A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[notin]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Hard to really compare the two players TBH. They don't serve the same purpose on the roster. 

It’s not hard to compare them.  I did it, and you read it.
 

Andujar has one skill.  And it’s not like he even excels at it..

[mvp 78]

Just now, notin said:

Is pitching in AAA really a necessary step anymore?  It seems like AAA is more a place for minor league contracts and players 27-40…

Since they did away with short season ball, yes. A few years ago, maybe not. He needs to at least go there for a few months IMO. There's a lot of young and inexperienced players at AA now. The product isn't as good as it was a few years ago. 

[UtahSox]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s not hard to compare them.  I did it, and you read it.
 

Andujar has one skill.  And it’s not like he even excels at it..

Mashing LHP. And I agree that’s it. But something we need more than a ++defender which is all IKF is. Of course that could all change if story gets hurt orrrr Romy is hurt long term. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, UtahSox said:

Mashing LHP. And I agree that’s it. But something we need more than a ++defender which is all IKF is. Of course that could all change if story gets hurt orrrr Romy is hurt long term. 

His .986 OPS vs LHP was impressive but in only 93 PA, it could be tainted by facing a good amount of bad LHP.  His .803 career vs LHP isn’t really “mashing” IMO.

I take IKF and the versatility.  Hes a good fielder no matter who is pitching…

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, UtahSox said:

Mashing LHP. And I agree that’s it. But something we need more than a ++defender which is all IKF is. Of course that could all change if story gets hurt orrrr Romy is hurt long term. 

With the ongoing health concerns we've had with IFers the past several years, I think IKF is more important than Andujar to this team's roster. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

With the ongoing health concerns we've had with IFers the past several years, I think IKF is more important than Andujar to this team's roster. 

Agreed, but you must be referring to my health concerns. Because watching the defense the past several years made me sick.

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Agreed, but you must be referring to my health concerns. Because watching the defense the past several years made me sick.

The bad defense made my bourbon budget go up too high. 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, notin said:

His .986 OPS vs LHP was impressive but in only 93 PA, it could be tainted by facing a good amount of bad LHP.  His .803 career vs LHP isn’t really “mashing” IMO.

I take IKF and the versatility.  Hes a good fielder no matter who is pitching…

Just on the L/R issue, the only platoon I see is Mayer/Romy.  So I generated the following analysis.  The two disclaimers are that 1) because we have such a young team, we have 8 small sample warnings, and 2) these are not park-adjusted.

• 	v Righties	v Lefties
  Duran	0.837	0.620
  Anthony	0.903	0.770
  Story (25)	0.743	0.734
  Abreu	0.827	0.589
  Contreras	0.791	0.871
  Durbin	0.722	0.717
  Narvaez	0.724	0.712
  Rafaela	0.701	0.642
  Mayer	0.739
  Romy		0.872
  	0.776	0.725
  League Average	0.725	0.704

These are all career numbers except for Story, since I wanted to exclude his Rox stats.

[JoeBrady]

21 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The bad defense made my bourbon budget go up too high. 

I'm cool with letting Bregman walk at that price, but the difference between him and Devers brought a smile to my face.  I mean, with a guy on 1st, a hard grounder to 3rd should make you happy.  Not cause you to clinch your stomach.

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I'm cool with letting Bregman walk at that price, but the difference between him and Devers brought a smile to my face.  I mean, with a guy on 1st, a hard grounder to 3rd should make you happy.  Not cause you to clinch your stomach.

The defense was notably better (at times) last season. Still work to do. My favorite part was whenever Narvaez was behind the plate, except for the interferences. 

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The defense was notably better (at times) last season. Still work to do. My favorite part was whenever Narvaez was behind the plate, except for the interferences. 

I think we should be a better defensive team, this year than 2025. Durbin may be a step down from Bregman at 3B, but we should be better at 1B (Willson), 2B (Mayer) and the OF (no Ref & less Duran.)

Maybe Narvaez gets even better.

