A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[JoeBrady]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

I have noticed fans like clean lineups. Know who plays here.  Who pitches.  Who’s the DH. Platooning is acceptable, as long as the lineup is definitive.

I would think it matters a lot to players as well.  Just imho, you have players that never move (Narvaez, Casas, Story, Bregman, Duran, Raffy and Abreu) because they are strong at their position.  Even irt rest, schedule days off for lefties when there is a lefty on the mound.  For the righties, check the schedule for pitchers that they don't hit.  Having 4 very good outfielders makes that more difficult, but I see very little need to move guys around the field.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

Sure - I dont actually think DHam will DH but my point is that there may come a time and probably will where we will be looking for offense, and Masa may be the provider of it at that point.

We got like 7 hits last postseason, and I think he had like 2 of em.

My point is, we have bigger worries than our 6th string DH.

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I'd bet that he does.  I'd be shocked if his current 2028 roster doesn't show Arias as our starting SS, and choice B being picking up Story's option.  You might not spend a lot of time on it, but I'd have a white board for every year between now and 2031.

Just for example, you wouldn't trade for a MLB-ready 23 year old OF because the board tells you that you won't have an opening for a number of years.  I wouldn't trade Witherspoon for a glove-first SS with an ETA of 2028 because we already have one.

I guarantee you that he's not using white boards in 2026. 

Why would he show Arias as a starting SS if he hasn't shown the ability to even hit at AA? It doesn't make sense. All these guys are fungible to Breslow. They probably should be as long as there is enough of them.

[notin]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I guarantee you that he's not using white boards in 2026. 

Why would he show Arias as a starting SS if he hasn't shown the ability to even hit at AA? It doesn't make sense. All these guys are fungible to Breslow. They probably should be as long as there is enough of them.

Not to mention, positions changeup.  As recently as 12 months ago, who was penciling Mayer for 3b and Campbell for LF?

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, notin said:

Really?  Seems to me thats how teams would shoot themselves in the foot, among other places.

Fortunately MLB teams clearly don’t do that, which is why we see them do things like spend a first round pick on SS Mikey Romero one year after spending a first round pick on his former teammate SS Marcelo Mayer…

They didn't trade Jhostynxon until he was actually on the 40 man. I think they aren't real in a future sense until they are pushing the AAA level and making big waves. Arias might be a highly ranked prospect, but he's not exactly tearing through the system. There's an obvious path where he's not good enough to be an everyday player. 

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

Not to mention, positions changeup.  As recently as 12 months ago, who was penciling Mayer for 3b and Campbell for LF?

Let me look on one of my 10 white boards! 

[Randy Red Sox]

On 1/16/2026 at 8:32 AM, drewski6 said:

Anthony doesnt really have the loft to bat third (at present, launch angle will likely improve), but Im okay with second.

Duran
Anthony
<please be an elite hitter or close>
Contreras
Abreu
Story

And we're cooking (especially with our pitching staff)

they probably don't want 2 LH back to back at the top.

[Randy Red Sox]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Not to mention, positions changeup.  As recently as 12 months ago, who was penciling Mayer for 3b and Campbell for LF?

right now it's like Mayer at 3B and Campbell at 2B

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

right now it's like Mayer at 3B and Campbell at 2B

I don’t believe Campbell is penciled in at 2B at this point in time.

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

they probably don't want 2 LH back to back at the top.

It worked fine  when Raffy was batting 2nd behind Duran.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

right now it's like Mayer at 3B and Campbell at 2B

There’s been much more buzz about Campbell in LF all off-season.  The Sox dont have a 2b right now and Campbell still rarely gets mentioned…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

There’s been much more buzz about Campbell in LF all off-season.  The Sox dont have a 2b right now and Campbell still rarely gets mentioned…

They have a 2b right now. Nobody wants to hear it though.

 

[notin]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

They have a 2b right now. Nobody wants to hear it though.

 

Is that the guy Soxprospects is calling Acquisition?

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

It worked fine  when Raffy was batting 2nd behind Duran.

Duran/Anthony could work fine. Anthony had a 770 OPS vs LHP last year, which is better than Devers's in '24 or '25. 

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

Is that the guy Soxprospects is calling Acquisition?

Weird nickname for sure. Not as good as "The Wizard of Oz." 

[UtahSox]

24 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

they probably don't want 2 LH back to back at the top.

Sweet go get Paredes…,

1- Duran

2- Paredes

3- Anthony

4- Contreras

5- Abreu

6- Story 

L-R-L-R-L-R

I didn’t know how good paredes was at not striking out… that would be a perfect number two hitter. 

[notin]

38 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I would think it matters a lot to players as well.  Just imho, you have players that never move (Narvaez, Casas, Story, Bregman, Duran, Raffy and Abreu) because they are strong at their position.  Even irt rest, schedule days off for lefties when there is a lefty on the mound.  For the righties, check the schedule for pitchers that they don't hit.  Having 4 very good outfielders makes that more difficult, but I see very little need to move guys around the field.

 I’m sure it matters to some players, and others just don’t care.  The “players need to know their roles” is just a veiled management criticism.  Sure, some absolutely do.  But you cannot paint all 780 major leaguers wuth the same broad brush…

[notin]

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Weird nickname for sure. Not as good as "The Wizard of Oz." 

