A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[drewski6]

41 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 

However, who here hasn't held Breslow accountable at all? 

Hi, Im a puppy-dog who barks at people carrying water for Breslow unprompted and unnecessarily. Stay tuned for a couple secs.

[drewski6]

31 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Bregman + Alonso = 1.6 bWAR

Contreras + Durbin = 1.9 bWAR

arf arf

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

It's fair to point out that while Brez's choices have not done poorly- Suarez, Contreras and Gray, we still suck, other people's choices look worse, so far.

There were plenty of players I wanted signed- some doing okay or well- and some sucking.

It's not high-fiving, but laying blame on others, while our ideas sucked, too just seems a bit lame, to me.

rough rough rough

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Indeed, but at least this is a better combo.

Some are still complaining about us not getting some players that are off to bad starts- like it wouldn't have helped anyway, right?

arf arf

[jad]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Why would the Angels want Masa to begin with? The fact that Masa is still with the Red Sox says more that they can’t get anyone to take him than they want to keep him.

He's outhitting everyone on the team (exc. Abreu).

[drewski6]

3 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

 If we have/get Crochet, Suarez, Bello, Tolle, and Early, all pitching well, we will win games even with our current offense,

And just as important, adding a slugger in a trade is a lot easier than adding a #3 SP.

wooooooo wooooo howling like a basset (my fave)

[moonslav59]

34 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Okay, but this GM specifically needs to be blamed for taking this team straight to last place.  Most preseason predictions were low on our offense.  And now we have the worst offense.....since......ever?  Oh and weve ruined multiple relationships.  Even the ownership had to correct Breslow when he was like it was a joint decision....They were like what? no , it was you.

It all reeks of dysfunction.  

If you cant turn around and identify Breslow as a problem here, then you are incapable of blaming a GM.

IMO, they all share in the blame, and the budget limits and no trade clause rule are major factors in why Brez did not do what many of us and maybe he wanted to do.

Yes, Brez is responsible for the roster- maybe less so for returning vets on the team since the Bloom era, who were untradeable or near so, but still yes. I don't disagree.

My point is, and this is not "high-fiving" is that he caught a lot of grief over the winter choices he made. There were many choices, and each of us had our own ideas. I refuse to think he could have spent much more money than he ended up spending, so to me the talk is mostly an either/or type discussion.

You wanted Schwarber and Bregman, but no way we'd get them and Contreras, Suarez and Gray. I wanted Alonso or Schwarber and a trade for someone like Marte (and later Neto came into the talks, briefly.) I also wanted one major pitcher like Suarez. (I would not have spent big on two: Suarez and Gray, while the we skimped on offense.)

I look at the bottom line for this winter:

Added: Suarez, Gray & Contreras with lesser adds like Durbin, IKF, Oviedo, Monasterio, Samaniego & Watson)

I don't see the major additions as the reason we suck. I'm not sure adding Alonso, Bregman or Schwarber over Suarez would have added significantly more wins. There are other areas to blame Brez for, but this would not be my choice to focus on. I'm not telling others they can not rip him for those choices, and I agreed on the theory that we skimped on batting and over-emphasized SP'ers, but the main failure of this team has been the returning vets and non-pitching youngsters. Was Brez supposed to add 3-4 big impact players PLUS swap out Duran, Story, Yoshida, Bello, Crawford, Sandoval and maybe Mayer, Anthony and Crochet, since none have helped much?

I'm not casting stones at other posters, but I'll use myself as an example. Had we added 4 of my selected choices and nothing else, would we be much better off?

Alonso or Schwarber

Marte (Mayer at 3B or No Mayer since he'd be part of the trade)

Ranger Suarez or Joe Ryan/Lodolo/Mitch Keller

ESuarez/Polanco/TShaw

No Gray, Contreras, Durbin or IKF (No Duran & Tolle or whoever was traded for Marte)

I'd say it's an easy no answer, so I find it hard to bash a guy who did better than my ideas, this winter. IMO, Brez did better than most of the ideas thrown around here, last winter, and no that's not anointing him king GM.

 

[drewski6]

5 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Agreed.  The offense isn't working because Story, Duran and RA haven't shown up yet.

 

arf arf

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

arf arf

Arf all you want, but maybe 90% of the posters who want Brez fired are also the arm chair GMs that had worse winter ideas than Brez.

It's okay to be okay with that and also bark like a wounded dog.

[drewski6]

On 5/12/2026 at 9:42 AM, mvp 78 said:

The only sham is all these people calling for boycotts and saying they aren't going to watch anymore or that they don't care, but they keep showing up everyday and posting about the team. 

