A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

Duran, Masa & Phillips for Baty.

Sign E Suarez to DH.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran, Masa & Phillips for Baty.

No. 

[Old Red]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran, Masa & Phillips for Baty.

Sign E Suarez to DH.

The Mets don’t want Masa, and NO on Duran. No on E Suarez also. I think the Red Sox are done spending for the most part.

[Hitch]

I've signed out for the past few weeks. I didn't expect much to happen except some crazy trade proposals. I see I was right 😆

It's getting frustrating now though. At some point a move needs to be made (if it is a trade), or we're waiting on Suarez's market to disintegrate. I'd rather a trade for an infielder. Kinda feels like it should have happened by now, though.  

[Duran Is The Man]

37 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran, Masa & Phillips for Baty.

Sign E Suarez to DH.

put down the bong, Moon.

 

[notin]

33 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran, Masa & Phillips for Baty.

Sign E Suarez to DH.

Sox are much better off keeping Yoshida than dumping quality players to unload him.

A deal for Baty would probably be something simple like Bello for Baty.

At this point, Sox are probably going to maintain status quo until ST games begin, and if someone else has a pitching injury that gets them desperate, maybe we see a deal…

[notin]

4 minutes ago, Hitch said:

I've signed out for the past few weeks. I didn't expect much to happen except some crazy trade proposals. I see I was right 😆

It's getting frustrating now though. At some point a move needs to be made (if it is a trade), or we're waiting on Suarez's market to disintegrate. I'd rather a trade for an infielder. Kinda feels like it should have happened by now, though.  

Not until teams start seeing pitching injuries and get desperate.  Also it might help if Framber, Gallen and Bassett get signed…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

February is in three days. But it will always be "still early" on Red Sox message boards, all the way until the trade deadline every summer when nothing you hope for ever gets added.

[Hitch]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Not until teams start seeing pitching injuries and get desperate.  Also it might help if Framber, Gallen and Bassett get signed…

Quite surprised Framber is still out there for sure. And yes, good point, I didn't think of injuries - if we can keep our starters fit (huge IF), then we become a much more enticing trade partner. But I fear more likely is our depth will become no more by the time the opener happens, too. 

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Mets don’t want Masa, and NO on Duran. No on E Suarez also. I think the Red Sox are done spending for the most part.

It wouldn't be "spending," and that was the point in this suggestion. No Masa and Duran pays for Suarez with maybe a couple M in JH's pocket.

[Old Red]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

It wouldn't be "spending," and that was the point in this suggestion. No Masa and Duran pays for Suarez with maybe a couple M in JH's pocket.

Still the same. The Mets DO NOT want Masa, and NO on trading Duran for Baty.

[notin]

28 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Still the same. The Mets DO NOT want Masa, and NO on trading Duran for Baty.

Not to mention, Yoshida is probably a better DH than Suarez.  Unless all you care about is home runs…

[notin]

34 minutes ago, Hitch said:

Quite surprised Framber is still out there for sure. And yes, good point, I didn't think of injuries - if we can keep our starters fit (huge IF), then we become a much more enticing trade partner. But I fear more likely is our depth will become no more by the time the opener happens, too. 

My baseball nut daughter’s theory is Framber really hurt himself by throwing at his own catcher…

[moonslav59]

35 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Still the same. The Mets DO NOT want Masa, and NO on trading Duran for Baty.

Of  course the Mets don't want Masa, but they are one of the few teams that can pay him.

They want Duran for the same reason you don't want to trade him.

(Note: I don't either, but we have 4 OF'ers and 3 DHs.)

[notin]

On 1/27/2026 at 3:41 PM, drewski6 said:

No because Romy is going to play vs lefties regardless of whether or not we get paredes

Its not paredes vs romy/DHAM platoon

Because romy is going to play vs lefties, it will prob be abreu that sits

So its paredes vs Dham /Abreu

By not getting paredes, you are playing abreu vs lefties and DHam vs righties

(Romy is playing against lefties regardless)

Romy likely platoons with Hamilton or Yoshida (if Yoshida starts).   Not sure Romy’s 110 career OF innings make him a viable option for RF at Fenway…

[notin]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Of  course the Mets don't want Masa, but they are one of the few teams that can pay him.

