Red Sox 2025 Season Review/Offseason Preview Thread

[notin]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

B-R is showing 2 separate numbers for 2025.  Looks like it's 22/29/24 = 75.  The $2 mill was an option buyout.

Thats my lazy-ass mistake.

But Texas reportedly was shopping him regardless.  No idea if it’s true, or if he has an NTC.  And he might, because players getting traded from the Rangers to any team other than the Astros do effectively take a pay cut…

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

That track record spans over 50 years, multiple executives and 4 WS rings.  

The reality is free agency is a bad way to build a team.   It’s mostly nothing but PR Fluff…

The 2025 Sox had 4 free agents who totaled 12.9 bWAR - Bregman, Story, Giolito and Chapman.

Farm, trades and free agency, you have to use them all IMHO.  Obviously have to be very selective with free agents because they're so expensive.

 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Old Red said:

NOBODY has to take Masa, and Hicks just, because you want to get rid of them.🤭

Once again, you miss the point.

They'd have to take them for me to make that trade- hence, it's not happening.

[moonslav59]

Murakami to CWS for $34M/2.

I was not for signing this guy, but it is another 2 year deal off the boards.

[Hugh2]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Murakami to CWS for $34M/2.

I was not for signing this guy, but it is another 2 year deal off the boards.

If Murakami was on the Red Sox board I’m very happy someone else came and took him off of it.

[Hugh2]

On 12/19/2025 at 4:03 PM, a700hitter said:

3 consecutive Division Championships topped by a World Series Championship in the Best Red Sox season in their history is a big flex.

Absolutely 💯 not the farm but what truly counts.

[FredLynn]

45 minutes ago, notin said:

That track record spans over 50 years, multiple executives and 4 WS rings.  

The reality is free agency is a bad way to build a team.   It’s mostly nothing but PR Fluff…

Nonetheless, in the FLOPS situation right now it was mandatory to pick up a couple of talented FAs (at LEAST) to fill the vacancies in our #2SP and power hitting bat, neither of which got accomplished. Those guys were out there. Now they are gone. But Henry was too cheap to pay for what was needed to make the team competitive during the current window. Like I said, this franchise has become an embarassing s*** show. Instead of improving on last year they at best marched in place and if they don't even sign Bregman they regress. 

[notin]

4 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Nonetheless, in the FLOPS situation right now it was mandatory to pick up a couple of talented FAs (at LEAST) to fill the vacancies in our #2SP and power hitting bat, neither of which got accomplished. Those guys were out there. Now they are gone. But Henry was too cheap to pay for what was needed to make the team competitive during the current window. Like I said, this franchise has become an embarassing s*** show. Instead of improving on last year they at best marched in place and if they don't even sign Bregman they regress. 

It’s never MANDATORY to sign free agents to fill those voids.  And in most cases, teams should be advised against it.  The problem is fans equate spending with winning, and therefore assume teams not spending are not trying….

[notin]

44 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The 2025 Sox had 4 free agents who totaled 12.9 bWAR - Bregman, Story, Giolito and Chapman.

Farm, trades and free agency, you have to use them all IMHO.  Obviously have to be very selective with free agents because they're so expensive.

 

Here is the point, and an oft-repeated one.

Free agency isn’t a fine for short contracts to fill temporary needs.  But it gets problematic with the long term contracts fans want. 

3 of the 4 players you named signed short term deals.  The fourth one signed a long term deal that has been the subject of numerous complaints over the previous 3 seasons…

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s never MANDATORY to sign free agents to fill those voids.  And in most cases, teams should be advised against it.  The problem is fans equate spending with winning, and therefore assume teams not spending are not trying….

Generally in life you get what you pay for. Over the past several years Henry has spent his life dumpster diving for retreads rather than signing prime FAs like Soto, Schwarber, Alonso etc. They are gone now. Other teams that aren't so cheap paid what is necessary to obtain talent. Henry didn't. No, its not mandatory to fill the FLOPS vacancies with talented players. Its only mandatory if they want to compete for a ring. Guess that is no longer a priority.

[Bellhorn04]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s never MANDATORY to sign free agents to fill those voids.  And in most cases, teams should be advised against it.  The problem is fans equate spending with winning, and therefore assume teams not spending are not trying….

The Dodgers spend and the Pirates don't.  I mean, there is SOME correlation at work...

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Nonetheless, in the FLOPS situation right now it was mandatory to pick up a couple of talented FAs (at LEAST) to fill the vacancies in our #2SP and power hitting bat, neither of which got accomplished. Those guys were out there. Now they are gone. But Henry was too cheap to pay for what was needed to make the team competitive during the current window. Like I said, this franchise has become an embarassing s*** show. Instead of improving on last year they at best marched in place and if they don't even sign Bregman they regress. 

