A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[JoeBrady]

24 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sam was asked about potential trades:

 

“But yeah, if the question are Craig (Breslow) and the team in baseball operations are trying to improve the team right now? The answer is yes. Will we be able to get a deal done or match up on something? I have no idea is the truth. But there’s conversations. There’s urgency. That’s something that is important.”

The lack of May sellers in the American League means it will take a significant haul to land an impact bat. At this point, the demand outweighs the supply.

The dude has to shut up.  He has never once said anything insightful or useful.

[JoeBrady]

40 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

An ERA below 3 is still pretty good! Interesting that Brez gave up on him in that deal.

We got him for nothing, and he wasn't high on our depth chart.  I was a little surprised SF gave up on him so quickly, but he spent parts of three years with them, with very little to show for it.

[notin]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

This is your brain on drugs with bacon and hash browns.

Hungry yet?

[notin]

59 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

An ERA below 3 is still pretty good! Interesting that Brez gave up on him in that deal.

But it’s not always fair to compare ERA from different teams.  Differing defenses behind him, different ballparks, different leagues and opponents.

And in this case, two very small sample sizes…

[notin]

23 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

The dude has to shut up.  He has never once said anything insightful or useful.

I blame the reporter for asking.  What acceptable answer was expected here?

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

But it’s not always fair to compare ERA from different teams.  Differing defenses behind him, different ballparks, different leagues and opponents.

And in this case, two very small sample sizes…

Sox had a long look at him IN THEIR SYSTEM and chose to let him go. He's now got 2 bWAR pitching for MIL and it's not even June yet. 

[Duran Is The Man]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sox had a long look at him IN THEIR SYSTEM and chose to let him go. He's now got 2 bWAR pitching for MIL and it's not even June yet. 

they did the same with Priester. me thinks the Milwaukee pitching lab is a bit better than Boston's.

[notin]

57 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

they did the same with Priester. me thinks the Milwaukee pitching lab is a bit better than Boston's.

Short term anyway.  They appear to have broken Priester.

If that is the case, our pitching lab is clearly superior to those of Pitt and San Francisco…

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Sox had a long look at him IN THEIR SYSTEM and chose to let him go. He's now got 2 bWAR pitching for MIL and it's not even June yet. 

12 innings in the pros.

50 innings in the minors with 27 walks.

There is nothing wrong with his stats, but nothing outstanding about them either.

[notin]

2 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

12 innings in the pros.

50 innings in the minors with 27 walks.

There is nothing wrong with his stats, but nothing outstanding about them either.

Like Hamilton, Harrison is basically doing the exact same thing in Milwaukee he did in Boston.

The problem with that trade is Durbin isn’t doing in Boston what he did in Milwaukee…

[moonslav59]

I thought Harrison was the highest value player in return for Devers, but they never really let him get a chance.

My guess is we look back at this trade in 3-4 years and say, "Meh."

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I thought Harrison was the highest value player in return for Devers, but they never really let him get a chance.

My guess is we look back at this trade in 3-4 years and say, "Meh."

Is that what we said about the Betts' trade 3-4 years later. I don't remember.

[moonslav59]

43 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Is that what we said about the Betts' trade 3-4 years later. I don't remember.

Not a single soul in Sox Nation uttered those words.

[Old Red]

There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.

8-15 at home. Worst home record in all of baseball.🤮

[notin]

12 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Is that what we said about the Betts' trade 3-4 years later. I don't remember.

Not me.  I had hopes for Verdugo and was glad he was included.  And just to double up on my remarkable accuracy with that trade, I thought it was a huge mistake to return Brusdar Graterol.  
 

Yep, sometimes I’m just like a human Ouija board that plays cards with a Tarot deck against a Magic 8 Ball…

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Not me.  I had hopes for Verdugo and was glad he was included.  And just to double up on my remarkable accuracy with that trade, I thought it was a huge mistake to return Brusdar Graterol.  Yep, sometimes I’m just like a human Ouija board that plays cards with a Tarot deck against a Magic 8 Ball…

I do remember some viewing the trade as trading one year of Betts, since we were "going to lose him anyway," and 3-4 years of Verdugo might be worth it, alone.

The promise of Jeter Downs turned sour, quickly.

But hey, we still have Connor WONG!

(We have Weissert for Verdugo, too.)

[JoeBrady]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I do remember some viewing the trade as trading one year of Betts, since we were "going to lose him anyway," and 3-4 years of Verdugo might be worth it, alone.

