A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[UtahSox]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Very true, and many of our solutions have not proven to be good choices either.

Perhaps the best or top 3 offensive add of the off season by any team was Contreras. Not one of us called for that get.

Almost all of us wanted at least one more big bat. Most here wanted Breggie or Bichette after the Contreras deal was made. A few wanted Schwarber. Some wanted Alosno and an OF trade (usually Duran was mentioned) to make room for Alonso at DH. Some wanted KMarte, including me. Only Schwarber and a Duran trade made sense, from yhis boards most discussed wish list.

Okay, Murkami, BLowe or Donovan might have worked, but let's be honest- hardly anyone screamed for them.

This is no apology, but almost all of us sucked with our "better ideas."

I'd still rather have Contreras than Alonso.

I'd rather have Suarez than Bregman.

Hell, Durbin over Bichette looks okay, too.

Sonny Gray over most top FA pitchers looks good, too.

Even Coulombe has done okay.

We needed to thread the needle with some moves that look more like Sunday morning QB'ing than realistic offseason planning. Not trying for another big bat was a horrible mistake, but signing Bregman or Bichette would have been worse, especially when you figure JH would limit future spending had he signed either one.

The reality is that Bregman/ Marte/ Alonso results would not be identical to their current results on different teams. And there is actually no way to delineate their #’s on different teams, as to what they would have done/what impact they would have made on younger hitters. IF they were in Boston Uniforms this year.
 

All we can see is the reality of what THIS lineup has become, and the composition looks like an absolute nightmare. And MANY were worried about the lack of firepower in February. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, UtahSox said:

There were many MANY on here, and podcasters and pundits, who were questioning the offensive composition in Dec- February. Yes he’s paid to look around corners. This lineup this year has been hardest thing for me to watch in 25+ years of following the team closely. 

So… you’re saying the Sox should have signed Pete Alonso for the bench? 

[UtahSox]

1 minute ago, notin said:

So… you’re saying the Sox should have signed Pete Alonso for the bench? 

Look it up I was very VERY frustrated when Alonso signed with Orioles. Not for bench for 1st and DH.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

The reality is that Bregman/ Marte/ Alonso results would not be identical to their current results on different teams. 

True, and they could be worse, especially on a team in the gutter and with little line-ip protection and rbi opportunities.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Look it up I was very VERY frustrated when Alonso signed with Orioles. Not for bench for 1st and DH.

Perhaps the best part of an Alonso signing would have been the push to trade Duran while his stock was better than now.

Bregman or Bichette would have been disasters, so far.

[notin]

5 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Look it up I was very VERY frustrated when Alonso signed with Orioles. Not for bench for 1st and DH.

Again, the Sox had Contreras at 1b and expected Duran and Anthony to be LF/DH.   Where would Alonso have played?  
 

They needed INF, and preferably not sophomore infielders.  What good is benching, say, Duran but still starting Durbin, Mayer and Story?

[UtahSox]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Perhaps the best part of an Alonso signing would have been the push to trade Duran while his stock was better than now.

Bregman or Bichette would have been disasters, so far.

Or with Alonso and Contreras protecting them MAYBE they’d be batting .300 with 15 HR’s. We will never know.

[UtahSox]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Again, the Sox had Contreras at 1b and expected Duran and Anthony to be LF/DH.   Where would Alonso have played?  
 

They needed INF, and preferably not sophomore infielders.  What good is benching, say, Duran but still starting Durbin, Mayer and Story?

They could have traded him for WAY more than we are gonna get at trade deadline for him. Maybe Harrison would be killing it here as well. All we actually know is this Sh** lineup isn’t working and many around here aren’t shocked. 

[moonslav59]

This season reminds me of 2022.

In '21 we added Richards, Ottavino, Renfroe, Marwin & Sawamura.

In '22 we added Wacha, Hill, Story, Strahm & Diekman.

I have to say the winter before '22 looked better, at the times.

_________________________________________

In '25 we added Bregman, Crochet, Buehler, Chapman, Sandoval, Wilson & Toro

In '26 we added Contreras, Suarez, Gray, Durbin, Coulombe, Oviedo & IKF

I have to say, at the time these seasons started, they looked pretty similar to me.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Or with Alonso and Contreras protecting them MAYBE they’d be batting .300 with 15 HR’s. We will never know.

Maybe, and we'd have  Bennett & Bello in the rotation.

BTW, the Cubs have 3 guys with a 128+ OPS+ and Conforto at 122 & Suzuki at 119 to protect Breggie.

BAL protects Alonso with Ruts at 130, Henderson at 126, Basallo at 120 and Ward at 117 Alexander is at 119.

Granted, the Mets have just Soto to protect Bichette.

The Sox have 171 Contreras, but not much else: 123 Rafaela (who thought of him as protection in March 2026?) and Abreu at 117. Nobody else is even near 100. (Yoshida is 4th at 91.)

I'm not thinking these guys would do better with BOS, except for park factors. Of course they could and might have. We just don't know.

We coulda had Devers and Ref, too.... LOL