A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

All four guys should get time.

There are 5 guys: Abreu, Anthony, Rafaela, Duran and Masa. Someone has to sit. 

[moonslav59]

I'm all for playing the hot hand, and playing Masa more further exposes the big winter failure of keeping 4 OF'ers when we had other needs.

What makes it worse is that we had the same issue last winter.

 

[moonslav59]

Don't look now, but the MLB OPS is .701.

Anthony is up to .724.

Rafaela is still above the norm at .766.

Masa continues to do well (.852).

Wong is over .900 in a smaller sample size, while IKF and Story jumped over the .500 OPS line.

Early keeps getting the job done (2.29 ERA.)

[moonslav59]

Rookie Kevin McGonigle & Tigers agree to $150M/8 extension.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm all for playing the hot hand, and playing Masa more further exposes the big winter failure of keeping 4 OF'ers when we had other needs.

What makes it worse is that we had the same issue last winter.

 

Not at all, 

The big failure would've been trading off Yoshida for $4M in payroll savings.  But the bigger failure would've been trading off Abreu for Paredes.  You can assume neither that we would make an elegant trade yielding value + fit, nor assume we'd have made a bad trade.

At this point, probably every target fans wanted is underperforming.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Not at all, 

The big failure would've been trading off Yoshida for $4M in payroll savings.  But the bigger failure would've been trading off Abreu for Paredes.  You can assume neither that we would make an elegant trade yielding value + fit, nor assume we'd have made a bad trade.

At this point, probably every target fans wanted is underperforming.

… unless someone wanted Brandon Lowe…

[moonslav59]

43 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Not at all, 

The big failure would've been trading off Yoshida for $4M in payroll savings.  But the bigger failure would've been trading off Abreu for Paredes.  You can assume neither that we would make an elegant trade yielding value + fit, nor assume we'd have made a bad trade.

At this point, probably every target fans wanted is underperforming.

It didn't have to be Abreu for Paredes. There were surely other options.

[Tedballgame]

Kyle Harrison pitching well for Milwaukee, making the trade for the non-hitting Caleb Durbin look worse by the day. Young left handed pitchers don't grow on trees. Non-hitting third basemen are a dime a dozen.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Tedballgame said:

Kyle Harrison pitching well for Milwaukee, making the trade for the non-hitting Caleb Durbin look worse by the day. Young left handed pitchers don't grow on trees. Non-hitting third basemen are a dime a dozen.

So then the Devers trade was okay?

[mvp 78]

11 hours ago, Tedballgame said:

Kyle Harrison pitching well for Milwaukee, making the trade for the non-hitting Caleb Durbin look worse by the day. Young left handed pitchers don't grow on trees. Non-hitting third basemen are a dime a dozen.

Harrison was basically traded for the comp pick (Marcus Phillips). Sox didn't see a fit for Harrison here as he wasn't really taking to the pitching dev. 

🫠

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

So then the Devers trade was okay?

Is your argument now that the Devers trade was good, but Breslow just made two STINKERS after? That doesn't make anything better. This org isn't able to evaluate their own players internally now so they'll just trade their good prospects away for pennies on the dollar? 

Yuck! 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Is your argument now that the Devers trade was good...?

No. It was tongue in cheek.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Harrison was basically traded for the comp pick (Marcus Phillips). Sox didn't see a fit for Harrison here as he wasn't really taking to the pitching dev. 

🫠

I think Durbin was the centerpiece of the trade- not the comp pick.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Is your argument now that the Devers trade was good, but Breslow just made two STINKERS after? That doesn't make anything better. This org isn't able to evaluate their own players internally now so they'll just trade their good prospects away for pennies on the dollar? 

Yuck! 

Fans have to pick a lane,  They have to decide whether or not Harrison and Tibbs were good acquisitions.  Either they were good, and trade was great, or they were bad, and e managed to extract some value out of them.

[JoeBrady]

52 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think Durbin was the centerpiece of the trade- not the comp pick.

Durbin was definitely the key piece.

[JoeBrady]

14 hours ago, notin said:

… unless someone wanted Brandon Lowe…

By the end of the year, that's what some will say.

[Old Red]

19 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

All four guys should get time.

A lot harder to get going being in, and out of the lineup to get all playing time. Not a good situation IMO.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Fans have to pick a lane,  They have to decide whether or not Harrison and Tibbs were good acquisitions.  Either they were good, and trade was great, or they were bad, and e managed to extract some value out of them.

They could be good acquisitions, but still not equal value for losing a top of the order foundational bat. You can still lament the loss of said good acquisitions in terrible trades later on (particularly the Tibbs for May deal). 

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Durbin was definitely the key piece.

Yes, and a low cost settle at that.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Durbin was definitely the key piece.

No. 

[JoeBrady]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It didn't have to be Abreu for Paredes. There were surely other options.

This doesn't to be anything at all.  But at this point, almost any combination of trades will likely have left us worse off.

[mvp 78]

Just now, Old Red said:

Yes, and a low cost settle at that.

The settle was Suarez I thought? Durbin's deal just replaces a bullpen contract or whoever else Breslow would've acquired at that point in the offseason. 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

This doesn't to be anything at all.  But at this point, almost any combination of trades will likely have left us worse off.

Having 5 players who can't all play at once is causing them to be out of rhythm and underperform. 

Duran looks terrible. Anthony is off to an awful start. Bad roster construction!

[Old Red]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Having 5 players who can't all play at once is causing them to be out of rhythm and underperform. 

Duran looks terrible. Anthony is off to an awful start. Bad roster construction!

Agree, and as I said earlier a lot harder to get, or keep it going being in, and out of the lineup.

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The settle was Suarez I thought? Durbin's deal just replaces a bullpen contract or whoever else Breslow would've acquired at that point in the offseason. 

Bregman, Paredes, Raffy, Suarez, Marte, Horner, and more were mentioned, or could have been.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Bregman, Paredes, Raffy, Suarez, Marte, Horner, and more were mentioned, or could have been.

"Ranger Suarez" was the settle. That is what everyone said at the time he was signed. 

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

"Ranger Suarez" was the settle. That is what everyone said at the time he was signed. 

Ranger, and Dubin was the settle for Bregman. Ranger doesn’t come if Bregman was signed, and neither would Dubin.

[Duran Is The Man]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I think Durbin was the centerpiece of the trade- not the comp pick.

his defense is fine, but he absolutely sucks ass at the plate. he makes Dham look like Babef***ingRuth.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

his defense is fine, but he absolutely sucks ass at the plate. he makes Dham look like Babef***ingRuth.

These results don't mean he wasn't the intended major return piece.

[mvp 78]

27 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Ranger, and Dubin was the settle for Bregman. Ranger doesn’t come if Bregman was signed, and neither would Dubin.

They were happy with Mayer at 3b for all of the offseason if Bregman didn't sign. Once they found out that Romy was out, they had to pivot and acquire Durbin. Ranger was the settle.