A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Not at all. I think everyone knows what you’ll pretty much get out of Masa.

He's older, and we do know a little more, but maybe at the age starts a decline. 

Casas is pre-prime but has the injury thing and not quite enough of a sample size to know anything for sure.

The thing that kinda hits me a lil bit is that Masa has just 250 more PAs in MLB than Casas, but it feels like we can predict him way easier than Casas.

[Old Red]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He's older, and we do know a little more, but maybe at the age starts a decline. 

Casas is pre-prime but has the injury thing and not quite enough of a sample size to know anything for sure.

The thing that kinda hits me a lil bit is that Masa has just 250 more PAs in MLB than Casas, but it feels like we can predict him way easier than Casas.

That’s true in MLB, but Bloom gave Masa that Contract for what he did in Japan hoping that would carry over to MLB. Casas has to work his way back, and has to produce, and I don’t know even then if he has the luxury of having a slow start even if he does get regular AB, which at the moment I don’t see that happening, or Masa either for that.

[moonslav59]

22 minutes ago, Old Red said:

That’s true in MLB, but Bloom gave Masa that Contract for what he did in Japan hoping that would carry over to MLB. Casas has to work his way back, and has to produce, and I don’t know even then if he has the luxury of having a slow start even if he does get regular AB, which at the moment I don’t see that happening, or Masa either for that.

I do feel like Masa is more of a known than Casas, but it seems closer, to me. Casas has better numbers and IMO, more upside (and maybe downside, too.)

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I do feel like Masa is more of a known than Casas, but it seems closer, to me. Casas has better numbers and IMO, more upside (and maybe downside, too.)

Either way as it stands right now Masa is healthy, and Casas most likely won’t be to start the season, but even if, and when he gets healthy as it stands now with an outfielder most likely rotating through the DH spot where would either Casas, or Masa get AB outside an injury or two.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Either way as it stands right now Masa is healthy, and Casas most likely won’t be to start the season, but even if, and when he gets healthy as it stands now with an outfielder most likely rotating through the DH spot where would either Casas, or Masa get AB outside an injury or two.

Yup. Ideally neither gets a look-see.

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

Can't believe it's 2 more weeks!

[mvp 78]

One of the positions that is up for grabs is backup C. Thaiss is a good blocker who doesn't chase and will take a walk or two. Not super exciting, but his upwards mobility clause may get him added and Wong optioned. 

[FredLynn]

20 hours ago, notin said:

If they win 90, they’re in the postseason.  Book it…

You book it.....and book your loss too. Truth is, even if they squeak into the playoffs it will be another fast exit. That was fine last year. This year I expected more. And there could have been more if Henry wasn't so cheap.

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

One of the positions that is up for grabs is backup C. Thaiss is a good blocker who doesn't chase and will take a walk or two. Not super exciting, but his upwards mobility clause may get him added and Wong optioned. 

It's wild how Wong is now the second most senior member of the Sox 40 Man Roster. (Houck is #1.) Only 4 players on the 40, were on the 40 back during the 2021 season: Houck, Wong, Whitlock and Duran (added in July '21.) Five more were added by the end of the 2022 season: Crawford, Bello, Story, Kelly & Casas.

This does not mean he has been in the Sox system longer than everyone else, but just 40 Man seniority.

He has one option remaining, according to soxprospects.com.

[mvp 78]

27 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's wild how Wong is now the second most senior member of the Sox 40 Man Roster. (Houck is #1.) Only 4 players on the 40, were on the 40 back during the 2021 season: Houck, Wong, Whitlock and Duran (added in July '21.) Five more were added by the end of the 2022 season: Crawford, Bello, Story, Kelly & Casas.

This does not mean he has been in the Sox system longer than everyone else, but just 40 Man seniority.

He has one option remaining, according to soxprospects.com.

That 758 OPS in '24 was one of the biggest miracles in modern Red Sox history. 

[Larry Cook]

note to other mlb teams:

If your team plays in a dome stadium, why aren’t you calling us up and trying to trade for yoshida????? 
 

 

[moonslav59]

45 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

That 758 OPS in '24 was one of the biggest miracles in modern Red Sox history. 

I agree, and the .500 OPS in 2025 might be a bit of an outlier, too.

He had a .670 OPS before 2024, and maybe .650 to .675 is his final resting spot, if not DFA or demotion.

[moonslav59]

12 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

note to other mlb teams:

If your team plays in a dome stadium, why aren’t you calling us up and trying to trade for yoshida????? 
 

 

Good point.

[moonslav59]

Matt Thaiss has an upward mobility clause that kicks in 5 days before opening day. If we add him to the roster by then he gets $1.3M. He could also be traded by that date.

Kyle Keller has a similar clause that kicks in on April 15th.