SHAM!

arf arf

[moonslav59]

Two of the team's biggest issues have been Story and Yoshida, and we all know Brez has few choices, if any, to do anything about both of them.

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

IMO, they all share in the blame, and the budget limits and no trade clause rule are major factors in why Brez did not do what many of us and maybe he wanted to do.

Yes, Brez is responsible for the roster- maybe less so for returning vets on the team since the Bloom era, who were untradeable or near so, but still yes. I don't disagree.

My point is, and this is not "high-fiving" is that he caught a lot of grief over the winter choices he made. There were many choices, and each of us had our own ideas. I refuse to think he could have spent much more money than he ended up spending, so to me the talk is mostly an either/or type discussion.

You wanted Schwarber and Bregman, but no way we'd get them and Contreras, Suarez and Gray. I wanted Alonso or Schwarber and a trade for someone like Marte (and later Neto came into the talks, briefly.) I also wanted one major pitcher like Suarez. (I would not have spent big on two: Suarez and Gray, while the we skimped on offense.)

I look at the bottom line for this winter:

Added: Suarez, Gray & Contreras with lesser adds like Durbin, IKF, Oviedo, Monasterio, Samaniego & Watson)

I don't see the major additions as the reason we suck. I'm not sure adding Alonso, Bregman or Schwarber over Suarez would have added significantly more wins. There are other areas to blame Brez for, but this would not be my choice to focus on. I'm not telling others they can not rip him for those choices, and I agreed on the theory that we skimped on batting and over-emphasized SP'ers, but the main failure of this team has been the returning vets and non-pitching youngsters. Was Brez supposed to add 3-4 big impact players PLUS swap out Duran, Story, Yoshida, Bello, Crawford, Sandoval and maybe Mayer, Anthony and Crochet, since none have helped much?

I'm not casting stones at other posters, but I'll use myself as an example. Had we added 4 of my selected choices and nothing else, would we be much better off?

Alonso or Schwarber

Marte (Mayer at 3B or No Mayer since he'd be part of the trade)

Ranger Suarez or Joe Ryan/Lodolo/Mitch Keller

ESuarez/Polanco/TShaw

No Gray, Contreras, Durbin or IKF (No Duran & Tolle or whoever was traded for Marte)

I'd say it's an easy no answer, so I find it hard to bash a guy who did better than my ideas, this winter. IMO, Brez did better than most of the ideas thrown around here, last winter, and no that's not anointing him king GM.

 

Oh not not bashing, and casting stones! What is this site coming to? What’s next? Apologizing, or defending Brez?😉

[mvp 78]

My post wasn't carrying water for the team. If you see it that way, I don't know what to tell you. I just don't understand the whole "boycott, boycott, I don't care, this is horrible, but I'm still gonna watch" gimmick. When something sucks, I find something else to do with my life. Changing the channel is easy. Not letting Craig Breslow bother me all weekend long is even easier. 

[drewski6]

19 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

 

I'd say it's an easy no answer, so I find it hard to bash a guy who did better than my ideas, this winter. IMO, Brez did better than most of the ideas thrown around here, last winter

 

rough rough

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

rough rough

Yes, you are having a rough rough time supporting your claims against non existent posters.

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

My post wasn't carrying water for the team. If you see it that way, I don't know what to tell. I just don't understand the whole "boycott, boycott, I don't care, this is horrible, but I'm still gonna watch" gimmick. When something sucks, I find something else to do with my life. Changing the channel is easy. Not letting Craig Breslow bother me all weekend long is even easier. 

I agree. Usually I take the Red Sox off the back burner after the Bruins, and Celtics are done, but not this year. Watching the WNBA is more exciting to me.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

My post wasn't carrying water for the team. If you see it that way, I don't know what to tell. I just don't understand the whole "boycott, boycott, I don't care, this is horrible, but I'm still gonna watch" gimmick. When something sucks, I find something else to do with my life. Changing the channel is easy. Not letting Craig Breslow bother me all weekend long is even easier. 

Implying that I shouldnt show up here because I said I dont care about this team until Breslow is gone is not carrying water for Breslow?

Hey, im not watching.  And Breslow isnt ruining my weekends.  My weekends are fantastic.  I brunch every sunday with my hot girlfriend.

I do still like coming in here and chatting with people I like , like you for example.  But I do think that suggesting that I should not post here because I said im not watching cuz breslow disgusts me counts as carrying water for breslow.  I dont think you do it alot, and this was the only example from you i could find.  But I feel it fits the task of find examples of people sticking up for breslow.  And I didnt want my arfing to be 100% JoeB and MoonSlav.