Maybe Story takes another step down.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I think we should be a better defensive team, this year than 2025. Durbin may be a step down from Bregman at 3B, but we should be better at 1B (Willson), 2B (Mayer) and the OF (no Ref & less Duran.)

Maybe Narvaez gets even better.

Maybe Story takes another step down.

And having IKF as a super-sub will add a lot.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

And having IKF as a super-sub will add a lot.

YES! I failed to mention our top utility guy is all about defense.

We won't see Ref in the OF anymore, either.

It remains to be seen if KC plays 2B, but I like the Mayer/Romy/Durbin choices. DHam was good defensive 2Bman, but not anywhere else. Sogard, Eaton and some of our past infielders were not known for defense.

[Hitch]

15 hours ago, notin said:

He had one good year in CF, but he’s shown us plenty of times he doesn’t belong there.  I don’t think Ive ever seen an outfielder more out of place than he was on Raimel Tapia’s inside-the-park grand slam.  I know that’s just one play, but it was about as extreme as it gets…

He looked lost in every way at that stage of his career. His one full year in CF he looked very good, with the odd weird decision. He did not look good in Left at all. I sure trust him the least out of all the outfielders (Masa excluded).

[Hitch]

On 2/18/2026 at 7:27 PM, moonslav59 said:

As much as we both dislike the idea of Masa playing LF, I think Cora and Brez are more open to the idea.

.

I don't see any evidence of that. I don't think anyone wants Masa in the field, outside of Masa himself. 

[Old Red]

3 hours ago, Hitch said:

I don't see any evidence of that. I don't think anyone wants Masa in the field, outside of Masa himself. 

If Masa was to spend any time in LF I think the Red Sox would have to be in desperate need due to injuries. I don’t know what the plans the Red Sox have for Masa, but I don’t see him having a roster spot unless he’s getting frequent AB.

[moonslav59]

6 hours ago, Hitch said:

I don't see any evidence of that. I don't think anyone wants Masa in the field, outside of Masa himself. 

It's possible the whole reasoning for keeping Masa in AAA for much of last summer to "work on his throwing" was a sham to avoid adding him to the 26, while Devers was the FT DH, but that kinda showed they wanted Masa to be able to throw a ball.

I'm not sure they envision him playing any OF, this year, since they once again decided not to trade from the OF depth. They also have K Campbell in the mix. I think someone needs to get hurt for Masa to play OF- likely 2 of the top 4.

Cora said this, last Januray:

“Our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora told reporters. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play.”

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's possible the whole reasoning for keeping Masa in AAA for much of last summer to "work on his throwing" was a sham to avoid adding him to the 26, while Devers was the FT DH, but that kinda showed they wanted Masa to be able to throw a ball.

I'm not sure they envision him playing any OF, this year, since they once again decided not to trade from the OF depth. They also have K Campbell in the mix. I think someone needs to get hurt for Masa to play OF- likely 2 of the top 4.

Cora said this, last Januray:

“Our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora told reporters. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play.”

There is evidence that they want Masa to play some OF (and even some 1B), there is no proof of it; however, because evidence is a much lower bar.

Personally, I think they want Masa as OF (and 1B) depth and its easier to carry him on 26 man roster if he can pick up an OF / 1B glove if needed.

There is simply no need to make these decisions right now.  I think its more "fluid" then fans generally believe, as Ive noticed fans generally like clean/established....For example the label "of the future".  Teams dont pen in like that.

[drewski6]

Whether or not Masa will play some OF this year depends on a lot of variables, things we cant predict today. And its not just injuries either.  There is a chance that Roman adds 20 lbs and is your DH and slugs 45 HRs. Would that be good or bad? Spoiler: it would be good.

[Hitch]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's possible the whole reasoning for keeping Masa in AAA for much of last summer to "work on his throwing" was a sham to avoid adding him to the 26, while Devers was the FT DH, but that kinda showed they wanted Masa to be able to throw a ball.