I'm not projecting we sign a big FA, but you do realize 6 of the top MLBTR FAs are still available, and they counted Murakami as one. There are several top FAs that would fill the top 2 needs we have:

1. Tucker (trade 2 OF'ers for 2B/3B and SP)

2. Bichette

5. Bregman

6. Valdez, 7 Imai, 10 Ra Suarez (15 Gallen)

I'd be fine with #19 Okamoto or #20 E Suarez

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Dodgers spend and the Pirates don't.  I mean, there is SOME correlation at work...

The Dodgers spend, and the Mets spend also, but the Dodgers are better than getting it right.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Dodgers spend, and the Mets spend also, but the Dodgers are better than getting it right.

Agreed.

[Randy Red Sox]

11 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

You may end up being right, but I'm doubting it.

Two winters ago, we signed Criswell and traded Sale for Grissom, Dugo for Fitts & Weisert and Robertson/Santos for O'Neill in December.

We signed Giolito January 3rd. We did sign hendriks in FEB.

Last winter, we signed Wilson in November, Chapman in mid December and Buehler for $21M at the end of DEC. We signed Sandoval in DEC. We also traded for Narvaez & others in DEC. Only Breggie was a late signing.

It's really not a pattern.

 

so we got robbed on the Sale trade in  December and the others you mention in December hardly move the needle. I guess Sale wouldn't look good as our #2 right now??  Also I see we lost out to the might White Sox on the Japanese slugger who signed for just 2 years at 17 mil per. I guess that was too rich for JH's blood. 

[Randy Red Sox]

15 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Generally in life you get what you pay for. Over the past several years Henry has spent his life dumpster diving for retreads rather than signing prime FAs like Soto, Schwarber, Alonso etc. They are gone now. Other teams that aren't so cheap paid what is necessary to obtain talent. Henry didn't. No, its not mandatory to fill the FLOPS vacancies with talented players. Its only mandatory if they want to compete for a ring. Guess that is no longer a priority.

hasn't been since the day JH fired DD

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

Here is the point, and an oft-repeated one.

Free agency isn’t a fine for short contracts to fill temporary needs.  But it gets problematic with the long term contracts fans want. 

3 of the 4 players you named signed short term deals.  The fourth one signed a long term deal that has been the subject of numerous complaints over the previous 3 seasons…

Well said, and the trades we make might be the true measure of how much we want to win in the next 1, 2 or 3 years. Having depth and so many promising future assets, mostly pitchers, is all well and good, but there comes a point where balancing current needs with future ones needs to be applied. (Not that Brez & Co are not doing this. There are a couple months to go for deals to be made.)

I'd be fine with one or two short term FA contracts given out- maybe E Suarez/ Okamoto or Ra Suarez/Bassitt and then one blockbuster trade- maybe K Marte/Greene/Skubal/??? or a couple significant ones for guys like Ryan/Lodolo/Gore/Alcantara/??? and Paredes/YDiaz/Contreras/Donovan/???

[Randy Red Sox]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not projecting we sign a big FA, but you do realize 6 of the top MLBTR FAs are still available, and they counted Murakami as one. There are several top FAs that would fill the top 2 needs we have:

1. Tucker (trade 2 OF'ers for 2B/3B and SP)

2. Bichette

5. Bregman

6. Valdez, 7 Imai, 10 Ra Suarez (15 Gallen)

I'd be fine with #19 Okamoto or #20 E Suarez

No to Tucker and I don't give Bregman more than 3 years.  You are dreaming if you think JH forks over the $$ and term for Bichette or Valdez. Suarez makes Devers look like a GG 3B.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Dodgers spend, and the Mets spend also, but the Dodgers are better than getting it right.

While true, they did go a pretty long stretch at mega spending and getting bounced from the playoffs early. They have made the playoffs 13 straight seasons, so I'm not poo-pooing their efforts and commitment to winning, but for many years they were viewed like the NYMs are now.

Sure, the won in the short 2020 season, but they failed to make the WS in 2019, 2021, 2022 & 2023. That was four out of 5 seasons with the short season being the exception.

It's hard to think that 4 teams had a better record in 2025 than the LAD, including 2 from the ALE. The Cubs had 1 less win.

Not taking anything away from the Dodgers. They earned those rings, but there was a time when their spending choices were not all that successful.

