pen slot for 2026. He's out of options, so only the IL can keep him off the 26 man roster on opening day, IMO. Sad, but true.

There is a chance he can "be fixed."

I'm not worried about our #8 RP'er, anyway. His contract hurts, but I see it as part of the Devers salary dump attempt at a minor balancing act.

While I think Early has some high potential, I'd like to see us look at him as our #5 while keeping the depth we have in place as best as we can. I suggest we trade one SP'er with Duran and maybe Campbell or Jh Garcia for #2 SP'er or someone like K Marte.

there ya' go again. KEEP Duran, TRADE Abreu. and Casas. and Masa. get rid of the dead weight and keep the productive players.

[Duran Is The Man]

3 hours ago, Cameron Tran said:

Sucks that Masa is such a roster crunch right now. I really don't see a role for him on this team. At this point, he's a primary DH who doesn't hit for power but is getting paid 18M for the next 2 years. Maybe we can eat some money, package him with some prospect, and dump him on some team for a comp pick or something of the sorts.

there is no place for Masas. the FO needs to stop dicking around and dump him, Casas and Abreu, and sign Alonso.

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

there ya' go again. KEEP Duran, TRADE Abreu. and Casas. and Masa. get rid of the dead weight and keep the productive players.

Masa and Casas are untradeable.

Abreu is better than Duran and cheaper w more control.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Cameron Tran said:

Sucks that Masa is such a roster crunch right now. I really don't see a role for him on this team. At this point, he's a primary DH who doesn't hit for power but is getting paid 18M for the next 2 years. Maybe we can eat some money, package him with some prospect, and dump him on some team for a comp pick or something of the sorts.

There is no roster crunch.

[Duran Is The Man]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Masa and Casas are untradeable.

Abreu is better than Duran and cheaper w more control.

they aren't untradeable.

wrong. Duran is better.

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

they aren't untradeable.

wrong. Duran is better.

I'm talking 2026 and  beyond.

Duran is in decline and is worse vs LHPs, now.

Abreu is improving and is now better vs LHPs.

Abreu is a GG RF'er in a park that needs one. Duran is now a negative on D.

Duran costs $8M in 2026 with 2 more arbs for 3 years of control

Abreu is pre arb with 3 arbs making 4 years of control.

Duran is a much better baserunner, who even saw that decline in 2025.

Duran was better in 2024 and 2025. Abreu has more value, now.

Yoshida could be traded, if we pay all but $3-4M a year x 2. Hicks for all but $2M a year x 2.