A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Who is realistically available? 

To me, PIT is like the old Rays. They will sell rentals, even if in it. (The Rays would often sell before a star was a rental, too.)

BLowe should be available.

Arraez should be available.

I bet DET offers Torres.

Paredes, Stott, W Castro & Steer. (I hate to say his name but Bichette.)

I doubt MIN trades Keaschall, Lewis or Clemens.

Not sure about Matt Shaw.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Nick said:

“We’re not going to resume hitting if there’s still discomfort in the hand,” Tracy said, per The Boston Globe. “That’s a big piece of our lineup. It would be great to get him back. The whole point is we don’t want our player, that player, to play injured, especially when it comes to swinging the bat. So, just continuing to get him to where he feels very confident in his mind that that hand feels good. That’s our goal.”

So it's just up to Anthony? No medical opinion offered? Heck horse owners spend more money taking care of their investment. 

Earlier, they tried to have him push through the pain and do some dry swings. It made the problem worse. Now they are waiting it out. 

Should have done surgery when it first happened like it said. 12 weeks at most and he would have been ready to go. Now? Potentially lost season. We're already 11 weeks post injury!!!

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To me, PIT is like the old Rays. They will sell rentals, even if in it. (The Rays would often sell before a star was a rental, too.)

BLowe should be available.

Arraez should be available.

I bet DET offers Torres.

Paredes, Stott, W Castro & Steer. (I hate to say his name but Bichette.)

I doubt MIN trades Keaschall, Lewis or Clemens.

Not sure about Matt Shaw.

The only guy in that group that really fits what the Sox need is Steer and the Sox would want to play him in LF or DH. He's a terrible defender.  

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Should have done surgery when it first happened like it said. 12 weeks at most and he would have been ready to go. Now? Potentially lost season. We're already 11 weeks post injury!!!

This seems to happen way too often and bugs the you-know-what out of me.

[Hitch]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Earlier, they tried to have him push through the pain and do some dry swings. It made the problem worse. Now they are waiting it out. 

Should have done surgery when it first happened like it said. 12 weeks at most and he would have been ready to go. Now? Potentially lost season. We're already 11 weeks post injury!!!

The Braves' specialist said they're doing the right thing and on the right track. He'll be ready when he's ready. 

The main issue was (once again) the FO getting the messaging wrong at the beginning of the injury. 

[notin]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

To me, PIT is like the old Rays. They will sell rentals, even if in it. (The Rays would often sell before a star was a rental, too.)

BLowe should be available.

Arraez should be available.

I bet DET offers Torres.

Paredes, Stott, W Castro & Steer. (I hate to say his name but Bichette.)

I doubt MIN trades Keaschall, Lewis or Clemens.

Not sure about Matt Shaw.

Shaw is reportedly available but definitely pricey. 
 

If Minn sells, I can’t see them turning down offers for Kody Clemens.

Detroit is another one whose plan is TBD, but Torres has spent the bulk of the year injured…

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

The only guy in that group that really fits what the Sox need is Steer and the Sox would want to play him in LF or DH. He's a terrible defender.  

 Because BLowe bats LH'd?

Arraez does, too, but his splits are more reasonable.

Torres bats RH'd but do his 4 HRs scare you away? I'll take the .395 OBP and lead him off.

Paredes is not great at 2B, but he has some power and is a RHB.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Hitch said:

The Braves' specialist said they're doing the right thing and on the right track. He'll be ready when he's ready. 

The main issue was (once again) the FO getting the messaging wrong at the beginning of the injury. 

The main issue was not getting surgery and fixing the problem right away, then making the injury worse when they had him swing before he was healthy. 

[notin]

53 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Mead fits Fenway better than Garcia IMO. He'd fit the Sox better if he could play OF. 

Garcia is probably the better 2b option.  Either works for me…

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

 Because BLowe bats LH'd?

Arraez does, too, but his splits are more reasonable.

Torres bats RH'd but do his 4 HRs scare you away? I'll take the .395 OBP and lead him off.

Paredes is not great at 2B, but he has some power and is a RHB.

Sox need power. If they are going to park Paredes at DH, fine. I've heard HOU isn't selling though. 

[Old Red]

17 minutes ago, Nick said:

“We’re not going to resume hitting if there’s still discomfort in the hand,” Tracy said, per The Boston Globe. “That’s a big piece of our lineup. It would be great to get him back. The whole point is we don’t want our player, that player, to play injured, especially when it comes to swinging the bat. So, just continuing to get him to where he feels very confident in his mind that that hand feels good. That’s our goal.”

So it's just up to Anthony? No medical opinion offered? Heck horse owners spend more money taking care of their investment. 

I heard a good one today that if the same thing happened to little pinky Anthony, or Marshmallow Mayer like it did to Durbin, and his finger it would have been a career ending injury.🤫

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sox need power. If they are going to park Paredes at DH, fine. I've heard HOU isn't selling though. 

If HOU keeps losing, maybe they change course. Their window is narrowing due to age and contract issues, though, so maybe the try to keep the 2026 window open. Word is they will not extend Pena.

[Hitch]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The main issue was not getting surgery and fixing the problem right away, then making the injury worse when they had him swing before he was healthy. 

I'm not sure we're in a position to know surgery was the right route. 

[notin]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Garcia is probably the better 2b option.  Either works for me…

From BTV:

Curtis Mead - $11.7mil

Luis Garcia Jr - $11.1mil

Kyson Witherspoon - $11.8mill

Sadbiel. Delzine - $11.2 mill

Henry Godbout - $9.3mill.

