A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

You appear to have a complexion issue.  Might I recommend a good dermatologist?  Or a cheap coroner?

I believe you're think of the kids on my son's track team. Yes to both. 

[notin]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I believe you're think of the kids on my son's track team. Yes to both. 

Glad you want both, because the dermatologist I was thinking of moonlights as a coroner.

Well, really he’s a coroner who dabbles in back-alley dermatology since he’s not licensed to examine living humans.  Or aardvarks.

Want the number?

[moonslav59]

Yoshida is clearly the best bench bat we have, at least until Romy and Casas return.

Campbell may work his way up to that position, but unless there is a place for him to play FT, he will not be promoted.

IKF gives us very nice defensive depth and flexibility. He gives us next to nothing on offense.

Monasterio is a better bat than IKF and can play 1B, too.

[mvp 78]

 

[Old Red]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yoshida is clearly the best bench bat we have, at least until Romy and Casas return.

Campbell may work his way up to that position, but unless there is a place for him to play FT, he will not be promoted.

IKF gives us very nice defensive depth and flexibility. He gives us next to nothing on offense.

Monasterio is a better bat than IKF and can play 1B, too.

Yoshida may be the best bench bat, but where is his AB outside of an injury going to come from? Masa has had a regular role before, and now he doesn’t. Casas, and KC aren’t even on the Boston horizon at this point, and that’s with Woo being so close by. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Yoshida will play some outfield because he's a fundamentally sound professional (just don't ask what that sound is).

Now, here's an assessment of Kristian Campbell as an outfielder: doesn't get a good jump off the crack of the bat, doesn't charge base hits and still bobbles them, and doesn't move his feet so he can use his legs to make strong cut-off throws.

Other than that, appears uncomfortable and uninterested out there. 

KC just doesn't look like a big leaguer at any defensive position. At least Rusney Castillo could play outfield.

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yoshida may be the best bench bat, but where is his AB outside of an injury going to come from? Masa has had a regular role before, and now he doesn’t. Casas, and KC aren’t even on the Boston horizon at this point, and that’s with Woo being so close by. 

Most bench players have no major role, unless there is an injury. That's the nature of the bench.

Yoshida should never get one PA, unless someone gets hurt or he PHs for Wong or someone else. If he was a RHB, he might have a better shot at a few more PAs.

Again, this was the reason I wanted to trade him OR an OF'er (for an infielder.)

His only "role" is PH or injury depth. That does not change the fact that he's a better bat than Wong, IKF aand Monasterio/Eaton/ ____.

[Old Red]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Most bench players have no major role, unless there is an injury. That's the nature of the bench.

Yoshida should never get one PA, unless someone gets hurt or he PHs for Wong or someone else. If he was a RHB, he might have a better shot at a few more PAs.

Again, this was the reason I wanted to trade him OR an OF'er (for an infielder.)

His only "role" is PH or injury depth. That does not change the fact that he's a better bat than Wong, IKF aand Monasterio/Eaton/ ____.

I wouldn’t call Masa your typical bench guy, and if not for his contract might not be there.  He’s totally limited.

[notin]

38 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yoshida may be the best bench bat, but where is his AB outside of an injury going to come from? 

Any outfielder/DH getting a day off?  Cora does like to do that….

[notin]

22 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

 

Yoshida should never get one PA, unless someone gets hurt or he PHs for Wong or someone else. If he was a RHB, he might have a better shot at a few more PAs.

 

So if any of Duran, Anthony, Rafaela or Abreu get a day off - something Cora schedules for each a fair amount of time - are you saying Eaton makes more sense?

Bear in mind the purpose of giving a player a day off is quite often to keep a bench player active.  So the fantasy notion of rotating players through the DH role instead of giving them actual days off doesn’t change anything; the bench players are still going to see some time.

If Cora thinks each bench player should get a minimum of 150 PAs per year, would you prefer Yoshida get them? Or Eaton?

[mvp 78]

32 minutes ago, notin said:

Any outfielder/DH getting a day off?  Cora does like to do that….

Cora has also benched Masa for extended periods even when he's been swinging the bat well. Hard to say what the plan will be.

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Cora has also benched Masa for extended periods even when he's been swinging the bat well. Hard to say what the plan will be.

Masa is on the team for two reasons IMO. They couldn’t unload him, and his contract. I don’t believe it’s to give guys rest.

[mvp 78]

Cora

1. loves Duran because he posts

2. wants Abreu to hit vs lefties

3. has moved Rafaela all over the field, in the past

4. has benched Masa for extended periods

5. played Anthony nearly every game when available

[mvp 78]

Just now, Old Red said:

Masa is on the team for two reasons IMO. They couldn’t unload him, and his contract. I don’t believe it’s to give guys rest.

