A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

No one else on the forum thinks it might be a bad idea to get rid of a good hitter on an offense that might only be barely good?

Rephrasing: why would a team that is committed to pitching and defense -- and not offense -- think it wise to dump their career leader in batting average (minimum 1200 PA)?

The 2026 Red Sox need as many bats as they can get! Why cut a guy that bugs posters because he's short, runs methodically and plays left field 20 times better than Manny (Yoshida dWAR -2.4, Ramirez dWAR -21.7)?

 

[notin]

22 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

No one else on the forum thinks it might be a bad idea to get rid of a good hitter on an offense that might only be barely good?

Rephrasing: why would a team that is committed to pitching and defense -- and not offense -- think it wise to dump their career leader in batting average (minimum 1200 PA)?

The 2026 Red Sox need as many bats as they can get! Why cut a guy that bugs posters because he's short, runs methodically and plays left field 20 times better than Manny (Yoshida dWAR -2.4, Ramirez dWAR -21.7)?

 

I think it’s a bad idea.  Does that mean you think I’m no one?  Like if I was walking through the forest and a tree fell in front of me, you think it wouldn’t make a sound?

[drewski6]

24 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

No one else on the forum thinks it might be a bad idea to get rid of a good hitter on an offense that might only be barely good?

Rephrasing: why would a team that is committed to pitching and defense -- and not offense -- think it wise to dump their career leader in batting average (minimum 1200 PA)?

The 2026 Red Sox need as many bats as they can get! Why cut a guy that bugs posters because he's short, runs methodically and plays left field 20 times better than Manny (Yoshida dWAR -2.4, Ramirez dWAR -21.7)?

 

1. Trading Yoshida is a lesser evil than trading Duran or Abreu to create a path for Yoshida.
2. Yoshida is a lefty, Eaton is a righty has speed/utility off the bench, defensively versatile.  Eaton is probably a better bench player but can be sent down, and Im okay with sending him down initially while we continue to assess (roster battles continue into the season)
3. I think it is a bad idea to trade Yoshida on 3/6/2026, especially before we ask if he is okay with a minor league assignment. I doubt he'd say yes.  This right here, makes it hard for me, a very pro platoon guy, to warrant keeping him on the 26 man in lieu of someone who can hit lefties - but Im willing to start the year with the better bench players in AAA because Yoshida prob wont agree to be sent down.

I think most likely is that we'll send everyone down who we can. SO maybe Eaton makes more sense as a bench role, but sorry bro - you have options - down to AAA. Ditto Ward.  Maybe ditto Monasterio too.

Im willing to try somethign outside the box like, oh I dont know, 5 bench players and one less pen arm in April when there are a ton of days off in the first few weeks.  Not sure why 5 bench players went extinct, it use to be a real thing.  

Im willing to start the year sending everyone down who we can to postpone having to make a decision at that point. Buy ourselves time to continue to assess.  Im willing to open Masa on the 26 man.  But eventually, someone may force a decision (maybe not, maybe there will always be a revolving door of 2 guys hurt).  One key date may be Romys return.  For no other reason than - gotta cut someone from teh 26 to make room for Romy and it may force a decision (again, maybe not if someone else is hurt).

Im open to someone pushing Masa off the 26 man eventually. Maybe thats KC, Monasterio, Ward, Eaton...Personally, its not Casas for me.  I take Yoshi > Casas all f'ing day.  Even if Casas is healthy, hes prob not the same person he was in 2023 , in fact hes prob less athletic/durable today then he was then. He might even be fatter. His bat speed may have slowed down.  He might need another full year to get back to where he was in 2023 which wasnt a wartless player. He prob still has holes in his swing/approach like always and slow start like always. This isnt to say that I hate Casas or think we should DFA him today or trade him today (common theme: hoard as many options as you can).  But I do have Masa > Casas on my depth chart.  And yes, thats even if Contreras gets hurt.  Yoshi should learn first base , ive been saying it for a year.

[drewski6]

28 minutes ago, notin said:

I think it’s a bad idea.  Does that mean you think I’m no one?  Like if I was walking through the first and a tree fell in front of me, you think it wouldn’t make a sound?