I do agree its an imperfect fit but if im breslow and i see you say to one of my haters "why show up at all then?" Im liking the post (if im breslow)

[JoeBrady]

49 minutes ago, Old Red said:

It doesn’t mean Bregman, and Alonso wouldn’t have better stats if playing in Fenway just as I believe Raffy would.

It also doesn't mean that they wouldn't have had worse stats either.

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, you are having a rough rough time supporting your claims against non existent posters.

This isnt defending Breslow: ??

Brez did better than most of the ideas thrown around here, last winter 

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I agree. Usually I take the Red Sox off the back burner after the Bruins, and Celtics are done, but not this year. Watching the WNBA is more exciting to me.

I assure you, Im not watching.  Live or on TV.  Im checking the box score in the morning and cheering when the lose.

[moonslav59]

"Carrying water for Breslow."

LMAO 

[mvp 78]

With how this organization has treated the fanbase since 2019, what is the incentive for anyone to be a 162 guy/girl? It just doesn't exist anymore. 

Now we're just endlessly fighting about the different reasons and ways we're mad about the Red Sox. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

This isnt defending Breslow: ??

Brez did better than most of the ideas thrown around here, last winter 

Not all all.

Our ideas sucked.

Saying Brez did better than us is not anything good, at all.

Saying some of his moves worked out good and or better than out choices, is not saying his overall work should be or is being praised.

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

It also doesn't mean that they wouldn't have had worse stats either.

That’s true, but both have better track records for that to happen. 
 

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

With how this organization has treated the fanbase since 2019, what is the incentive for anyone to be a 162 guy/girl? It just doesn't exist anymore. 

Now we're just endlessly fighting about the different reasons and ways we're mad about the Red Sox. 

I’ve said before that I applaud the diehards who watch every game.👏

[drewski6]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

With how this organization has treated the fanbase since 2019, what is the incentive for anyone to be a 162 guy/girl? It just doesn't exist anymore. 

Now we're just endlessly fighting about the different reasons and ways we're mad about the Red Sox. 

I agree with the first part, but I do think its worse now.  How many ugly divorces have we had recently? Feels like an uptick.  And I dont think we are all super frustrated with how this team has operated since 2019. I think we all should be. And I understand blaming the tippy top (higher than Breslow) but me, the reason why I am specifically not watching right now are specifically what Breslow said to Whitlock.

I would like to speak with Whitlock and whisper some things into his ear.  Like bro, you should file a grievance to get out of your contract.  You shouldnt let him speak to you like that.  Dont pitch for him.  Lets call the union first.  Lets get this back in the news.

If I was whitlock , I would have cut a WWE style promo on breslow

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

With how this organization has treated the fanbase since 2019, what is the incentive for anyone to be a 162 guy/girl? It just doesn't exist anymore. 

Now we're just endlessly fighting about the different reasons and ways we're mad about the Red Sox. 

Well said.

I still watch just about every pitch of every games, but that's just because I have OCD.

I do still enjoy watching many aspects of the game and try to focus on a few players I see as having hopes of becoming much better, I do think some of our players are vastly underperforming what maybe they can still give us, but I'm not holding my breath or predicting enough of them improve enough to get us anywhere.

The fact that rest of the AL sucks and a bad team or two will likely squeak into the playoffs and maybe one could be us is nothing fun to root for.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I’ve said before that I applaud the diehards who watch every game.👏

This year, masochists. 

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Not all all.

Our ideas sucked.

Saying Brez did better than us is not anything good, at all.

Saying some of his moves worked out good and or better than out choices, is not saying his overall work should be or is being praised.

What about the one when you said that criticizing a GM who made better moves then most of us here suggested feels hollow?

Thats not carrying water for a failing GM?

YOu literally said criticizing him feels hollow

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I agree with the first part, but I do think its worse now.  How many ugly divorces have we had recently? Feels like an uptick.  And I dont think we are all super frustrated with how this team has operated since 2019. I think we all should be. And I understand blaming the tippy top (higher than Breslow) but me, the reason why I am specifically not watching right now are specifically what Breslow said to Whitlock.

I would like to speak with Whitlock and whisper some things into his ear.  Like bro, you should file a grievance to get out of your contract.  You shouldnt let him speak to you like that.  Dont pitch for him.  Lets call the union first.  Lets get this back in the news.

If I was whitlock , I would have cut a WWE style promo on breslow

What specifically was it that he said that bothered you? What's the direct quote?