A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

It may be a disaster, but folks who claim do already are at a minimum, impatient.   Both these players have 5 or more years of control, so deciding “win/lose” on the deal in 3 months is beyond premature. 

Harrison has had 11 good starts with the Brewers, after barely getting any in Boston.  Of course, he also had 35 fairly mediocre starts with the Giants that are never mentioned...
 

 

Impatient? Games are counting now, and have since the first game of the season. What each player does has a say in the W-L record. It’s really not that complicated. Just like the game threads. Day to day gets judged, and rightfully so IMO.

[notin]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

Impatient? Games are counting now, and have since the first game of the season. What each player does has a say in the W-L record. It’s really not that complicated. Just like the game threads. Day to day gets judged, and rightfully so IMO.

Yes, Thats how “impatient” works.  Thank you for supporting my statement, Veruca…

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

Yes, Thats how “impatient” works.  Thank you for supporting my statement, Veruca…

It shouldn’t even be an issue IMO. Right Now the deal is a bust.

[Duran Is The Man]

33 minutes ago, notin said:

It may be a disaster, but folks who claim do already are at a minimum, impatient.   Both these players have 5 or more years of control, so deciding “win/lose” on the deal in 3 months is beyond premature. 

Harrison has had 11 good starts with the Brewers, after barely getting any in Boston.  Of course, he also had 35 fairly mediocre starts with the Giants that are never mentioned...
 

 

and to be fair.... the Sox offense has been so bad this year, Cy Young, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn and Sandy Koufax would have a tough time "winning" games with this team.

[Bellhorn04]

46 minutes ago, notin said:

It may be a disaster, but folks who claim do already are at a minimum, impatient.   Both these players have 5 or more years of control, so deciding “win/lose” on the deal in 3 months is beyond premature. 

Harrison has had 11 good starts with the Brewers, after barely getting any in Boston.  Of course, he also had 35 fairly mediocre starts with the Giants that are never mentioned...
 

 

Harrison has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.  That's the attention-getter.   

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

and to be fair.... the Sox offense has been so bad this year, Cy Young, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn and Sandy Koufax would have a tough time "winning" games with this team.

Gibson '69-'73 after the mound was lowered: (per Season) 2.69 ERA, 265 IP, 215 K, 80 BB, 1.143 WHIP, 137 ERA+ 

Tolle: (prorated to 32 GS) 2.66 ERA, 189.1 IP, 204 K, 52 BB, 0.972 WHIP, 177 ERA+

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Harrison has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.  That's the attention-getter.   

Once again as the deal looks today the deal is a bust. That could change, but at the moment a BIG bust.

[notin]

19 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

and to be fair.... the Sox offense has been so bad this year, Cy Young, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn and Sandy Koufax would have a tough time "winning" games with this team.

Well, those guys are all dead or over 80.  At that age, it’s not uncommon to lose some zip on your fastball…

[notin]

45 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Harrison has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.  That's the attention-getter.   

So has Sonny Gray.  Whats your point?

 

Would the Sox be a better team with Harrison and Bregman or with Durbin and Gray?

[notin]

41 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Once again as the deal looks today the deal is a bust. That could change, but at the moment a BIG bust.

Gee, I’d think you might like Durbin since he has more RBIs than Alex Bregman…

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

So has Sonny Gray.  Whats your point?

Harrison 1.9 fWAR (14th) traded away

Gray 0.8 fWAR (78th) traded assets for

[Bellhorn04]

36 minutes ago, notin said:

So has Sonny Gray.  Whats your point?

 

Would the Sox be a better team with Harrison and Bregman or with Durbin and Gray?

Have you been drinking?

Harrison fWAR 1.8 Bregman 1.0 = 2.8.

Gray 0.8 Durbin 0.0 = 0.8.

Harrison bWAR 2.7 Bregman 1.3 = 4.0.

Gray 0.8 Durbin 0.7 = 1.5.

[Old Red]

33 minutes ago, notin said:

Gee, I’d think you might like Durbin since he has more RBIs than Alex Bregman…

Unlike LOWbres I Never wanted Bregman for 5 more years. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

and to be fair.... the Sox offense has been so bad this year, Cy Young, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn and Sandy Koufax would have a tough time "winning" games with this team.