You are very good about staying even/pragmatic.  I was team Yoshida on the 26 man until I fell in love with Eaton and Ward.  Now Im less team Yoshida.  Im prob jsut flat more emotional than you (juxtaposition intended). You are prob jsut more level than I am.  This is intended to be a compliment.

I think your plan: send down who you can, even if that is someone who impressed this spring.  Lets keep as much depth as possible.  This use to be my plan.  Now my plan is : Braiden Ward can bunt single and steal at will and he'll prob break the single season record for runs scored in a season by bunting, getting on at a 50% clip, and stealing second and third every time.  Who has the record for runs scored in a single season. I know RBIs is Hack Wilson and thats my showing off (I didnt google it).  I think runs record probably Rickey, right? If its not Rickey (or Ichiro) its prob someone from before 1940.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

52 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

1. Trading Yoshida is a lesser evil than trading Duran or Abreu 

Yours was a well thought-out post, but I'm only quoting the first part of the first line because I think it's evil to trade any of those guys right now.

I suspect the Red Sox offense will strain to score enough runs to support their great rotation and back end bullpen -- and we'll need all the bats on the roster that can contribute.

Boston's best offensive players, at whatever definitions analysts want to use -- ops, contact, pop, speed -- include the following Top 10, however they're ranked: Anthony, Contreras, Story, Duran, Abreu, Yoshida, Durbin, Rafaela, Narvaez.

(Casas and Romy are currently ineligible. Mayer and Campbell want to be eligible).

All of them have their issues. That's why we're going to need them all. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, notin said:

I think it’s a bad idea.  Does that mean you think I’m no one?  Like if I was walking through the first and a tree fell in front of me, you think it wouldn’t make a sound?

If it fell into two feet of powder it would be as silent as an owl floating from one tree to the next. But after the freezing rain we're getting turns the snow to an ice cover, we'd hear a big crack when it hits, then a little one after it slides off and breaks your toes, then a bigger screech like the crows begging for stale bread.

[Old Red]

12 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Yours was a well thought-out post, but I'm only quoting the first part of the first line because I think it's evil to trade any of those guys right now.

I suspect the Red Sox offense will strain to score enough runs to support their great rotation and back end bullpen -- and we'll need all the bats on the roster that can contribute.

Boston's best offensive players, at whatever definitions analysts want to use -- ops, contact, pop, speed -- include the following Top 10, however they're ranked: Anthony, Contreras, Story, Duran, Abreu, Yoshida, Durbin, Rafaela, Narvaez.

(Casas and Romy are currently ineligible. Mayer and Campbell want to be eligible).

All of them have their issues. That's why we're going to need them all. 

I agree if all are going to get AB, but with one of the OF being the DH where is Masa going to get AB from? There are only 2 bench spots open, and only 1 with Romy, so just carrying Masa as a BACKUP DH just doesn’t make roster sense. Of course the $18M owed may make it more so.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I just don't think an Abreu for Paredes trade makes sense due to the additional 2 years of control. Sox aren't in a hurry to move an OFer now. HOU would have to really wow Breslow with an offer for Abreu. HOU just had Pena hurt his finger. Deal probably doesn't get done. 

Abreu might outhit Paredes, and yes the 2 extra years makes getting 4 years of King and 5 years of Janek necessary to even think about it.

Duran is another story.

[notin]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

You are very good about staying even/pragmatic.  I was team Yoshida on the 26 man until I fell in love with Eaton and Ward.  Now Im less team Yoshida.  Im prob jsut flat more emotional than you (juxtaposition intended). You are prob jsut more level than I am.  This is intended to be a compliment.

I think your plan: send down who you can, even if that is someone who impressed this spring.  Lets keep as much depth as possible.  This use to be my plan.  Now my plan is : Braiden Ward can bunt single and steal at will and he'll prob break the single season record for runs scored in a season by bunting, getting on at a 50% clip, and stealing second and third every time.  Who has the record for runs scored in a single season. I know RBIs is Hack Wilson and thats my showing off (I didnt google it).  I think runs record probably Rickey, right? If its not Rickey (or Ichiro) its prob someone from before 1940.