Doubtful they want anyone but Witherspoon…

[moonslav59]

This last series helped the Sox blow by the Rays in run differential. AL leaders:

+85 NYY (2nd best record)

+45 BOS (5th best) & CWS (3rd)

+31 DET (12th)

+14 TBR (1st)

+13 SEA (7th)

-12 CLE (4th)

-13 BAL (8th)

Fewest losses in the AL

42 TBR

44 NYY

46 CWS

48 BOS & CLE

The Sox have 1-2 more games to play than nearly every other AL contender, and pitchers nearing their limits on IP.

We need Crochet back or a trade for an innings eater.

[Old Red]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not for Lindor or Bichette.

Agree  not just on the players, but their contracts as well.

[Old Red]

37 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Why not? He should have been on the trade block two years ago.

He was one of the Golden Boys since he was drafted that many were counting on him to make things AWESOME. 

[UtahSox]

3 hours ago, notin said:

From that list, who is actually available?

From what I have seen, Lindor, Steer and Bichette. 
 

And when did Texas - first place in the AL West - become a seller?

Idk Seager is hurt/there has been conversations about them trying to part from him, if they don’t think they can win. Major holes in their roster. I think there are a lot of players available…… But you have to take a risk. If age and contract aren’t a risk then it will cost you prospects… and weighing those. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

31 minutes ago, Hitch said:

I'm not sure we're in a position to know surgery was the right route. 

All we know is that surgeons in the front office decided the best medicine was to remove Anthony from the Boston dugout and clubhouse. Their right route for him was right down to Fort Myers, FLA -- appx. 1,467 miles south of the winning streak.

[moonslav59]

We might see some borderline teams buy and sell. There might be more MLB players for MLB players than is normal for a deadline period.

I get the feeling many players will be traded. How many are impactful is up for grabs.

[notin]

3 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Idk Seager is hurt/there has been conversations about them trying to part from him, if they don’t think they can win. Major holes in their roster. I think there are a lot of players available…… But you have to take a risk. If age and contract aren’t a risk then it will cost you prospects… and weighing those. 

Seager has been on the IL three times this year, twice for back injuries snd once for a concussion. The scariest injury there is the concussion, as that type of injury has prematurely ended a few excellent MLB careers, notably Justin Morneau and Jason Bay.

If a first place team is shopping their star player mid-July - buyer beware.  I’d avoid Corey Seager at any price…

[UtahSox]

47 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sox need power. If they are going to park Paredes at DH, fine. I've heard HOU isn't selling though. 

don’t believe everything you read, It’s good to float you’re not selling to maximize return…. But in this case you may be right, sounds like their GM is a dead man walking. Which means crane probably neutered him. Only way for him to save his job is probably have Astros go on a Red Sox type run. 
 

 

[mvp 78]

49 minutes ago, notin said:

From BTV:

Curtis Mead - $11.7mil

Luis Garcia Jr - $11.1mil

Kyson Witherspoon - $11.8mill

Sadbiel. Delzine - $11.2 mill

Henry Godbout - $9.3mill.

Doubtful they want anyone but Witherspoon…

To me, that's a two for one deal of slightly lower prospects. 

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Idk Seager is hurt/there has been conversations about them trying to part from him, if they don’t think they can win. Major holes in their roster. I think there are a lot of players available…… But you have to take a risk. If age and contract aren’t a risk then it will cost you prospects… and weighing those. 

Seager is always hurt. Great player, but he's going to become even less reliable as he's turning 33 next season. Do not want. 

[UtahSox]

Ok I’ve had a Scary thought about Craig Breslow……… it’s keeps bothering me talking about the trade deadline.

We’ve all heard that Breslow has a pretty big ego. He had a very specific way he wanted things done, and it certainly feels like part of the reason Cora was replaced was because he wasn’t doing things Craig’s way.

We all knew this team needed a power bat last offseason. It was obvious. Instead, Breslow zigged when everyone expected him to zag and doubled down on pitching and defense. And now that it has worked, I wonder if he feels like he’s getting his pound of flesh and proving to everyone that he was the smartest guy in the room all along.

That’s what scares me going forward. I worry that Breslow is so committed to being unconventional and doing things differently that he won’t make the obvious move when the obvious move is actually the right one. Because if he makes the move everyone is calling for and it works, he doesn’t get to be the genius who saw something nobody else did.

He reminds me of the kid in high school who only listens to underground bands, then the second one of those bands blows up and becomes popular, he suddenly hates them because everyone else likes them now.

Sometimes the smart move doesn’t have to be the clever move. Sometimes the obvious answer is obvious for a reason.

[mvp 78]

What scares me about Breslow is his inexperience. That's it. 

[notin]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

To me, that's a two for one deal of slightly lower prospects. 

That would be fine.  I usually look at worst case first…

[UtahSox]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Seager is always hurt. Great player, but he's going to become even less reliable as he's turning 33 next season. Do not want. 

Do not want @ current contract. You never know how much they would have to eat to trade. 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

“We’re not going to resume hitting if there’s still discomfort in the hand,” Tracy said, 

So it's just up to Anthony? No medical opinion offered?

I think the 'discomfort' is the medical opinion.  Same with Crochet throwing or Suarez running.  If you feel discomfort, you stop.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Do not want @ current contract. You never know how much they would have to eat to trade. 

The didn't eat anything when they moved Semien.