A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

Sox making a move! LMAO.

No longer the worst AL team! Not even 2nd worst!

Their -4 Run differential is 5th best in the AL and just 1 run from 4th (CWS.) They are 8 runs from 3rd (SEA at +4.)

Bring out the brooms!

[JoeBrady]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

That means nothing to me. It's not 1983 anymore. Nobody cares about Sports Illustrated. Using AI as a crutch is hilarious to me. 

If I might intercede for a moment-No one knows except Breslow, the AZ GM and maybe a few other people.  Just like my comment on Anthony the other day, none of us know anything.  And none of the press knows anything.

If I did want to add one thing, it is that teams that don't trade a player, were probably never inclined to trade that player.  Basically, AZ didn't like one offer from the other 28 teams, so it seems unlikely that the RS could've forced their hand.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

They probably did not expect a superstar by 2026, but they probably figured a .350 OBP was good enough to bat first and help the team.

They probably expected the same thing that FG expected.  There is a science to baseball.  Go to any prediction site, and all the predictions will be relatively close.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, Old Red said:

There was NO backup plan for Anthony being little Anthony this year, or getting hurt doing a pinky swear with Mayer.🙈

Duran would be the LF if Roman got injured.  And that I'd bet on.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Indeed, but it was a plan.

80% of us were screaming for a Duran trade and or Yoshida dump. We kept both.

There was not 100% confidence in Anthony, Rafaela & Abreu staying healthy and doing very well.

Early in the off-season, I was in favor of trading Duran.  After the Gray and Suarez acquisitions, keeping Duran's offense, even as a DH, seemed like a good idea.  I wasn't down on Yoshida, but there was a pretty good chance that Abreu would outplay him, as well as supplying some rotational rest in the OF, and being insurance for an injury.

The plan was good, but didn't anticipate Anthony getting hurt, and neither Yoshida nor Duran hitting anything.

[moonslav59]

55 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Early in the off-season, I was in favor of trading Duran.  After the Gray and Suarez acquisitions, keeping Duran's offense, even as a DH, seemed like a good idea.  I wasn't down on Yoshida, but there was a pretty good chance that Abreu would outplay him, as well as supplying some rotational rest in the OF, and being insurance for an injury.

The plan was good, but didn't anticipate Anthony getting hurt, and neither Yoshida nor Duran hitting anything.

I've been suggesting Duran trades almost since his call-up, but the point many made about or offense being is such poor shape, and trading away one of our top offensive players didn't make sense was a valid one, at the time.

Nobody expected .624 in mid June.

[moonslav59]

MLB ERA Leaders (70+ IP) as of 7pm tongiht:

1.47 Misiorowski

1.58 Ohtani

1.62 Schlitter

2.00 Chase Burns

2.13 C Sanchez

2.14 Sale

2.27 ERod

2.57 K Harrison

2.62 Rasmussen

2.65 Yamamoto

2.66 N Martizez

2.67 Messick

2.71 Wrobleski

2.75 Cease

2.78 Tolle #15

2.83 R Suarez #16

2.95 Gray #17

3.00 Martin Perez

The Sox have 3 pitchers in the top 16!

Ex-Sox pitchers number 3 in the top 8 and 4 in the top 17.

 

[JoeBrady]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The Sox have 3 pitchers in the top 16!

Our rotation is 2nd in ERA over the past 28 days.  No Crochet, no Bello, no problem.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

Our rotation is 2nd in ERA over the past 28 days.  No Crochet, no Bello, no problem.

Indeed- no Houck, Crawford, sandoval or Oviedo, either!

[a700hitter]

How much more leash does Mayer get?

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, a700hitter said:

How much more leash does Mayer get?

It might not matter, since the rest of our IF choices are not all that promising.

His defense is plus, and while the .625 career OPS sucks, he's only had 364 PAs.

I doubt we hand him a FT job, as he didnt get one this year, either, but we better move to improve the middle infield.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

9 hours ago, a700hitter said:

How much more leash does Mayer get?

No more leash, and I'm ready to help you pull up all those yellow flags around the invisible fence perimeter.

[notin]

17 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Duran would be the LF if Roman got injured.  And that I'd bet on.

I don’t even get that complaint.  Apparently the Sox had too many players for the OF/DH roles but no backups?  And what level of backup did people expect?  Were the Sox supposed to acquire Teoscar Hernandez and bench him until Anthony got hurt?  They had Yoshida and Nate Eaton.  Not exciting but who has better?

It’s like last year when Casas went down and the same cries about not having a backup 1b.  Well thr players who fill those backup roles are the Abraham Toro/Rowdy Tellez types.  The Sox weren’t going to get someone like Michael Busch and bench or outright him until Casas got hurt…

[moonslav59]

 

I love the smell of Yankee defeat in the morning.

 

[notin]

12 hours ago, a700hitter said:

How much more leash does Mayer get?

If Mayer had maxed himself out in AAA and forced a promotion, that’s one thing.  But he was called up to replace an injured Bregman and stuck around long enough to get injured himself a couple times.  If he went down and got some AAA reps it’s not the worst thing.