I'm not sure they envision him playing any OF, this year, since they once again decided not to trade from the OF depth. They also have K Campbell in the mix. I think someone needs to get hurt for Masa to play OF- likely 2 of the top 4.

Cora said this, last Januray:

“Our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora told reporters. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play.”

I didn't buy a word they said on Masa playing outfield. It seemed designed to say - hey look everyone, he is worth something, honestly. 

If he gets 5 games in the field, I'd be genuinely stunned, or sad because someone died. 

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Whether or not Masa will play some OF this year depends on a lot of variables, things we cant predict today. And its not just injuries either.  There is a chance that Roman adds 20 lbs and is your DH and slugs 45 HRs. Would that be good or bad? Spoiler: it would be good.

It's funny he's in LF, today.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

It's funny he's in LF, today.

Because versatility is good and they want to keep that as an option.  How much OF Masa will get , like most things, right now is a giant TBD.  Penciling in depth charts and wanting to plan for all these outcomes is a fan thing.  Teams are trying to be versatile and deep to cover a bunch of "ifs" NOT have a roadmap for how they will handle every "if"

Its all fluid.

[moonslav59]

Just now, drewski6 said:

Because versatility is good and they want to keep that as an option.  How much OF Masa will get , like most things, right now is a giant TBD.  Penciling in depth charts and wanting to plan for all these outcomes is a fan thing.  Teams are trying to be versatile and deep to cover a bunch of "ifs" NOT have a roadmap for how they will handle every "if"

Its all fluid.

With 4 FT OF'ers and K Campbell on everyone's radar, Masa should not play in the OF. He might play LF as KC DH's but even that is doubtful, and it would take 2 injuries for that question to arise.

I do think, had we traded an OF'er we might have seen a few games in the OF.

[drewski6]

Teams: we like to be positionally versatile and have some ML ready talent parked in AAA, and handle depth that way.

Fans : if player x gets hurt, then player y gets hurt the plan would be to do this, then that, then this.

Its not that specific.

There are no "of the futures" there are no set in stone roadmaps of how to handle : if Mayer struggles, and then abreu is dinged and needs a night off and theres a righty on the mound - heres how they will look.

They dont have options A,B,C,D,E on the depth chart.  And if they do, its suggestions/loose.

Teams wannt to be versatile enough to shift and roll with the punches in 2026.  Breslow literally told you one of the reasons he got Durbin was because he can play 2b OR 3b.  But fans try to pencil it all in positionally.

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's funny he's in LF, today.

He'll play a lot of OF in ST with Anthony, Duran and Abreu at the WBC.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

With 4 FT OF'ers and K Campbell on everyone's radar, Masa should not play in the OF. He might play LF as KC DH's but even that is doubtful, and it would take 2 injuries for that question to arise.

I do think, had we traded an OF'er we might have seen a few games in the OF.

I'd play Campbell in the OF before I'd put Masa out there. Not that Masa is bad, but that Campbell has been decent out there in short stretches. 

[drewski6]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He'll play a lot of OF in ST with Anthony, Duran and Abreu at the WBC.

Somebody has to.

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'd play Campbell in the OF before I'd put Masa out there. Not that Masa is bad, but that Campbell has been decent out there in short stretches. 

Who I would play where depends on variables.  Im more of a think on my feet guy than have every potential possibility planned out.

What if Masa is hitting .830 OPS on the year and Campbell is hitting .690 in AAA.

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Who I would play where depends on variables.  Im more of a think on my feet guy than have every potential possibility planned out.

What if Masa is hitting .830 OPS on the year and Campbell is hitting .690 in AAA.

I was thinking if they were both on the same team per what moon had posted (KC at DH, Masa in LF) not whether KC was in AAA or not. 

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I was thinking if they were both on the same team per what moon had posted (KC at DH, Masa in LF) not whether KC was in AAA or not. 

Fair enough.  Did you mean today (notably RA at WBC)?