Ok, 0 chance Braiden Ward breaks the single season record for runs scored.  It’s 198 runs by Billy Hamilton, the Hall of Famer, not the former Red-Padre-Cub-White Sox-Marlin-Blue-Jay-Yakut Swallow(?). The original Hamilton might be better known as the guy who had the career stolen base record before Lou Brock broke it.  

Hamilton set this record in 1894, so it’s clearly no easy one to break.  Ward’s minor league career high is 76 runs scored.

But he is clearly in a mild Breslow likes - multi-positional players like IKF, Gasper, and Siegler, with all but IKF showing solid on base skills.  (It does make me wonder how Bryan Torres got past Breslow.)

I think Ward has a shot at his MLB debut at some point this year.  But he is behind folks like Siegler and Gasper, both of whom are already on the 40 man roster despite not putting on the spring training show Ward is…

[moonslav59]

Bernardino was no slouch. We traded him for Ward, so I think Brez really likes this guy.

Last year, Newcomb snuck on the roster, after we thought our SP'er depth went 9-10 deep (not even counting Tolle & Early.)

[moonslav59]

A review of the Sox significant or semi-significant winter transactions by timeline...

DFA'd/non tendered: N Lowe & Winckowski

Traded: Guerrero for Tristan Gray

Traded: Chris Murphy for Ronny Hernandez

Traded: Bernardino for Braided Ward

Traded: Alex Hoppe for Luke Heyman

Traded: Fitts, Clarke & PTBNL for Sonny Gray and $20M

Traded: Jh Garcia & J Travieso for J Oviedo, T Samaniego & A Guzman

Traded: Grisson for Isaiah Jackson

Traded: Justin Riemer for Rule 5 Ryan Watson

Lost: J Paez to Rule 5.

Traded: Luis Perales for Jake Bennett

Traded: Dobbins, Fajardo & B Aita for Contreras & $4M x 2 years.

Signed Range Suarez

Traded:Tristan Gray for Nate Baez

Traded: Hicks, Sandlin & 2 PTBNL for Gage Ziehl & PTBNL

Claimed: Mickey Gasper & T-C Cheng

Traded: Harrison, Drohan & DHam for Durbin, Monasterio, Seigler & Round B Comp Pick

Signed: Kiner-Falefa

We traded 20 players for 17 and signed 2 Free Agents.

[moonslav59]

Here is a look at one idea of what our SP'er depth chart from 2025 looked like and one view of the 2026 one:

2025: Crochet, Houck, Buehler, Giolito, Bello

Depth: Crawford, Fitts, Newcomb, Dobbins, Criswell, Priester, Fulmer, Drohan, de Leon (Perales, Sandlin, Tolle, Early) Added: Harrison & D May/ Traded away: Newcomb & Priester.

2026: Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Bello, Houck (IL) Oviedo

Depth: Crawford, Sandoval, Early, Tolle, Uberstine, Sikkema, I Coffey (Bennett, Mullins, Holobetz)

To me, the top 3 are light years better looking that what we thought we had, last March. The top 5 and 7 look better, to me, too. Early & Tolle at 8 and 9 have immense promise.

I'd say this area has improved.

 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Traded: Grisson for Isaiah Campbell

Jackson

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Jackson

Thnx. Fixed it.

[notin]

21 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

If it fell into two feet of powder it would be as silent as an owl floating from one tree to the next. But after the freezing rain we're getting turns the snow to an ice cover, we'd hear a big crack when it hits, then a little one after it slides off and breaks your toes, then a bigger screech like the crows begging for stale bread.

Ummmm …

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

47 minutes ago, notin said:

Ummmm …

If you think any of this is unlikely, consider the WBC so far:

Moon leads in RBI, the Son of Manny (age 20) leads in homers, the Son of Jose Contreras (age 17) got Judge to ground into a DP, and Jeter Downs is batting a thousand.

For the real Red Sox, Suarez is 1-0, Anthony is batting .500 with an OPS of 1.167, and Abreu is .500, 1.000.

They've been almost as good as Yoshida: .571, 1.768.