[vjcsmoke]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Well said, and the trades we make might be the true measure of how much we want to win in the next 1, 2 or 3 years. Having depth and so many promising future assets, mostly pitchers, is all well and good, but there comes a point where balancing current needs with future ones needs to be applied. (Not that Brez & Co are not doing this. There are a couple months to go for deals to be made.)

I'd be fine with one or two short term FA contracts given out- maybe E Suarez/ Okamoto or Ra Suarez/Bassitt and then one blockbuster trade- maybe K Marte/Greene/Skubal/??? or a couple significant ones for guys like Ryan/Lodolo/Gore/Alcantara/??? and Paredes/YDiaz/Contreras/Donovan/???

At this point you can expect that the Red Sox will only sign a guy who accepts a lowball offer. That means the market interest is so low their agent will phone back the Red Sox in a couple of months after all the good free agents have already signed deals and they are now desperate for their client to get employment.

I still have severe doubts that Breslow can swing any blockbuster deals. Teams will probably be leery now of trading a Crochett caliber player to the Red Sox without asking for a TON in return. And I honestly don't even know if there are any Crochett caliber players available on the trade market. If you know of any please feel free to email Breslow. He might need the help! 🤣

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The 2025 Sox had 4 free agents who totaled 12.9 bWAR - Bregman, Story, Giolito and Chapman.

Farm, trades and free agency, you have to use them all IMHO.  Obviously have to be very selective with free agents because they're so expensive.

 

While the Sox have had a strong farm that is now adding high value to the team, we still need FA infusion (or trades like Crochet's) like this to make us top contenders.

We may need less than years past, but still...

Look at our ring years and bWAR from FAs

2004: 4.3 Damon, 4.3 Ortiz, 4.1 Manny, 3.5 Foulke, 2.8 Millar, 1.2 Mueller

2007: 6.4 Ortiz, 4.1 Dice-K, 2.1 JD Drew, 1.1 Manny

2013: 6.0 Vic, 4.4 Ortiz, 3.7 Napoli, 2.7 S Drew, 2.7 Lackey

As strong as the homegrown talent was on the 2018 team (10.7 Betts, 4.9 Bogey, 4.8 Beni, 2.5 JBJ, none of our top 7 pitchers were homegrown)

FAs: 6.7 JDM, 3,7 Price, 2.1 Kimbrel, 1.9 Moreland

 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

The Dodgers spend, and the Mets spend also, but the Dodgers are better than getting it right.

And they averaged 88 wins between them.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

2004: 4.3 Damon, 4.3 Ortiz, 4.1 Manny, 3.5 Foulke, 2.8 Millar, 1.2 Mueller

2007: 6.4 Ortiz, 4.1 Dice-K, 2.1 JD Drew, 1.1 Manny

2013: 6.0 Vic, 4.4 Ortiz, 3.7 Napoli, 2.7 S Drew, 2.7 Lackey

Not all of those are "real" FAs by some RSN standards.  Certainly Papi, Millar, Mueller, and Napoli were probably considered dumpster diving by some fans.

[Randy Red Sox]

19 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Not all of those are "real" FAs by some RSN standards.  Certainly Papi, Millar, Mueller, and Napoli were probably considered dumpster diving by some fans.

i think you should ask JH for a job.  he will probably offer you a 1 yr deal

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Not all of those are "real" FAs by some RSN standards.  Certainly Papi, Millar, Mueller, and Napoli were probably considered dumpster diving by some fans.

Good point.

Those teams did need at least one big FA to win the ring.

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

And they averaged 88 wins between them.

Nonetheless the Dodgers are on a heck of a run.

13 straight years in the playoffs.

5 pennants in 9 years.

3 WS in 6 years.

And still very well set up. 

[Duran Is The Man]

27 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Nonetheless the Dodgers are on a heck of a run.

13 straight years in the playoffs.

5 pennants in 9 years.

3 WS in 6 years.

And still very well set up. 

but signing free agents is a bad idea. LOL.

[Duran Is The Man]

27 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Nonetheless the Dodgers are on a heck of a run.

13 straight years in the playoffs.

5 pennants in 9 years.

3 WS in 6 years.

And still very well set up. 

and they're not done.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 hours ago, Randy Red Sox said:

i think you should ask JH for a job.  he will probably offer you a 1 yr deal

...with an Opt Out if you're good, and a player option if you suck -- just so he has to pay you for another year at this year's market rate, rather than sign a replacement next year at the new always-higher market rate.

I hate this post. It's not even a joke.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Nonetheless the Dodgers are on a heck of a run.

13 straight years in the playoffs.

5 pennants in 9 years.

3 WS in 6 years.

And still very well set up. 

They are well-run.  But could've easily have lost to the Phillies, and probably should've lost to the Jays.