A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:-4 DRS Rafaela has been really awful out there

😎

I take it it’s not good, so this shows how bad the Red Sox have really bad out there.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I take it it’s not good, so this shows how bad the Red Sox have really bad out there.

Rafaela has not been his best self this year. People at the games have said his reads seems slower than in previous years. 

[Old Red]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If it's not too early to start writing Sox players off, then those who do should consider this:

.602 Bregman

.651 Alonso

.579 Polanco (some clown suggested signing him, several times over!)

🤣

You can write Alonso, and Bregman off if you like if it makes you feel better about the Boston players , but they don’t play for BOston.

[Old Red]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The obvious move going back to Nov was sending Story to 2b. He was fine there in '22 with his dead arm. 

I was all for Story to move to 2B after last season, but I think the Red Sox didn’t have any faith in Mayer being a full time player yet due to his injury problems. I am surprised Story hasn’t had a day off yet, which maybe will come today.

[iortiz]

I’m reading here that Cora is the responsible for the everyday lineup. I have understood he is not. It supposedly comes from the “intelligence department” or whatever they call it.  

[Old Red]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We could go with IKF and Monasterio, if Story continues sucking.

I’m more worried about Story’s glove than his bat as Story started off slow last year, and then picked things up with the bat.He’s had long stretches before of not hitting, and lots of K’s, so I don’t think Cora is to worried yet. It seems I mentioned something before the season that Story batting second didn’t work out so well before, and he needs to move down the order more at the very least.

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, iortiz said:

I’m reading here that Cora is the responsible for the everyday lineup. I have understood he is not. It supposedly comes from the “intelligence department” or whatever they call it.  

The Geeks, and the Nerds.

[iortiz]

7 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I was all for Story to move to 2B after last season, but I think the Red Sox didn’t have any faith in Mayer being a full time player yet due to his injury problems. I am surprised Story hasn’t had a day off yet, which maybe will come today.

And he is batting 2! Yes, 2nd! 
 

Then we ask ourselves why we don’t win games. If you want to line him up, fine, but second? Cmon man, help yourself for God’s sake! Geez! 

[Duran Is The Man]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Story is the worst SS in MLB.

another Bloom disaster.

[Duran Is The Man]

18 minutes ago, Old Red said:

The Geeks, and the Nerds.

then Henry and his last place team have the dumbest geeks and nerds in baseball. 

[mvp 78]

24 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I was all for Story to move to 2B after last season, but I think the Red Sox didn’t have any faith in Mayer being a full time player yet due to his injury problems. I am surprised Story hasn’t had a day off yet, which maybe will come today.

If Marcelo gets injured, he'd have to be replaced somewhere. That's why they signed IKF. Who cares if it's at SS or 2B? If Marcelo can get you to 110 - 120 G, put him at SS. 

[mvp 78]

It's not like Story has been Lou Gehrig at SS. 

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, iortiz said:

And he is batting 2! Yes, 2nd! 
 

Then we ask ourselves why we don’t win games. If you want to line him up, fine, but second? Cmon man, help yourself for God’s sake! Geez! 

His glove has been playable at times in BOS. For the most part, his bat has been awful. There is little to no reason to believe he could ever be a #2 hitter. 

[notin]

23 minutes ago, iortiz said:

I’m reading here that Cora is the responsible for the everyday lineup. I have understood he is not. It supposedly comes from the “intelligence department” or whatever they call it.  

So far, the lineups seem to have been very anti-analytical…

[Bellhorn04]

Yikes.  Seems like I picked a good year for my interest in baseball to fade.  😛 

[moonslav59]

Story batting 5th, tonight.

(Masa 2nd, Willson 3rd & Abreu 4th)

[Old Red]

32 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yikes.  Seems like I picked a good year for my interest in baseball to fade.  😛 

You haven’t given up already have you?🤔

[iortiz]

The ship is sinking badly, but hey, you can keep saying it’s still early.
 

In a couple of weeks, realistically we could be 15 games under 500 and won’t be even May LOL!

This team is a scam.

[moonslav59]

7 hours ago, Old Red said:

You haven’t given up already have you?🤔

It ain't over till Ole Red sings it.

[notin]

9 hours ago, iortiz said:

I’m reading here that Cora is the responsible for the everyday lineup. I have understood he is not. It supposedly comes from the “intelligence department” or whatever they call it.  

Cora was hired for his knowledge and application of analytics.  If there is a team in Boston figuring out how to apply them, Cora is definitely part of it and very likely running it.

Cora gets frequently painted as the victim of everyone else’s decisions.  If he’s really the non-participant his defenders think he is, then why do the Sox need him?

[moonslav59]

10 games into the season and 3 games behind the last playoff slot.

152 to go!

[moonslav59]

9 hours ago, Old Red said:

You can write Alonso, and Bregman off if you like if it makes you feel better about the Boston players , but they don’t play for BOston.

Not writing them off, not the Sox.

Thanks for letting me know they are not Sox players.

 

[harmony]

The Red Sox might be in contention come September.

[iortiz]

The “problem” if you want to call it that way, we are playing with so many inexperienced players AND we don’t have a single proven allstar bat. We are basically a AAA team.

Anthony

Durbin

Mayer

Narvaez

 Rafaela

Abreu

Then you have two average experienced bats

Story

Yoshida

The only good but not elite are:

Contreras and Duran

The bench is even more horrendous. IKF, Wong and Monasterio

This won’t end up well and could be epic and not in a good way.

 

[iortiz]

Oh and somehow we have one of the highest payrolls in baseball. Simply unbelievable.

[jdc69]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Cora was hired for his knowledge and application of analytics.  If there is a team in Boston figuring out how to apply them, Cora is definitely part of it and very likely running it.

Cora gets frequently painted as the victim of everyone else’s decisions.  If he’s really the non-participant his defenders think he is, then why do the Sox need him?

Yes, its all very communist. No accountability. Having mathematicians tell athletes how to play baseball must make baseball just super fun.

[vjcsmoke]

10 games into the season and the Red Sox are 2-8. They are dead last in the AL East. A 20% win percentage is horrible. Yes this is only 1/16th of the season done. But it's enough for anyone with eyes to see that this team is not getting the job done.

Budget constraints or not, Breslow has to take responsibility for putting a very poor product onto the baseball field. The offensive talent we lost whether it was Devers or Bregman was never properly replaced. Our pitching is supposed to be better on paper, considering the money spent on a #2 SP, but has it actually panned out that way?

[vjcsmoke]

 

12 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

If Marcelo gets injured, he'd have to be replaced somewhere. That's why they signed IKF. Who cares if it's at SS or 2B? If Marcelo can get you to 110 - 120 G, put him at SS. 

Why not try Mayer at SS? Story right now is the worst starting SS in all of baseball. Kick Story over to 2B where he can do less harm and see if you can harness some upside from Mayer. At least he has talent that can grow in skill level and a ceiling that he hasn't reached yet.

[Old Red]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

10 games into the season and 3 games behind the last playoff slot.

152 to go!

152 games to go,  and the Red Flops as Fred calls them on on pace for 120+ losses, and since the Red Flops has the worst record in all of baseball that means EVERY TEAM in the league is ahead of them in any standings you want to look at. Come on man!🤮

[Old Red]

It seems once again the Little League kids that Cora does commercials with snuck on the field to play D for the Red SOx. Bad throws, pitches not backing up bases again and just bad fundamental baseball, which we’ve seen many times before. That’s on Cora.🙈