 

[moonslav59]

One area of doubt remains as a couple pen slots are uncertain. One main decision involves management deciding on whether they want to convert a starter to the pen right away, later in the season or not all. I think that was part of last year's plan, and it barely happened, as we began the season with Crawford, Gio and Sandoval on the IL, then lost Houck, Dobbins and others.

We do have some clearly defined roles for closer Chapman, top set-up man Whitlock and the hopefully-healthy Slaten. It looks like Weissert will fill the key 4th RP'er slot that often is needed in moderate to high leverage situations. After the top 4, it gets a little complicated, since there are Rule 5 issues (Watson) and no options issues (Moran.) Those two will likely make the opening day 26 man roster, unless they really stink over the next 2 weeks or get hurt (phantom or otherwise.) That leaves 2 slots for...

Crawford may start the year on the IL or rehabbing in AAA as a starter.

Sandoval may be the guy the convert to the pen. Recent injury issues might play into the choice, and it seems like Oviedo will be our #5. I'm thinking he will be one of the 8.

Zack Kelly still has an option, so he can be beat out by someone, but he might have the best chance for the 8 slot.

There are still some decent FAs out there. Or waiting for last minute waiver pitchers or out of options squeezed players on other team's being traded near opening day.

Sikkema might be this year's Newcomb. soxprospects,com mentioned Wu-Yelland as an outside candidate.

Song has looked really good in ST'ing but I don't see them adding him to the 40 to take the last slot.

Uberstine?

I'm pretty sure they want to keep Early & Tolle in the AAA rotation, until needed as starters, but at some point, our pen needs and playoff aspirations might trump that desire.

[UtahSox]

On 3/5/2026 at 10:54 AM, moonslav59 said:

We aren't trading Masa.

I don’t disagree that we aren’t trading Masa, but I do believe we COULD even if it meant covering 28-32m of his last 36 million. Meaning Masa at 4 million a year would have many bidders that would create a market. 

[UtahSox]

On 3/6/2026 at 9:26 AM, drewski6 said:

You are very good about staying even/pragmatic.  I was team Yoshida on the 26 man until I fell in love with Eaton and Ward.  Now Im less team Yoshida.  Im prob jsut flat more emotional than you (juxtaposition intended). You are prob jsut more level than I am.  This is intended to be a compliment.

I think your plan: send down who you can, even if that is someone who impressed this spring.  Lets keep as much depth as possible.  This use to be my plan.  Now my plan is : Braiden Ward can bunt single and steal at will and he'll prob break the single season record for runs scored in a season by bunting, getting on at a 50% clip, and stealing second and third every time.  Who has the record for runs scored in a single season. I know RBIs is Hack Wilson and thats my showing off (I didnt google it).  I think runs record probably Rickey, right? If its not Rickey (or Ichiro) its prob someone from before 1940.

He just blocks too many young people routes to MLB production. 
OF he blocks KC, Eaton and MAYBE Ward. 
DH he blocks Casas ( I know you don’t think highly of him) but some on here think he is a 30HR 800+ OPS guy if healthy. Meaning if he’s healthy, he needs those at bats over MY. 
 

Knowing all of this, even with the chance of injury, I think it’s worth to throw him out there to the trade market right now and tag $26 million to his chest. See where you get bidders to jump on. As people have said he is batting cleanup for Japan. You have to acknowledge somewhere somehow, maybe we have not been good for him.
Maybe Fenway dimensions just got in his head, but we know he would welcome a trade, and all it takes is one.

[notin]

59 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

If you think any of this is unlikely, consider the WBC so far:

Moon leads in RBI, the Son of Manny (age 20) leads in homers, the Son of Jose Contreras (age 17) got Judge to ground into a DP, and Jeter Downs is batting a thousand.

For the real Red Sox, Suarez is 1-0, Anthony is batting .500 with an OPS of 1.167, and Abreu is .500, 1.000.

They've been almost as good as Yoshida: .571, 1.768.

 

I’m south you.  I’m Pro-Shida.

It seems silly to let a good hitter go while keeping Mickey Gasper…

[notin]

16 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

I don’t disagree that we aren’t trading Masa, but I do believe we COULD even if it meant covering 28-32m of his last 36 million. Meaning Masa at 4 million a year would have many bidders that would create a market. 