Maybe if we expanded it to “The Acquisitionator”?

[moonslav59]

48 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I don’t believe Campbell is penciled in at 2B at this point in time.

I don't either.

If he rakes in ST'ing and is playing 2B, maybe.

If he's playing LF in ST'ing: 0% he starts at 2B.

No additions, I'll guess...

3B: Mayer

2B: Romy/DHam

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Let me look on one of my 10 white boards! 

Only 10?  Rookie!! Do you even have one with Henry Godbout in CF?

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

Only 10?  Rookie!! Do you even have one with Henry Godbout in CF?

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

They didn't trade Jhostynxon until he was actually on the 40 man. I think they aren't real in a future sense until they are pushing the AAA level and making big waves. Arias might be a highly ranked prospect, but he's not exactly tearing through the system. There's an obvious path where he's not good enough to be an everyday player. 

They like to have versatile organizational depth, not an earmarked player penciled in to each position for the next 7 years.

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, notin said:

 I’m sure it matters to some players, and others just don’t care.  The “players need to know their roles” is just a veiled management criticism.  Sure, some absolutely do.  But you cannot paint all 780 major leaguers wuth the same broad brush…

(its boomer talk)

[notin]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

(its boomer talk)

Is it just me or would “Boomer Talk” be a good name for a cover band playing songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s?

[moonslav59]

You mean George Scott talk?

[moonslav59]

Looking at the end of season rosters from 2023, it is rather stunning the amount of overhaul our pitching has underwent.

Gone from the 2023 EOY Rosters:

MLB: Sale, Pivetta, Paxton, Jansen, Martin, Wink, Schreiber, Bernardino, Murphy, Joely, N Robertson, Llovera

AAA: Walter, Barraclough, Van Belle, Gambrell, R Gomez (Drohan- left & returned) Ort, Mata, Weiss, Jacquez, Garza, Gillaspie, Politi, Guerrero, Booser, German and 5 others

AA: Dobbins, Wikelman, Sharp, Bastardo, Hoppe, Troye, Zeferjahn, Miller, Cellucci, Olds, Broadway, Denlinger & 3 others

A+: Perales, Penrod, Cepeda and 11 others

A-: out of 20 pitchers, I see only Mullins, Dean& Early

The pitchers still here:

Whitlock, Bello, Crawford, Houck, Kelly

Uberstine, Drohan, Mullins, Liu, I Coffey, Monegro, Rogers, Dean, Song, Sena, Early, Valera

[mvp 78]

28 minutes ago, notin said:

Is it just me or would “Boomer Talk” be a good name for a cover band playing songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s?

"Tonight, 3 hours of the Moody Blues, performed by the Moody Dudes."

 

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Looking at the end of season rosters from 2023, it is rather stunning the amount of overhaul our pitching has underwent.

Gone from the 2023 EOY Rosters:

MLB: Sale, Pivetta, Paxton, Jansen, Martin, Wink, Schreiber, Bernardino, Murphy, Joely, N Robertson, Llovera

AAA: Walter, Barraclough, Van Belle, Gambrell, R Gomez (Drohan- left & returned) Ort, Mata, Weiss, Jacquez, Garza, Gillaspie, Politi, Guerrero, Booser, German and 5 others

AA: Dobbins, Wikelman, Sharp, Bastardo, Hoppe, Troye, Zeferjahn, Miller, Cellucci, Olds, Broadway, Denlinger & 3 others

A+: Perales, Penrod, Cepeda and 11 others

A-: out of 20 pitchers, I see only Mullins, Dean& Early

The pitchers still here:

Whitlock, Bello, Crawford, Houck, Kelly

Uberstine, Drohan, Mullins, Liu, I Coffey, Monegro, Rogers, Dean, Song, Sena, Early, Valera

Forgot Murphy was traded. 

[drewski6]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Looking at the end of season rosters from 2023, it is rather stunning the amount of overhaul our pitching has underwent.

Gone from the 2023 EOY Rosters:

MLB: Sale, Pivetta, Paxton, Jansen, Martin, Wink, Schreiber, Bernardino, Murphy, Joely, N Robertson, Llovera

AAA: Walter, Barraclough, Van Belle, Gambrell, R Gomez (Drohan- left & returned) Ort, Mata, Weiss, Jacquez, Garza, Gillaspie, Politi, Guerrero, Booser, German and 5 others

AA: Dobbins, Wikelman, Sharp, Bastardo, Hoppe, Troye, Zeferjahn, Miller, Cellucci, Olds, Broadway, Denlinger & 3 others

A+: Perales, Penrod, Cepeda and 11 others

A-: out of 20 pitchers, I see only Mullins, Dean& Early

The pitchers still here:

Whitlock, Bello, Crawford, Houck, Kelly

Uberstine, Drohan, Mullins, Liu, I Coffey, Monegro, Rogers, Dean, Song, Sena, Early, Valera

And Drohan and Song left and came back.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

And Drohan and Song left and came back.

So, basically 14 pitchers that have been in the Sox system from the 2023 through today. (Houck will be on the IL, so he barely counts.)