A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[mvp 78]

16 hours ago, notin said:

Well, whoever replaces Toro/Lowe at 1b could be an improvement…

If they want a good defender who doesn't strike out and could platoon with Casas eventually: Andy Ibanez. 🤩

🦆⛵

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

You assume Anthony replaces Devers, Ref and Lowe?

Lowe and Devers weren't there at the same time. I'm not worried about replacing Ref at the moment.

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

I think Bregman is dancing with the cubs 

A lot of Cubbies quotes are about them showing faith in Matt Bush. 🫠

[Old Red]

13 hours ago, UtahSox said:

Against the sage advice of about 90% of you, the optimist in me came back, I don’t know why or how, I just thought when everything lined up JH would spend and go all in on winning another World Series. when I found out about us missing Alonso and the way we did. I just absolutely snapped, Yesterday was a rough day……. I’m sorry if my swear words offended anybody. 

Breslow and JH are who we thought they were…. 

When you listen to Breslow talk he doesn’t sound to confident, or any urgency in what he is doing.

[Duran Is The Man]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

When you listen to Breslow talk he doesn’t sound to confident, or any urgency in what he is doing.

....because he doesn't know what he's doing enough to sound confident.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

When you listen to Breslow talk he doesn’t sound to confident, or any urgency in what he is doing.

Has he ever? 

[mvp 78]

Just now, Duran Is The Man said:

....because he doesn't know what he's doing enough to sound confident.

Did you like last offseason? 

[Duran Is The Man]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Did you like last offseason? 

any GM is only as good as his last trade.

[Old Red]

17 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Has he ever? 

Yale speak?

[Bellhorn04]

24 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Did you like last offseason? 

Last offseason was a step in the right direction but no one is confident it will be followed by more steps in the right direction until they happen.  From the moment Betts was traded a big chunk of Red Sox Nation turned into skeptics.

[Deja Doh]

We have no 1B, 2B, 3B, no 2nd or 3rd starter.  

[FredLynn]

On 12/11/2025 at 4:50 PM, UtahSox said:

Against the sage advice of about 90% of you, the optimist in me came back, I don’t know why or how, I just thought when everything lined up JH would spend and go all in on winning another World Series. when I found out about us missing Alonso and the way we did. I just absolutely snapped, Yesterday was a rough day……. I’m sorry if my swear words offended anybody. 

Breslow and JH are who we thought they were…. 

I knew who they were. History tends to repeat itself sometimes and we can definitely learn from it. Henry has told Breslow to keep the spending down and like a good soldier that’s exactly what he is doing. It’s become an embarrassing franchise, the laughingstock of the league. 
Henry needs to sell the team. 

[FredLynn]

43 minutes ago, Deja Doh said:

We have no 1B, 2B, 3B, no 2nd or 3rd starter.  

Yes! But at least the Henry family can eat again!

[Larry Cook]

Are the dodgers trying to trade for skubal?  
 

detriot needs to extract a brutally heavy haul back from the dodgers. More than Glasgow and rushing!!! 

[JoeBrady]

7 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Are the dodgers trying to trade for skubal?  
 

detriot needs to extract a brutally heavy haul back from the dodgers. More than Glasgow and rushing!!! 

Glasnow will be a negative, but Rushing is pretty interesting.  LAD has a lot of good prospects.

[moonslav59]

On 12/12/2025 at 7:27 AM, mvp 78 said:

Lowe and Devers weren't there at the same time. I'm not worried about replacing Ref at the moment.

How does this change the fact that all three had very good numbers, when combined, and we lost them all?

Just bringing Bregman back or replacing him with Bichette does not get us back to even- overall.

Yes, we can project more production from Anthony & Mayer and maybe others, but we cannot say our offense will be as good as 2025. Plus, the 2025 offense wasn't good enough to carry us through the playoffs.

[moonslav59]

On 12/12/2025 at 7:26 AM, mvp 78 said:

If they want a good defender who doesn't strike out and could platoon with Casas eventually: Andy Ibanez. 🤩

🦆⛵

If Casas returns to pre-2025 form, he needs no platoon.

Big if, though.

[moonslav59]

There is still time to right the ship, but it's not looking good.

What a waste of a window this looks to be.