And why do that?  If you’re paying that much of his salary, just keep him…

[notin]

13 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

He just blocks too many young people routes to MLB production. 
OF he blocks KC, Eaton and MAYBE Ward. 
DH he blocks Casas ( I know you don’t think highly of him) but some on here think he is a 30HR 800+ OPS guy if healthy. Meaning if he’s healthy, he needs those at bats over MY. 
 

Knowing all of this, even with the chance of injury, I think it’s worth to throw him out there to the trade market right now and tag $26 million to his chest. See where you get bidders to jump on. As people have said he is batting cleanup for Japan. You have to acknowledge somewhere somehow, maybe we have not been good for him.
Maybe Fenway dimensions just got in his head, but we know he would welcome a trade, and all it takes is one.

Huh?

Yoshida is blocking a 29 year old AAAA player that was released by the Royals, a team that needs outfielders!?! If Eaton had a path to production, he’d still be eating quality barbecue.

And he isn’t blocking Ward, either, since award isn’t even on the 40 man roster (and, at age 28, it’s kind of questionable to think he’s a prospect.)  

Yoshida isn’t “blocking” Casas, either.  First of all, Casas’ inability to perform mundane baseball tasks without sustaining a season-ending injury is what blocks Casas.  Second, if Casas is actually better than Yoshida, then Casas will start over him...

 

 

[moonslav59]

22 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

I don’t disagree that we aren’t trading Masa, but I do believe we COULD even if it meant covering 28-32m of his last 36 million. Meaning Masa at 4 million a year would have many bidders that would create a market. 

I agree. I think "saving" $4-5M is enough to make a difference for a deadline addition, and the roster slot is better filled by Monasterio, Romy, Ward or even Eaton. I'd say KC, but he will not be on the bench. With a DH logjam, KC is blocked there, too. Maybe a Masa trade allows for KC to get a shot there, even without an OF injury.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

Huh?

Yoshida is blocking a 29 year old AAAA player that was released by the Royals, a team that needs outfielders!?! If Eaton had a path to production, he’d still be eating quality barbecue.

And he isn’t blocking Ward, either, since award isn’t even on the 40 man roster (and, at age 28, it’s kind of questionable to think he’s a prospect.)  

Yoshida isn’t “blocking” Casas, either.  First of all, Casas’ inability to perform mundane baseball tasks without sustaining a season-ending injury is what blocks Casas.  Second, if Casas is actually better than Yoshida, then Casas will start over him...

Yoshida was hurt, last year, too, so yes, he blocks Casas.

With a healthy Contreras, the only slot for Casas is DH. For a career .800 batter who averages 30 HRs per 650, it seems obvious that, if healthy, Masa is totally blocking Casas. The only alternative view would be that Casas would be blocking Masa as the DH, since both are LHBs.

BTW, Casas hits LHPs better than Masa. He does not need a platoon.

[notin]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yoshida was hurt, last year, too, so yes, he blocks Casas.

With a healthy Contreras, the only slot for Casas is DH. For a career .800 batter who averages 30 HRs per 650, it seems obvious that, if healthy, Masa is totally blocking Casas. The only alternative view would be that Casas would be blocking Masa as the DH, since both are LHBs.

BTW, Casas hits LHPs better than Masa. He does not need a platoon.

The Sox don’t have a healthy Casas.  Why make a spot for him now?   It’s like the Sox just forgot about Tanner Houck when they gave all that money to Ranger Suarez!!

Eaton is not some “up and coming” young outfielder who needs a path to production.  And Braiden Ward is not the Second Coming of Ty Cobb.

$4-5 million for an addition at the deadline? Trade Yoshida and outfield becomes thin enough that you increase the chance youre using those savings to replace the outfield depth you lost in Yoshida. And no, Nate Eaton is not going to be an exciting full time player.  KC didn’t let him walk because they feared his overflowing potential. 
 

Simple question - who would have helped the Sox more last August/September - Dustin May or Quinn Priester?

[moonslav59]

21 minutes ago, notin said:

The Sox don’t have a healthy Casas.  Why make a spot for him now?  