And as someone who called gorbCheng’s promotion two months ago, he isn’t the answer either.  When his OPS drops under .600 about 100 or so PA from now, opinions on him might vary…

[moonslav59]

37 minutes ago, notin said:

If Mayer had maxed himself out in AAA and forced a promotion, that’s one thing.  But he was called up to replace an injured Bregman and stuck around long enough to get injured himself a couple times.  If he went down and got some AAA reps it’s not the worst thing.

And as someone who called gorbCheng’s promotion two months ago, he isn’t the answer either.  When his OPS drops under .600 about 100 or so PA from now, opinions on him might vary…

I wasn't calling for Cheng's promotion out of any trust he'd hit over .600, but he was hot and others were not. He's also a plus defender at SS.

[JoeBrady]

15 hours ago, a700hitter said:

How much more leash does Mayer get?

Two years.

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, notin said:

Apparently the Sox had too many players for the OF/DH roles but no backups?

There was nothing wrong whatsoever, with the OF/DH setup.  I hoped Masa would do better, but there was obviously no guarantee.  The only change I'd have made would've been a trade for a RH version of Masa.

[moonslav59]

Never thought I'd be looking at the WC standings again this year. As of now, we are...

4.5 GB the Rangers and Athletics- both teams with some serious issues, too. The A's have a -48 run diff, while TEX is at -12.

Of coruse, there are also 4 teams between us and them, but look:

-46 HOU (+3.5 on BOS)

-29 TOR (+3.5 on BOS)

-23 BAL (+3)

-28 MIN (+3)

[a700hitter]

4 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Two years.

After 2026?

[Larry Cook]

Seems like we got a ton of talent coming back in July and August. 
 

we need at least 2 starters back because early and Tolle are going to smash through their previous high innings mark soon. 
 

 

[moonslav59]

The Sox are 5 back of the 41-42 Rangers (-9 run diff)

4 GB HOU (-44) and A's (-51)

3 GB TOR (-32)

2.5 GB BAL (-24) and MIN (-31)

CLE is 7 games ahead and at -9

The Sox are +4 in run diff, which is just 1 run from 3rd best (SEA at +5.)

We knocked the Yanks from 1st place, so now TBR owe us one. (LOL)

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Larry Cook said:

Seems like we got a ton of talent coming back in July and August. 
we need at least 2 starters back because early and Tolle are going to smash through their previous high innings mark soon. 

Not so sure on Anthony & Crochet.

Romy and Sandoval, maybe.

Mayer, Moran and IKF?

[Randy Red Sox]

On 6/20/2026 at 10:17 AM, moonslav59 said:

I doubt his trade value equals his upside potential value, so I don't disagree with you.

This team is full of potential energy. We need kinetic energy. I can understand trading some potential, but it need not be and maybe should not be Mayer.

If I knew Brez was going to add 2-3 solid infielders next winter, I'd feel better about trading Mayer, but we need to keep a couple from what we have now, at least.... maybe 3 (1-2 as utility.)

Romy

Durbin

Mayer

Monasterio, Seigler, Eaton, KC, Arias (mid summer 2027 call-up?)

VBreslow has done a good job with adding {and keeping} young SP in the organization. It really should not be impossible to now add some decent bats in some of the holes wee have but of course that means JH might have to open his wallet bit--good luck with that.

[notin]

9 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Seems like we got a ton of talent coming back in July and August. 
 

we need at least 2 starters back because early and Tolle are going to smash through their previous high innings mark soon. 
 

 

Wait.  Players can come back from the IL now?!?  Whats that like?
 

The things modern medicine can do these days…

[JoeBrady]

15 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

VBreslow has done a good job with adding {and keeping} young SP in the organization. It really should not be impossible to now add some decent bats in some of the holes wee have but of course that means JH might have to open his wallet bit--good luck with that.

And, of course, he has to want to do it.  A week ago, I wanted at least one bat.  3 days ago, I was okay with getting rid of anyone and everyone.  Breslow & Henry are probably going thru the same indecisions.  Even today, if we win, I want a bat.  If we lose, I'm probably back in trade mode.

[notin]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

And, of course, he has to want to do it.  A week ago, I wanted at least one bat.  3 days ago, I was okay with getting rid of anyone and everyone.  Breslow & Henry are probably going thru the same indecisions.  Even today, if we win, I want a bat.  If we lose, I'm probably back in trade mode.

And I’m still waiting for them to call up Braiden Ward.  He has a bat.  It’s best left on his shoulder, but he has one…

[cp176]

On 6/26/2026 at 11:53 PM, a700hitter said:

How much more leash does Mayer get?

I think that that leash gets shorter every time Arias puts on his uniform.  I like Mayer but at some point you improve with a better player if you can.  

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, cp176 said:

I think that that leash gets shorter every time Arias puts on his uniform.  I like Mayer but at some point you improve with a better player if you can.  

I think Mayer’s defense looked better at 2b and 3b too. 

[moonslav59]

37 minutes ago, cp176 said:

I think that that leash gets shorter every time Arias puts on his uniform.  I like Mayer but at some point you improve with a better player if you can.  

With our infield needs, even if Arias is called up today and is an instant stud, we'd still need a 2Bman.

While Romy offers some promise, if he returns, he can be used at DH, too. (We need one of them, too.)