A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Brez has seemed to do a lot more wheeling and dealing than Bloom did so it was hard to add a lot of guys to the lucky pile TBH. I considered someone like Slaten, but he's dealt with a lot of injuries and that was really a targeted acquisition. 

Maybe Justin Wilson was a little bit lucky? 

IDK. 

I also don't want to say he's unlucky for bringing some of the schlubs in that he dumped on this fanbase that many of us questioned ahead of time. 

Bloom did a great job of churning the bottom of that 40 man. Brez hasn't done it so much. Maybe a guy like Gamboa or Guerrero makes a difference at some point? Hasn't happened yet though. 

Bloom did a lot of trial by error, and he cycled through many flops to end up with a gem or so-so guy, but when you're dealing with min wage or $<2M players, a lot cannot be expected.

[JoeBrady]

7 hours ago, drewski6 said:

I believe in a cyclical approach that contains a phase where long term is prioritized

For the bottom half, maybe the bottom 20, I'd agree.  But not for the big spenders.  We should be in contention every year, our recent history notwithstanding.  Some slight tweaking is fine, but a bad year for us should be .500.

But in order to do that, even the RS can't afford to throw away too many contracts.

[JoeBrady]

6 hours ago, notin said:

Hoerner has already signed an extension.  Matt Shaw is prime trade bait since he’s relegated to a UIF for the next few seasons. Not the best use of a first round pick.  The only reason the Cubs are holding is probably related to having no needs.  Going 18-3 in their last 21 games has erased a few weaknesses.

Neto is not getting  traded.  The Angels’ asking price might be something like Tolle plus Early.  I’m out.

McLain has dropped off significantly since his impressive rookie year.  Hes probably attainable, but does he fix anything?

IRT the 'what-ifs', if a player is not traded, then he is not worth discussing.  None of us know what the price was, or even what players might be involved.  Neto's name was thrown around as if he was a realistic possibility.  He wasn't.  I liked Burns, Chandler and Seth Hernandez, but they were all almost certainly off the trading block.

[Old Red]

5 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

And final aging starts at 70, I can say now speaking from experience.  

A good 3 mile walk everyday gets the kinks out.

[JoeBrady]

6 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Shaw is a much better hitter. I'm not saying I want him as a Red Sox. 

He likely starts in RF for the Cubs when Suzuki moves on.  Pretty sure he is off-limits.

[notin]

2 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

He likely starts in RF for the Cubs when Suzuki moves on.  Pretty sure he is off-limits.

They might extend Suzuki, who is one of, if not the most underrated hitter in MLB. But even if they don’t, they still have Kevin Alcantara and Jonathan Long looking for jobs.  

Long would be a project, as he’s only played corner INF.

Hinestly, I thought they should have traded him after he skipped a game in the middle of a postseason chase in order to attend Charlie Kirk’s funeral.  Priorities, dude…

[moonslav59]

Nothing like facing the Rays to bring the team back down to earth, or should I say dirt.

[Old Red]

16-22 on the season, and 6-11 at Fenway. 65-59 will get you to 500.🤔

[moonslav59]

It's pretty sad seeing only 4 batters over .702 (Wong,) and one of them is Yoshida, who has about or less than half the PAs than 7 teammates. Nobody is over .850.

.847 Contreras

.841 Abreu

.772 Yoshida

.726 Rafaela

.702 Wong

.675 Anthony

These 5 batters need a serious turn-around:

.655 Mayer

.628 Monasterio

.605 Narvaez

.586 Duran

These last 3 batters have been horrific:

.528 Story

.525 Durbin

.449 IKF

_____________________

OPS Against (40+)

.409 Tolle

.479 Samaniego

.525 Chapman

.549 Suarez

.589 Kelly

.658 Moran

.711 Whitlock

.716 Gray

.723 Early

.736 Bennett

.818 Crochet

.899 Weissert

.907  Watson

.955 Bello

(Anderson with 32 at .713 and Coulombe w 36 at .736.

[mvp 78]

To be honest, Duran has turned it around recently. It's just going to take time for his numbers to normalize. 

[mvp 78]

Now that Anthony is out for a little bit, there should be room for Masa to play. We'll see if they keep putting Monasterio out there at DH or whatever. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Now that Anthony is out for a little bit, there should be room for Masa to play. We'll see if they keep putting Monasterio out there at DH or whatever. 

Why would a team that hits like crap want a guy in the batting order with the highest batting average on the club since he joined in 2023?

Oh, that's right -- he's a bad fit. 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Why would a team that hits like crap want a guy in the batting order with the highest batting average on the club since he joined in 2023?

Oh, that's right -- he's a bad fit. 

It's why they should have just moved on from the contract in the offseason even if that meant eating the vast majority of it. They would have been happier having Eaton on the bench rather than Masa even if Eaton was less productive. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

It's why they should have just moved on from the contract in the offseason even if that meant eating the vast majority of it. They would have been happier having Eaton on the bench rather than Masa even if Eaton was less productive. 

Pretty obvious what the Red Sox org feels about Yoshida at this point. 