I'm fine with waiting a few weeks or months, or even long enough to get a good read on Casas, but I also like Romy & KC as DH's. I don't see KC as being short-side platooned, so he could be the FT DH, if an OF'er gets hurt. Yes, both KC & Romy are RH'd, but Duran isn't.

Masa is blocked by Duran, so using one of the 4 bench slots for a DH that will likely be platooned does kinda make me think, why not now, if someone offers to pay a chunk of his deal?

He may be worthless by the time Casas is healthy.

We certainly have a logjam at DH, even if Casas never returns.

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, notin said:

$4-5 million for an addition at the deadline? Trade Yoshida and outfield becomes thin enough that you increase the chance youre using those savings to replace the outfield depth you lost in Yoshida.

It's not like I'm saying having OF depth is worthless. Of course it has real value. 

Since adding Durbin and Contreras plus 2 decent SP'ers, we don't have the gaping hole we had a couple months ago, but we still have weaker positions where an upgrade looks better on paper than having amazing OF depth.

Maybe I have more faith in KC than you do. Others can play OF, too.

No, Ward and Eaton should not be viewed as FT'ers, if an OF'er goes out for the season, and yes, we can cite examples where we thought we had depth, only to find out it wasn't enough.

I'm fully aware of the risks. I still think the roster was let unbalanced, again, while other high needs were not filled as well as they could have been.

I'm not sure many trades make sense, now for an OF'er, but I do think if someone is interested in Masa, I'd do what I can to help rebalance the roster. We'd still have an OF logjam, but with DH less crowded, we can give Cora better roster flexibility with someone who is not a platoon DH only guy.

[notin]

38 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's not like I'm saying having OF depth is worthless. Of course it has real value. 

Since adding Durbin and Contreras plus 2 decent SP'ers, we don't have the gaping hole we had a couple months ago, but we still have weaker positions where an upgrade looks better on paper than having amazing OF depth.

Maybe I have more faith in KC than you do. Others can play OF, too.

No, Ward and Eaton should not be viewed as FT'ers, if an OF'er goes out for the season, and yes, we can cite examples where we thought we had depth, only to find out it wasn't enough.

I'm fully aware of the risks. I still think the roster was let unbalanced, again, while other high needs were not filled as well as they could have been.

I'm not sure many trades make sense, now for an OF'er, but I do think if someone is interested in Masa, I'd do what I can to help rebalance the roster. We'd still have an OF logjam, but with DH less crowded, we can give Cora better roster flexibility with someone who is not a platoon DH only guy.

Do people not get how depth works?  I nblame the sports media, you know, the folks who saw a team with two good quarterbacks and labeled it a “controversy”.

Just because they keep Yoshida does not impact the playing time of others if they prove better.  If Campbell outhits Yoshida, he likely plays ahead of him at some point in the six month long schedule that features a game nearly every day.

Did people forget last year, this team managed to find over 250 plate appearances for Abraham Toro?  That at some point, Blake Sabol was batting?  Or that the 2024 Red Sox gave over 500 combined plate appearances to Enmanuel Valdez and Dominic Smith?  Where were these guys on your March Depth Charts?

If your argument in March rests solely on Yoshida or Hamilton or whoever being in line for PT ahead of someone you would rather watch, that’s on you for either unrealistic expectations or favoritism.  Let Campbell (who is a terrible argument for a bench spot over Yoshida) earn his way back.  I think he will.  I also think it’s irrelevant here.

The choice comes down to an NPB superstar or some AAAA player like Eaton or Gasper or Siegler or Sogard, I don’t get why anyone is even considering the career minor leaguers.

But hey, maybe the Sox can trade Yoshida, watch another outfielder get hurt and we finally get to see what happens if Nate Eaton gets 400 PAs against MLB pitching.  I set the over/under for his OPS at .590…

[moonslav59]

28 minutes ago, notin said:

Do people not get how depth works?  I nblame the sports media, you know, the folks who saw a team with two good quarterbacks and labeled it a “controversy”.

Just because they keep Yoshida does not impact the playing time of others if they prove better.  If Campbell outhits Yoshida, he likely plays ahead of him at some point in the six month long schedule that features a game nearly every day.

