A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I'd be shocked if Miami made that move.  He's no longer vintage Alcantara, but I think he is still a #3 or better.

ed:  Maybe the $21M due in 2027 might seem like too much for Miami?

They'd have to be high on Delzine and willing to wait 3-4 years for results. That's two big ifs.

Maybe sub out Phillips or even Witherspoon and maybe they say year. I'm not sure I'd offer Valera. I really like his upside. Maybe they like Godbout or Rivera/Rivas/Holobetz/Samaniego types (2-3 of em)

[notin]

16 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

With Bennett and Tolle having innings limitations, would bres-slow be interested in bringing back wacha??

Hopefully.  But Wacha will be popular among teams that miss out on Skubal and maybe Peralta.  Breslow isn’t much for outbidding…

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's the franchise leader in strike outs. He is 15.1 IP away from being the leader in IP. Maybe they want to keep him around another year just because they have churned through too many guys? 

They have always seemed willing to trade their arms.

[notin]

22 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

I'm not sure Cheng can hit well enough to stick, and Monasterio and Seigler have been doing well.

I'd wait on Story until I was sure he could hit, or until Monasterio and/or Seigler have played their way out.

You know Story, assuming (and safely so) he is still here, is getting the job once he returns.  
 

I’ll take Cheng with his .600 OPS and defense over Story and his .542 OPS with limited defense…

[notin]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's the franchise leader in strike outs. He is 15.1 IP away from being the leader in IP. Maybe they want to keep him around another year just because they have churned through too many guys? 

Miami doesn’t seem to let performance dictate trades like they do contracts.  They traded a reigning MVP once…

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

They have always seemed willing to trade their arms.

They don't really keep anyone around. Their franchise guys all played several seasons elsewhere like Stanton, Luis Castillo, Jeff Conine, Mike Lowell, Hanley Ramirez.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Miami doesn’t seem to let performance dictate trades like they do contracts.  They traded a reigning MVP once…

When Sandy reached 1,000 k's, the Marlins weren't even ready to put it on the scoreboard. It took a while for the team to sync up a brief celebration. The announcers were really upset about it as they had been tracking it for a while. 

[notin]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They don't really keep anyone around. Their franchise guys all played several seasons elsewhere like Stanton, Luis Castillo, Jeff Conine, Mike Lowell, Hanley Ramirez.

Miguel Cabrera, Christian Yelich, Josh Beckett…

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Miguel Cabrera, Christian Yelich, Josh Beckett…

Cabrera and Yelich are much further behind in appearances than the others. Beckett, Miggy and Yellich only played with the Marlins for 4.5 seasons! 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, notin said:

You know Story, assuming (and safely so) he is still here, is getting the job once he returns.  
 

I’ll take Cheng with his .600 OPS and defense over Story and his .542 OPS with limited defense…

I'd take Cheng and .600 over Story at .700. (Fat chance he hits that well.)

I'd probably prefer Monasterio, too, assuming he's still doing this well by the time Story  is ready.

[moonslav59]

MLBTR came out with their top 50 Trade Deadline List.

Here are players that are not rentals:

2 Mason Miller (arb to '29)

4. Detmers & 5 Soriano (arb to '28) & 17 Joe Ryan (arb to 2027)

18 Luke Weaver ('27) & Jeff Hoffman ('27)

20. E Hancock (arb to '30)

21 Abrams (arb to '28) & 22 Neto (arb to '29)

42 Castillo ('27), 43 Wacha ('27) & 44 Lugo ('27)

48 Hunter Goodman (arb to '29)

49 Alcantara ('27 option)

50 Francisco Alvarez (arb to '29)

Rentals I'd consider:

9 Jeffers & 24 T Stephenson

6 Peralta, 7 Griffin, 8 Mize 10 R Ray, 11 Gausman, 13 Bieber, 15 Holmes

33 Trevor Rogers, 36 AJ Mintor

 

[moonslav59]

E Hancock and F Alvarez would be very costly, but nice adds.

[Hugh2]

20 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Chance to improve at age 31? 

I think Tyron Guerrero has taught us all that it's never too late to change. 

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I think Tyron Guerrero has taught us all that it's never too late to change. 

Does Sandy throw 102? 

[Hugh2]

15 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Does Sandy throw 102? 

I pretty much agree wtih your point, I'm being facetious. 

But for the sake of an argument didn't Cuerrero throw 102 when he sucked too?

It's never too late to change...

 

[JoeBrady]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

E Hancock and F Alvarez would be very costly, but nice adds.