They want Duran for the same reason you don't want to trade him.

(Note: I don't either, but we have 4 OF'ers and 3 DHs.)

The Mets acquisition of Luis Robert likely lessened their interest in trading  for outfielders.  At one point this year they were trading away Brandon Nimmo after all.  

Plus all acquiring Freddy Peralta did was temporarily upgrade their SP to a lesser grade of s*****.  So maybe that’s higher on their priority list…

[Hitch]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

My baseball nut daughter’s theory is Framber really hurt himself by throwing at his own catcher…

I wouldn't want him on our team that's for sure. 

[notin]

Just now, Hitch said:

I wouldn't want him on our team that's for sure. 

I’d probably accept him.  I accepted Bregman, after all.

But I would feel dirty about accepting Framber, if that eases my conscience…

 

[Old Red]

33 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Of  course the Mets don't want Masa, but they are one of the few teams that can pay him.

They want Duran for the same reason you don't want to trade him.

(Note: I don't either, but we have 4 OF'ers and 3 DHs.)

Are you saying the roster construction is bad? Who is responsible for that roster construction.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Hitch said:

I've signed out for the past few weeks. I didn't expect much to happen except some crazy trade proposals. I see I was right 😆

It's getting frustrating now though. At some point a move needs to be made (if it is a trade), or we're waiting on Suarez's market to disintegrate. I'd rather a trade for an infielder. Kinda feels like it should have happened by now, though.  

Here's what you missed:

Bad trade conversations. 

Luxury Tax Payroll vs Cash Payroll Supremacy

Did Breslow botch the Bregman deal? A TalkSox Investigation

 

[mvp 78]

33 minutes ago, notin said:

Romy likely platoons with Hamilton or Yoshida (if Yoshida starts).   Not sure Romy’s 110 career OF innings make him a viable option for RF at Fenway…

Fenway's unique RF issues never stopped Cora from throwing Refsnyder out there.

[mvp 78]

27 minutes ago, Hitch said:

I wouldn't want him on our team that's for sure. 

He's now doing a "I'm really a nice guy" PR campaign.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

put down the bong, Moon.

If only. 

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Fenway's unique RF issues never stopped Cora from throwing Refsnyder out there.

Didn’t he put Arroyo out there too?

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

. I think the Red Sox are done spending for the most part.

So far this off-season, the Sox have all but completely ignored the bullpen, with the biggest additions being Ryan Watson and Tyler Samaniego.   I could see adding maybe a Danny Coulombe into the mix., if you consider that spending.

One reason for the slow activity could be that the Sox are not close to adding anyone that they feel is a significant upgrade over the current 40 man roster, so there’s no one they want to DFA.  If so, maybe they are on hold until such a time as Houck can be placed on the 60 day IL..

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Didn’t he put Arroyo out there too?

7 times at Fenway.

[notin]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Fenway's unique RF issues never stopped Cora from throwing Refsnyder out there.

Fair point.  I’m hoping Cora learned from that…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

So far this off-season, the Sox have all but completely ignored the bullpen, with the biggest additions being Ryan Watson and Tyler Samaniego.  
 

I could see adding maybe a Danny Coulombe into the mix.  
 

One reason for the slow activity is the Sox are not close to adding anyone thats a significant upgrade over the current 40 man roster, so there’s no one they want to DFA.  If so, maybe they are on hold until such a time as Houck can be placed on the 60 day IL..

Yeah, they look at the young arms in AAA and just believe they'll get better innings out of them for less money than what is left in FA right now. I think they'd like Wilson back, but he wants a larger deal to come back and is leaning towards retirement. 

[notin]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Didn’t he put Arroyo out there too?

Only a few times.  He probably put Christian Vazquez at 2b about that often.  
 

While I’m not a fan of these weird one-off defensive alignments, Theyre not in the same category as putting Refsnyder in RF, which Cora clearly viewed as an acceptable weak side platoon defensive option…

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

Fair point.  I’m hoping Cora learned from that…