Vinny Capra has an opt-out June 1st and Jason Delay on June 30th and again on August 15th.

[JoeBrady]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

One of the positions that is up for grabs is backup C. Thaiss is a good blocker who doesn't chase and will take a walk or two. Not super exciting, but his upwards mobility clause may get him added and Wong optioned. 

Does Gasper have any shot?  Good ST and a switchhitter.

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Does Gasper have any shot?  Good ST and a switchhitter.

He's got options, so he's got a good shot at the AAA roster.

[mvp 78]

11 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Does Gasper have any shot?  Good ST and a switchhitter.

Gasper has a good shot at a UTIL position in AAA. He's great to have in the org on a taxi squad this season.

[moonslav59]

Soxprospects.com has Crawford, Casas & Romy beginning the season on the IL.

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

Soxprospects.com has Crawford, Casas & Romy beginning the season on the IL.

I would probably add Sandoval to that list too. He hasn't pitched in games yet. Seems like a guy to get a short IL stint rather than a 60 day IL like Romy and Casas. 

They already said that Casas will not get into ANY ST games this year. If that's the case, they probably should leave him in Ft Myers until May to keep him out of the bad weather up North while he rehabs.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I would probably add Sandoval to that list too. He hasn't pitched in games yet. Seems like a guy to get a short IL stint rather than a 60 day IL like Romy and Casas. 

They already said that Casas will not get into ANY ST games this year. If that's the case, they probably should leave him in Ft Myers until May to keep him out of the bad weather up North while he rehabs.

The Sandoval recovery should be the last straw on these types of signings. We are up to something like Oh for ten, now. Sandoval, Hendriks, Paxton plus injury history guys like Buehler, Kluber, Richards...

Name one injury-prone guy we've signed in the last 10 years who put up one good season.

Stop this experiment!

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

The Sandoval recovery should be the last straw on these types of signings. We are up to something like Oh for ten, now. Sandoval, Hendriks, Paxton plus injury history guys like Buehler, Kluber, Richards...

Name one injury-prone guy we've signed in the last 10 years who put up one good season.

Stop this experiment!

They sign these mediocre injured guys and don't even consider going for a guy with upside like Woodruff. I don't get it. 

[moonslav59]

26 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They sign these mediocre injured guys and don't even consider going for a guy with upside like Woodruff. I don't get it. 

When you total up all the contracts, it's enough to sign ______.

21 Buehler

10 x 4 Kluber, Richards, Paxton & Hendricks

$61M on pitchers in the last 5 years, alone.

(Story was signed for $140M.)

It's over $200M.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

When you total up all the contracts, it's enough to sign ______.

21 Buehler

10 x 4 Kluber, Richards, Paxton & Hendricks

$61M on pitchers in the last 5 years, alone.

(Story was signed for $140M.)

It's over $200M.

The Sox would have been better off not splurging on Story and waiting for Swanson. I think we all know that by now. Bloom just wasn't experienced at building an MLB team. He's good at drafting hitters and collecting young talent, but you can't really overlook his shortcomings. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

40 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They sign these mediocre injured guys and don't even consider going for a guy with upside like Woodruff. I don't get it. 

Too risky to bet on a Win or even a Place, so just blow it all for Show. 

The third option, the spork in the road, at least it looks like you're trying to get somewhere...

But they're just horsing around.

[notin]

18 hours ago, FredLynn said:

You book it.....and book your loss too. Truth is, even if they squeak into the playoffs it will be another fast exit. That was fine last year. This year I expected more. And there could have been more if Henry wasn't so cheap.

Not even opening day and doubling back already?

[notin]

55 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They sign these mediocre injured guys and don't even consider going for a guy with upside like Woodruff. I don't get it. 

You don’t think Buehler was a high upside guy?

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Not even opening day abd doubling back already?

Just FLOPPING into another postseason appearance. 

[notin]

28 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

When you total up all the contracts, it's enough to sign ______.

21 Buehler

10 x 4 Kluber, Richards, Paxton & Hendricks

$61M on pitchers in the last 5 years, alone.

(Story was signed for $140M.)

It's over $200M.

If only the Sox FO would use a Time Machine to judge how these players are going to do before signing them to short term deals.  So stubborn, huh?

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

You don’t think Buehler was a high upside guy?

If they got him for cheap in '24 when he was rehabbing, maybe. They spent too much on a guy who had about 10 good innings in the previous postseason after a pretty dreadful regular season. It was no different than how they signed Pablo "he's good in the playoffs" Sandoval. 

They brought him to BOS and the results mirrored his LAD regular season in '24. We're talking about a guy with two TJS's. When you get the second one, it can really be a career ender. This season, he had to settle for a MiLB deal.