When a team in the middle of a pennant race wants to trade you one of their best, controllable SPs, you hang up.

But Alvarez is intriguing.  But I have no idea why the Mets would trade him.  He'd be worth some non-Arias prospects, but likely unattainable.

[JoeBrady]

54 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I think Tyron Guerrero has taught us all that it's never too late to change. 

You can change how you pitch, but probably cannot due much to change your physical attributes.  With Tyron, it was a matter of throwing strikes.  That said, I can easily see Alcantara morphing into a 2027 version of Gray.

[JoeBrady]

29 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

It's never too late to change..

Sandy won't change, but I'm not sure he has to.  He looks like a pretty good pitcher to me.

[Hugh2]

9 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Sandy won't change, but I'm not sure he has to.  He looks like a pretty good pitcher to me.

Agreed, his velocity is still there. He's not the ACE he once was but he's still a good #2 pitcher.  I'd certainly bite for a reasonable price. 

[mvp 78]

53 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Agreed, his velocity is still there. He's not the ACE he once was but he's still a good #2 pitcher.  I'd certainly bite for a reasonable price. 

#2? People complained that Gray wasn't a #2, but Sandy is? I don't see it. 

[JoeBrady]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

#2? People complained that Gray wasn't a #2, but Sandy is? I don't see it. 

I don't pay that much attention to folks that didn't consider Gray a #2.  Gray is a legit #2.  Sandy is a legit #3+, with a #2 ceiling, imho.

[moonslav59]

Back to needing a big bat and some pitching help, but now without the Early trade chip.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Back to needing a big bat and some pitching help, but now without the Early trade chip.

At this point if we agree not to trade Arias but still want reinforcements, then we all have to accept the loss of an even better young pitching prospect (as of today) than Early.

And not just for Goodman, but even if we just want a couple veterans like Gausman and Springer as a #5 and righty DH, you know Toronto is going to ask for Eyanson. 

That doesn't mean the Sox will deal him, but we have to be willing to lose alternative arms like Witherspoon, Holobetz, Rivera, etc.

 

[mvp 78]

25 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

That doesn't mean the Sox will deal him, but we have to be willing to lose alternative arms like Witherspoon, Holobetz, Rivera, etc.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not Tolle!!!!

[UtahSox]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Agreed, his velocity is still there. He's not the ACE he once was but he's still a good #2 pitcher.  I'd certainly bite for a reasonable price. 

But then every few games he looks like his old self. I’d love Sandy. I’m starting to lean towards 2027 being a lost season. It feels as if many teams are operating that way. Which is why I think marlins will move him. 

[UtahSox]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Back to needing a big bat and some pitching help, but now without the Early trade chip.

I’ll preface this with I don’t think Roman is back… 

My over the moon excited trade deadline looks like this:

Springer for Soto straight up.  (DH)

Otto Lopez+ Sandy Alcantara+ Pete Fairbanks for Eyanson, Witherspoon, Godbout

Every game That Tolle or Bennett pitches between now and October they need to just give us 5 innings (Guerrero, Fairbanks, Whitlock, Chapman close their games)

Lopez- full time SS 

Story/ Mead 2b (if mead makes it back at all)

Springer full time player DH/ LF

Yoshida/ Duran DH/LF rotate depending on head space of JD

 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, UtahSox said:

I’ll preface this with I don’t think Roman is back… 

My over the moon excited trade deadline looks like this:

Springer for Soto straight up.  (DH)

Otto Lopez+ Sandy Alcantara+ Pete Fairbanks for Eyanson, Witherspoon, Godbout

Every game That Tolle or Bennett pitches between now and October they need to just give us 5 innings (Guerrero, Fairbanks, Whitlock, Chapman close their games)

Lopez- full time SS 

Story/ Mead 2b (if mead makes it back at all)

Springer full time player DH/ LF

Yoshida/ Duran DH/LF rotate depending on head space of JD

 

The MIA offer wont even get us Lopez alone, IMO.

Soto for Springer is a longshot on TOR accepting.

[Hugh2]

17 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

But then every few games he looks like his old self. I’d love Sandy. I’m starting to lean towards 2027 being a lost season. It feels as if many teams are operating that way. Which is why I think marlins will move him. 

I dont' think 2027 is a lost season, but I think it's very very likely they're going to miss games. 

[UtahSox]

8 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The MIA offer wont even get us Lopez alone, IMO.

Soto for Springer is a longshot on TOR accepting.

Well maybe that’s why I liked those deals so much? Ha