Even after all these years, the only thing that matters is whether or not we were going to lose him.  My guess is that he told the FO that he intended on leaving and to get what they could for him.  Seems like a Betts thing to do.  So the RS took his advice and moved him.

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Even after all these years, the only thing that matters is whether or not we were going to lose him.  My guess is that he told the FO that he intended on leaving and to get what they could for him.  Seems like a Betts thing to do.  So the RS took his advice and moved him.

Word came out that DD almost traded him in 2019, but we won a few games, and they changed their minds about being sellers. That's enough for me to think he was a goner, as much as I hate just thinking about that, even now.

The reported interest in trading for him seemed abnormally low, and the one offer from the Padres seemed worse than the one we got.

That whole situation was the beginning of the end. Keeping Betts and letting Sale and or Nate bolt would have been better, but I still make the point that if JH slashed the budget like he did- Betts or no Betts, we'd still have been a bid team from 2020 to whenever...

[Old Red]

The Red SOX are 7 games under 500. I repeat 7 games under 500. 29th in the league in runs scored, and those 2 runs they somehow managed to score yesterday banging out 5 hits kept the Red Sox from falling to last place in runs scored.Yes they are still close to a wildcard spot, but only because the league is so watered down,  and weak. Yes you can play the illusion of contention game that some are, but this is still a 7 games under 500 team no matter where they are in the standings. I don’t see at the moment things getter any better despite the good pitching they have gotten trotting out the likes of Gasper, IKF, Sogard, DUBin, and Golden Boy Mayer, and yes little Anthony in his cameo so far. This is definitely not the Red Sox that you’ve accustomed to watching swinging the bats growing up at pretty much anytime, and it’s definitely not must watch TV.

[Bellhorn04]

19 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Even after all these years, the only thing that matters is whether or not we were going to lose him.  My guess is that he told the FO that he intended on leaving and to get what they could for him.  Seems like a Betts thing to do.  So the RS took his advice and moved him.

Zack Scott said quite the opposite, Joe.  I just bumped the thread I started about what Scott said about Betts.

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Zack Scott said quite the opposite, Joe.  I just bumped the thread I started about what Scott said about Betts.

Betts, and the Red Sox battled pretty much all the time Betts was with the Red Sox on a contract. Control time was running out, and the Red Sox wasn’t going where Betts wanted them to go on a last contract, so finally a trade was made.

[Bellhorn04]

32 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Betts, and the Red Sox battled pretty much all the time Betts was with the Red Sox on a contract. Control time was running out, and the Red Sox wasn’t going where Betts wanted them to go on a last contract, so finally a trade was made.

You should post this in the Zack Scott thread I just bumped.

[moonslav59]

Not beating the Twins at home is a real bummer.

[moonslav59]

BTV accepts this absurd trade suggestion:

Early (37) Soto (17) Azocar (15) Durbin (14????) & Witherspoon (13)

for

CJ Abrams (72) + $10M & Brady House (12)

 

[Old Red]

22-30. 8 games under 500. I repeat 8 games under 500.🤮

What can you say that hasn’t been said before? Well about this? 8-17 at not so friendly Fenway. Finally the Red Sox have succeeded in falling all the way to the bottom in all of baseball in runs scored. 🤮

[oldtimer]

And now we hear the Sox need to address the obvious problem of scoring runs. I'll posit that obvious problem was recognized by the fan base long before the season started. What does that say about the front office and ownership?

[Duran Is The Man]

1 hour ago, oldtimer said:

And now we hear the Sox need to address the obvious problem of scoring runs. I'll posit that obvious problem was recognized by the fan base long before the season started. What does that say about the front office and ownership?

i said before the season even started that we might challenge the record for fewest runs ever scored in a season by a Red Sox team. looks like we're on track to do just that, or nearly so.

[jad]

Not scheduling a game on Memorial Day is EPIC!!

[oldtimer]

So, should we be sellers and get experiennce for guys like Arias, while taking the beating? We are taking that beating anyway and so little hope of having a competitive season with the existing team anyway. Meanwhile, the low budget Rays are leading our division.

[UtahSox]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

BTV accepts this absurd trade suggestion:

Early (37) Soto (17) Azocar (15) Durbin (14????) & Witherspoon (13)

for

CJ Abrams (72) + $10M & Brady House (12)

 

BTV struggling right now. I can’t remember disagreeing this much w/ BTV since I joined their site.