[notin]

On 12/12/2025 at 7:28 AM, mvp 78 said:

A lot of Cubbies quotes are about them showing faith in Matt Bush. 🫠

Shaw.  Matt Shaw

Matt Bush is the former overall first pick that went from SS to prison to relief pitcher to retirement.

 

Bregman would replace Nick Hoerner, who has one year left and is reportedly being shopped.  Shaw would move to 2b

[FredLynn]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

There is still time to right the ship, but it's not looking good.

What a waste of a window this looks to be.

Its not going to happen, not as long as Henry the Cheap owns the team. I can hardly wait to hear all the excuses again this year. Bregman is going to end up in Detroit IMO. I won't miss him. We needed an upgrade anyway. Looking more and more like a pathetic version of the Rays.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Its not going to happen, not as long as Henry the Cheap owns the team. I can hardly wait to hear all the excuses again this year. Bregman is going to end up in Detroit IMO. I won't miss him. We needed an upgrade anyway. Looking more and more like a pathetic version of the Rays.

Bregman or Bichette isn't even enough, anyway.

We're running out of options.

Tucker never was one.

We aren't signing a pitcher large and long.

Who here thinks we are going to get two big names out of the half dozen- if that= remaining choices?

[Nick]

14 hours ago, FredLynn said:

I knew who they were. History tends to repeat itself sometimes and we can definitely learn from it. Henry has told Breslow to keep the spending down and like a good soldier that’s exactly what he is doing. It’s become an embarrassing franchise, the laughingstock of the league. 
Henry needs to sell the team. 

Henry does indeed needs to sell the team. Apparently he thinks his legacy is sealed with 4 World Series wins. That's NOT what we'll remember him for.......I'll always remember him as a cheap ass as things are going.

[Nick]

Winter Meetings a reminder that Red Sox don’t prioritize championships anymore

[moonslav59]

I went over three decades being a frustrated Sox fan almost totally void of any hopes for a ring.

I fully believe that JH was an essential part of the beginning and continuation of the 4 ring era. I'll never erase that history or gloss it over in any way, but since 2019, there has been a marked difference in approach, and eventually the results we have seen on the field since then and the Betts trade. It's been 7 years, now. 

The hopes that the spending would cycle back up, as it did in the past has not materialized, despite a couple blips on the timeline. With the Devers extension being followed by some increased spending on deals like Bregman, Buehler, Chapman, Giolito and a major increase in extensions handed out to Crochet and a handful of young pre-arb players, some hope began to arise this would be the turning point. It did not seem to be an accident or a knee-jerk reaction to growing fan discontent, since it aligned with the timing of the 6 year rebuild effort that produced what appears to be a 3-5 year window, where we could have a significant chance at winning a ring, if we spent to fill in a few major gaps.

For the past 6 years, it seems like we had too many holes to fill, unless we just went batcrazy on spending. Of course, that never happened, and actually the opposite occurred. We heard all the empty talk and blatant "full throttle" lies, but last winter seemed to hint at a change in direction.

I'm not going to say that was all part of the sam plan, because there is still time to make good on this winter, but it looks real bad, to me, right now. REAL BAD. It's hard to sugar coat this, and why should anyone even try to make light of this dark situation unfolding, or continuing, if you don't want to count last winter was anything more than a bine thrown to unhappy Sox fans.

I'm pissed at JH & Co, and it is a company for setting up their cash cow and taking their customers for granted. We have an obvious opening in front of us for something special. They better not blow this.

[notin]

On 12/12/2025 at 7:59 AM, mvp 78 said:

Has he ever? 

Were Crochet and Bregman bad moves?  Or Narvaez?

[notin]

53 minutes ago, Nick said:

Henry does indeed needs to sell the team. Apparently he thinks his legacy is sealed with 4 World Series wins. That's NOT what we'll remember him for.......I'll always remember him as a cheap ass as things are going.

Please never say that again.  It screams of entitlement.

 

His legacy is absolutely insured by 4 titles is 15 years for a franchise that only had 5 in their first century..

But appreciating his legacy and being satisfied with his work today are entirely separate things….

[FredLynn]

41 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I went over three decades being a frustrated Sox fan almost totally void of any hopes for a ring.