Did people forget last year, this team managed to find over 250 plate appearances for Abraham Toro?  That at some point, Blake Sabol was batting?  Or that the 2024 Red Sox gave over 500 combined plate appearances to Enmanuel Valdez and Dominic Smith?  Where were these guys on your March Depth Charts?

If your argument in March rests solely on Yoshida or Hamilton or whoever being in line for PT ahead of someone you would rather watch, that’s on you for either unrealistic expectations or favoritism.  Let Campbell (who is a terrible argument for a bench spot over Yoshida) earn his way back.  I think he will.  I also think it’s irrelevant here.

The choice comes down to an NPB superstar or some AAAA player like Eaton or Gasper or Siegler or Sogard, I don’t get why anyone is even considering the career minor leaguers.

But hey, maybe the Sox can trade Yoshida, watch another outfielder get hurt and we finally get to see what happens if Nate Eaton gets 400 PAs against MLB pitching.  I set the over/under for his OPS at .590…

Yes, I know how depth works.

Yes, I have seen examples where even good depth was not good enough, as recently as last year.

Yes, I saw Toro get way too many PAs, but we all knew we had poor 1B depth, last year, and needing Romy at 2B kept him from playing 1B, and we waited too long to get Nate Lowe.

Do people know how improving your weakest slot on the roster is often the best way to improve a team, and that you have to give to get? I'm assuming you know this.

I'm assuming you also know that often the best way to improve a weak or weaker area is to trade from an area where you feel you have someone who can replace the guy you trade with not much of a drop off, of the drop off is less than the gain made at the other position.

My winter mantra was more about trading an OF'er, because I felt the "drop off" from Duran to Masa/Casas/Romy/KC at DH was not as much as the gain we would have gotten at 3B/2B/SP or even 1B, before we got Contreras, Gray and then Suarez & Durbin. Yes, I suggested some Masa trades, but I felt trading an OF'er made more sense, and saving $4M was not all that valuable.

Now that we have the 4 guys I mentioned, the "weak or weaker" areas are not so pronounced. The need is not as great, and the OF depth "trade off" is not such a clear action to take, but the fact remains that we have a logjam at OF and DH or OF/DH, since Duran plays both.

I don't see a big drop off from Masa to Casas/KC/Romy, but certainly there could be. An injury to one of the 3 OF'ers moves Duran to the OF and forces the issue of there being a drop off or not, and $4M in savings may not make up for it, if Masas does well and the 3 guys I named suck or are (still) injured. I get that. It's a risk.

I disagree that the choice come down to Masa vs Eaton/Gasper/Seagler, but even if it did, it doesn't mean one of them play in Masa's vacated role. Romy would likely DH not one of them.

Yes, Romy and Casas will start the year on the IL, and I'm all for waiting until one returns to make the trade, but when they do, it's not Eaton vs Masa- it's one of them vs Masa or a demotion to Montasario. With IKF, I can see not thinking Montasario is all that important, but until Mayer proves he belongs, I think he's more valuable than Masa, even as a PH or platoon for Mayer, until Romy returns. There is also still a chance Durbin is not as good as we think. Of course, there is no hurry to dump Masa as we give Durbin a look. We won't need to replace Durbin, if he sucks, for a while. There is no urgency to replace Masa, until Romy and or Casas is ready, but I still think I'd trade him, if someone offered to pay $4M x 2 or more. Knowing JH, that $4M is likely needed to allow for a deadline trade, once we actually see where the need is- like last year at 1B, 2B and eventually SP.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I'm totally with notin. The thought of paying Yoshida's salary to hit for some other team makes me nauseous.

I'd argue it's foolish to trade him now, even to another club willing to pay his whole contract. Now that he's finally healthy, maybe he can do what Story did last year -- show the Nation how good he can be and earn his money.

The main gripe on this forum is that Masataka Yoshida just isn't versatile enough to be a Boston Red Sox. But don't forget: Breslow left the '26 club a bat short in the middle of the order -- we all agreed on that all winter. And this Sox batting order just isn't versatile enough to be losing more bats...