Just wondering about certain Asst. VPs in the front office who scouted and pushed for him during the Bloom days and how they all escaped the wrath of Michael Corleone settling all family business two weeks ago.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Pretty obvious what the Red Sox org feels about Yoshida at this point. 

Just wondering about certain Asst. VPs in the front office who scouted and pushed for him during the Bloom days and how they all escaped the wrath of Michael Corleone settling all family business two weeks ago.

He didn't hit while struggling with injuries. He seems healthy and productive this year. They are happy to keep him in a warmup jacket all game while the offense sputters. It's clear that the CBO and managers have been aligned on this. Just let him be free and send him elsewhere. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

He didn't hit while struggling with injuries. He seems healthy and productive this year. They are happy to keep him in a warmup jacket all game while the offense sputters. It's clear that the CBO and managers have been aligned on this. Just let him be free and send him elsewhere. 

Masa may just take his converted money and go home, but I can still see him delivering key pinch hits for a true contender that goes deep into October some day (like the A's the year Reggie blew out his hammy).

[Duran Is The Man]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He didn't hit while struggling with injuries. He seems healthy and productive this year. They are happy to keep him in a warmup jacket all game while the offense sputters. It's clear that the CBO and managers have been aligned on this. Just let him be free and send him elsewhere. 

i'm sure they shopped him all last winter. i'm guessing his market is not the $18million US dollars a year that CHime Bloom thought it was.

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Masa may just take his converted money and go home, but I can still see him delivering key pinch hits for a true contender that goes deep into October some day (like the A's the year Reggie blew out his hammy).

I'd send him to CIN where he could put up like 25 HR in that stadium. 

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i'm sure they shopped him all last winter. i'm guessing his market is not the $18million US dollars a year that CHime Bloom thought it was.

It definitely isn't. All the stories at the time were of scouts and former GM's being confused at that contract. 

[moonslav59]

42 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

To be honest, Duran has turned it around recently. It's just going to take time for his numbers to normalize. 

He did get hot for a few games: let's hope his .381 OPS over the last 3 games is just a blip. (1 for 14 w 2 BB)

[moonslav59]

35 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Why would a team that hits like crap want a guy in the batting order with the highest batting average on the club since he joined in 2023?

Oh, that's right -- he's a bad fit. 

Even his splits vs LHPs is better than many RHBs.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He did get hot for a few games: let's hope his .381 OPS over the last 3 games is just a blip. (1 for 14 w 2 BB)

A 2b last night and two BB's the night before? Doesn't sound like the end of the world to me. 

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

A 2b last night and two BB's the night before? Doesn't sound like the end of the world to me. 

Not at all. A three game sample size is too small, but a one game sample size is...

I have faith Duran can get back over .700.

I'm not sure Durbin or IKF can get over .600 (.550 might be too high an ask) or Story over .650.

How long is the leash on these 3?

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Not at all. A three game sample size is too small, but a one game sample size is...

I have faith Duran can get back over .700.

I'm not sure Durbin or IKF can get over .600 (.550 might be too high an ask) or Story over .650.

How long is the leash on these 3?

Durbin at least provides good defense. IKF and Story don't do anything for me. IKF just needs to be treated as a late inning defensive replacement. Not sure what to do about Story. Unfortunately, there aren't high minors replacements yet IMO. 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Durbin at least provides good defense. IKF and Story don't do anything for me. IKF just needs to be treated as a late inning defensive replacement. Not sure what to do about Story. Unfortunately, there aren't high minors replacements yet IMO. 

Agreed. I think Story has a long leash for that reason.

We don't really have horrible infield defense that necessitates an IKF late inning move, except Story, and for some reason these guys think he's still a plus on D, or at least it appears that way.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

It's why they should have just moved on from the contract in the offseason even if that meant eating the vast majority of it. They would have been happier having Eaton on the bench rather than Masa even if Eaton was less productive. 

It seems like 5GG doesn't understand why Yoshida isn't in the starting lineup, and you don't understand why he is even on the team.  Interesting times.

[notin]

16 hours ago, Old Red said:

A good 3 mile walk everyday gets the kinks out.

Maybe kink-free, but after a week you’re 21 miles from home!

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

It's why they should have just moved on from the contract in the offseason even if that meant eating the vast majority of it. They would have been happier having Eaton on the bench rather than Masa even if Eaton was less productive. 

Who would have been happier? And would those smiles persist with Eaton in the starting lineup right now?

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Maybe kink-free, but after a week you’re 21 miles from home!

Yes, and it's that 21 mile walk home that dooms most of us old foggies!

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Not at all. A three game sample size is too small, but a one game sample size is...

I have faith Duran can get back over .700.

I'm not sure Durbin or IKF can get over .600 (.550 might be too high an ask) or Story over .650.

How long is the leash on these 3?

How long is the leash on a $6mill utility infielder?  Probably about 162 games.  If they replace IKF, it’s not going to be wuth Matt Shaw,; it’s going to be with some other multi-positional scrub whose bat keeps him on MLB benches. 
 

Might as well release the bullpen catcher while we’re at it…