In Bob Gibson's best season, when he won the Cy Young and NL MVP in 1968, he pitched for the defending world champions. Three of his position player teammates finished 4th, 6th and 7th in the MVP voting. His shortstop also received MVP votes and won the Gold Glove, while his second baseman made the All-Star team. Two other guys were 1-2 in the previous year's MVP voting. The final starting regular was a two-time MVP who set the single season record for home runs. 

There were six Hall of Famers, including the manager, on that St. Louis pennant winner, when Gibson set the all-time record for lowest ERA of 1.12... and he lost nine games.

The question is would Gibson even win nine games for the 2026 Red Sox?

Those '68 Cardinals had six position players with at least 28 career WAR. Right now Boston has maybe six average big leaguers on the roster (1B, the OF, and a few utility men).

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Have you been drinking?

[vegasbob]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Harrison has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.  That's the attention-getter.   

Would like to see what he says is the difference in his performance and results

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, a700hitter said:

I don’t remember Kyle Harrison getting a fair shot with the big club.  Why did they trade for him if they had such little regard for him.  He hasn’t give up more than 2 runs in any of his starts with the Brewers.

Wouldn't the better question be, if you can steal a star like Harrison, why not do so?

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Harrison 1.9 fWAR (14th) traded away

Gray 0.8 fWAR (78th) traded assets for

7-1 with a 3.20 and you're you're not digging it?

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Harrison has had 11 good starts with the Brewers,

It's a moot point anyway.  At best, he was our #7 SP.  Had we not made the trade, and kept him in the minors, the same people screaming that we traded him away, would be screaming that never should've traded for him.

And that's almost 100% guarantee.  Heck, it's only been a couple of weeks since the very same people were complaining that we traded Devers away for NOTHING.

[Old Red]

7 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It's a moot point anyway.  At best, he was our #7 SP.  Had we not made the trade, and kept him in the minors, the same people screaming that we traded him away, would be screaming that never should've traded for him.

And that's almost 100% guarantee.  Heck, it's only been a couple of weeks since the very same people were complaining that we traded Devers away for NOTHING.

Who knows what would have happened if he would have stayed with the Red Sox. Would have come in handy now though.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Unlike LOWbres I Never wanted Bregman for 5 more years. 

That was the only option.  Bregman for 5 years minimum.  If you wanted him for fewer years, you were not in the running.

Bear in mind Bregman already rejected 1 yr $40mill when he turned down his option…

[Old Red]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

That was the only option.  Bregman for 5 years minimum.  If you wanted him for fewer years, you were not in the running.

Bear in mind Bregman already rejected 1 yr $40mill when he turned down his option…

I was never in the running. I said when he was signed the first time that the money was too high, but he years was just right. That never changed for me?

[vegasbob]

2 hours ago, Old Red said:

Who knows what would have happened if he would have stayed with the Red Sox. Would have come in handy now though.

Aside from replacing Bello earlier , what good would another strong pitcher  do to help this team win ? Believe it or not that is the object of the game.

Harrison would not likely have been on the 26 out of ST, so no one would have known his abilities. Even with the injuries, Bres probably had Tolle and Early ahead of Kyle so he was the guy to trade away.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

and to be fair.... the Sox offense has been so bad this year, Cy Young, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn and Sandy Koufax would have a tough time "winning" games with this team.

Gibby has already been there in 1968 when he had 9 losses with a 1.12 ERA.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

14 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Aside from replacing Bello earlier , what good would another strong pitcher  do to help this team win ? Believe it or not that is the object of the game.

Harrison would not likely have been on the 26 out of ST, so no one would have known his abilities. Even with the injuries, Bres probably had Rolle and Early ahead of Kyle so he was the guy to trade away.

If hindsight is golden, I wonder what foresight is? I doubt it's Breslow.

[Duran Is The Man]

4 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Gibby has already been there in 1968 when he had 9 losses with a 1.12 ERA.

at least his team won the NL pennant. 

[Old Red]

Back to a season high, or low depending how you look at it. 10 games UNDER 500.🤮

[Duran Is The Man]

17 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Back to a season high, or low depending how you look at it. 10 games UNDER 500.🤮

they're on pace to lose 94 games. 😡

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

they're on pace to lose 94 games. 😡

 

It might take 94 to 100 losses to get things to change for the better.

[notin]

15 hours ago, Old Red said:

I was never in the running. I said when he was signed the first time that the money was too high, but he years was just right. That never changed for me?

So do you have a point?