They are waiting for an injury to an OFer that may never happen.

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They are waiting for an injury to an OFer that may never happen.

If Masa was a RHB I could understand it better.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

I wouldn’t call Masa your typical bench guy, and if not for his contract might not be there.  He’s totally limited.

I just meant typical in the sense that an injury is needed for him to get a meaningful shot at serious PAs.

IKF should get more, because Mayer is unknown and injury prone and Story is still a worry.

Wong will get starts when Bello pitches.

[notin]

19 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Masa is on the team for two reasons IMO. They couldn’t unload him, and his contract. I don’t believe it’s to give guys rest.

Thanks for another episode of Roster Reasoning with Old Red, where we take deep dives into superficial logic and ignore basic counting principles.

Why they kept him vs how they use him need not align. Are you really overtly stating the Sox management will undoubtedly employ strategy along the lines of “we can’t use him on outfielder’s days off. We only kept him because of the contract!  And apparently did so twice according to some fans.”

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Thanks for another episode of Roster Reasoning with Old Red, where we take deep dives into superficial logic and ignore basic counting principles.

Why they kept him vs how they use him need not align. Are you really overtly stating the Sox management will undoubtedly employ strategy along the lines of “we can’t use him on outfielder’s days off. We only kept him because of the contract!  And apparently did so twice according to some fans.”

It's funny to think Campbell is owed almost twice as much as Yoshida, but he's not on the 26.

BTW, we can "use him on an OF'er's day off" as the DH.

[notin]

32 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They are waiting for an injury to an OFer that may never happen.

Yeah it’s like how all those paranoid ocean liners spend tons of money on lifeboats that are only there in case of a shipwreck that most likely never happens.

Silly ocean liners…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

It's funny to think Campbell is owed almost twice as much as Yoshida, but he's not on the 26.

BTW, we can "use him on an OF'er's day off" as the DH.

Can they easily option Masa or no? 

[notin]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

 

BTW, we can "use him on an OF'er's day off" as the DH.

I’ve sort of pointed that out multiple times…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Yeah it’s like Hiw all those paranoid ocean liners spend tons of money on lifeboats that are only there in case of a shipwreck that most likely never happens.

Silly ocean liners…

Nah, that's not a good analogy as a lifeboat only prevents a passenger from dying rather than getting to their destination on time. This would be like if every ocean liner had an empty liner behind it just in case it broke down so that all the passengers could disembark. The lifeboats are Tyler McDonough and other guys that are barely good enough for AAA and should never get a call to MLB. 

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

I’ve sort of pointed that out multiple times…

...as many have, yes.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's funny to think Campbell is owed almost twice as much as Yoshida, but he's not on the 26.

BTW, we can "use him on an OF'er's day off" as the DH.

It’s not funny at all. Is KC owed $18M this year? Next year? Matter of fact unless the Red Sox pick up an option way down the line KC won’t make $18M in any year. What a bad, bad, bad comparison.🤭

[notin]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Nah, that's not a good analogy as a lifeboat only prevents a passenger from dying rather than getting to their destination on time. This would be like if every ocean liner had an empty liner behind it just in case it broke down so that all the passengers could disembark. The lifeboats are Tyler McDonough and other guys that are barely good enough for AAA and should never get a call to MLB. 

If those ocean liners could afford to bring another spare ocean liner along with them, don’t you think they would?  
 

Yoshida’s big obstacle is his contract that pays him substantially more than a typical 4th OF..  But you have repeatedly argued that the Sox can certainly spend above and beyond their payroll.  Now you’re backing down on that stance?

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Nah, that's not a good analogy as a lifeboat only prevents a passenger from dying rather than getting to their destination on time. This would be like if every ocean liner had an empty liner behind it just in case it broke down so that all the passengers could disembark. The lifeboats are Tyler McDonough and other guys that are barely good enough for AAA and should never get a call to MLB. 

Good one, and spot on.👍👍👍.

[moonslav59]

The AAA rosters looks okay, but nobody jumps out as being a possible big boost, except for SP'ers.

C- Thaiss, Delay, Gasper

1B- Gasper/Hickey

2B- Romero/McDonough

3B- Sogard/Capra/Eaton

SS- Cheng

LF- Ward/Rosier

CF- Campbell

RF- Castro/Eaton

DH- Eaton/Hickey

SP: Early, Tolle, Crawford, Sandoval, Uberstine/Sikkema

RP: Samaniego, Kahnle, Guerrero, Keller, Martinez, Song, Olds, Webb, Sweet, Gamboa

[Old Red]

Yoshida is not even a fourth OF, which is even worse.

[notin]

8 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yoshida is not even a fourth OF, which is even worse.

It might be an issue if Jarren Duran didn’t exist…