I fully believe that JH was an essential part of the beginning and continuation of the 4 ring era. I'll never erase that history or gloss it over in any way, but since 2019, there has been a marked difference in approach, and eventually the results we have seen on the field since then and the Betts trade. It's been 7 years, now. 

The hopes that the spending would cycle back up, as it did in the past has not materialized, despite a couple blips on the timeline. With the Devers extension being followed by some increased spending on deals like Bregman, Buehler, Chapman, Giolito and a major increase in extensions handed out to Crochet and a handful of young pre-arb players, some hope began to arise this would be the turning point. It did not seem to be an accident or a knee-jerk reaction to growing fan discontent, since it aligned with the timing of the 6 year rebuild effort that produced what appears to be a 3-5 year window, where we could have a significant chance at winning a ring, if we spent to fill in a few major gaps.

For the past 6 years, it seems like we had too many holes to fill, unless we just went batcrazy on spending. Of course, that never happened, and actually the opposite occurred. We heard all the empty talk and blatant "full throttle" lies, but last winter seemed to hint at a change in direction.

I'm not going to say that was all part of the sam plan, because there is still time to make good on this winter, but it looks real bad, to me, right now. REAL BAD. It's hard to sugar coat this, and why should anyone even try to make light of this dark situation unfolding, or continuing, if you don't want to count last winter was anything more than a bine thrown to unhappy Sox fans.

I'm pissed at JH & Co, and it is a company for setting up their cash cow and taking their customers for granted. We have an obvious opening in front of us for something special. They better not blow this.

They are ALREADY blowing it. Sure, we squeaked into the playoffs last year and were quickly eliminated. But look at the previous several years. Pretty abysmal for a big market team. This year we got Sonny Gray!

Whooppee!!

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

They are ALREADY blowing it. Sure, we squeaked into the playoffs last year and were quickly eliminated. But look at the previous several years. Pretty abysmal for a big market team. This year we got Sonny Gray!

Whooppee!!

I’m not happy with this winters moves and non moves.

im not optimistic at all.

this does not make me rewrite history.

[vjcsmoke]

Let's review the positive from last season. The Crotchett deal had some risks but as soon as he came to camp it became evident he was the real deal.  Then we extended him to protect our trade investment. That's one big point for Breslow.

However this offseason has been horribly uninspiring. After losing Devers and Bregman we've done nothing to recoup a talented power bat to replace them.

I'm not hanging my hopes on a broken down Casas to rebound.

We might need to trade 1 of Abreu or Duran just to open up playing time in the outfield. But that's going to mean more loss of power.

We still don't have a for sure #2 SP behind Crochett. We're hoping a 36 year old Sonny Gray can find the fountain of youth or that Oviedo can make the leap from a #5 SP to a #3 SP when he only pitched 40 innings last season.

We missed out on Pete Alonso to an in division rival in the Orioles and his annual pay is slightly less than what Devers was making.

What's the plan here? We know it's not Full Throttle. That was a lie.

Converting Campbell to 1B? Feels dubious since he was a career 2B and his major league career he has hit for an underwhelming .660 OPS albeit in a small sample size. In Pawtucket his OPS was .799 against weaker minor league pitching.

As of today, this team feels half cooked and it wouldn't surprise me with this current roster if we fail to match our .500 record of last season and miss out on the playoffs.

Henry wants us to become the Tampa Rays but it's just not working. It's just way harder to attract free agents to play in a cold weather city like Boston and we don't have the no income tax advantage of the Florida club. The Red Sox can't lowball free agents and expect to sign them.

The Red Sox have been penny-wise and pound foolish for years now. We overpay for injured reclamation projects because news flash insurance pays 70-80% of the salary when they end up on IR. They only end up playing for us for half the duration of their contracts if at all.

Selling off Mookie Betts feels like the second coming of the Curse of Babe Ruth. Until Henry sells off this team it feels like we are doomed to mediocrity.

 

 

[FredLynn]

38 minutes ago, notin said:

Please never say that again.  It screams of entitlement.

 

His legacy is absolutely insured by 4 titles is 15 years for a franchise that only had 5 in their first century..

But appreciating his legacy and being satisfied with his work today are entirely separate things….

Sorry. But he DOES need to sell the team. When you stop caring about being competitive it’s time to GET OUT. And it’s clear that Henry no longer prioritizes winning.