A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

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.

So you’re going with Romy was going to be the starting 2B if Bregman didn’t sign, and Mayer was moved to 3B? 

[moonslav59]

I'm not sure Romy had earned Cora's trust as a FT'er, despite his slightly better numbers vs RHPs than Abreu's vs LHPs. Cora went with Abreu as the FT RF'er, but maybe the plan was for Romy to platoon at 2B and maybe DH some, but the DH/OF slot was already overloaded.

Romy splits in 2025:

.978 v L/.718 v R in 185 PAs (Romy faced more RHPs than LHPs in '25.)

Cora went with Abreu after these 2025 splits: 

.676 v L in 68 PAs) /.808 v R

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, Old Red said:

So you’re going with Romy was going to be the starting 2B if Bregman didn’t sign, and Mayer was moved to 3B? 

Romy/Hamilton platoon. Yeah. 

[moonslav59]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Romy/Hamilton platoon. Yeah. 

I expected this, before the Durbin trade.

Had we signed Bregman, maybe a Mayer/Romy platoon at 2B.

[Old Red]

47 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Romy/Hamilton platoon. Yeah. 

That would be an even bigger settle IMO.

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, Old Red said:

That would be an even bigger settle IMO.

After KC went down, that was 2b last year 75% of the time. 

[Old Red]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

After KC went down, that was 2b last year 75% of the time. 

And 2B has been a settle ever since Petey left outside of the 1 year Story played there. Settle after settle after settle.

[moonslav59]

28 minutes ago, Old Red said:

That would be an even bigger settle IMO.

I agree, but Romy did have very good numbers last year and was decent vs righties.

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, Old Red said:

And 2B has been a settle ever since Petey left outside of the 1 year Story played there. Settle after settle after settle.

Sox were 10th in fWAR at 2b in '22. 🤔

[moonslav59]

Right now we have 3 players on the 60 Day IL:
 

Houck

Romy

Oviedo

Maybe Crawford or Casas join the list, as soon as we feel we need to add someone to the 40 for a ML promotion.

Sandoval also seems a thread away from the 60, but he is still actively rehabbing in actual games.

Slaten is on the 15 and Contreras is day-to-day.

All-in-all injuries suck, but some teams have it worse than we do.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sox were 10th in fWAR at 2b in '22. 🤔

Only because they had their future SS (Story) at 2B for most of the year.

It's been a cluster since Pedey, with a few brief moments of bright flashes here and there.

[moonslav59]

2019 to 2025 team fWAR at 2B:

28. BAL 4.0

29. BOS 3.3

30. COL -1.2

[moonslav59]

2019-2025 OAA at 2B

27th Boston at -25.

[mvp 78]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Only because they had their future SS (Story) at 2B for most of the year.

It's been a cluster since Pedey, with a few brief moments of bright flashes here and there.

I was clearly referencing Story being at 2b because that's the move I've wanted Cora to make for quite some time now.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

2019-2025 OAA at 2B

27th Boston at -25.

100% Enmanuel Valdez's fault.

[moonslav59]

What highlights the circus carousel atmosphere of our 2B position since 2019 is looking at the total innings played by the 38 different players we played there the last 7 seasons. Only one player has enough innings, TOTAL! to be close to a full season's worth of innings.

1248 Arroyo

825 EValdez

814 Story

679 DHam

584 Kike

556 Chavis

472 Campbell

469 Holt

418 Romy______

292 Marco Hernandez

259 Marwin

245 Grissom

235 Reyes

221 Rafaela

208 Urias

208 Arauz

204 Nunez

203 Peraza_____

164 Sogard

123 Iggy

109 Yolmer

102 Westbrook____

71 Lin

65 Owings

57 Mayer

56 Downs

49 Turner

41 Lopez & Chang

30 Gasper, 29 Wong, 28 PEDEY, 20 Munoz

18 Vaz, 11 Motter, 9 Short, 6 Dalbec, 3 Devers

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I was clearly referencing Story being at 2b because that's the move I've wanted Cora to make for quite some time now.

Yes, I took it that way, and many of us feel that move is long overdue.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

100% Enmanuel Valdez's fault.

Arauz was worse, but did not last long/

OAA/Innings

-12/825 EValdz

-8/ 585 Kike

-8/471 KC

-6/208 Arauz was horrific

-4/418 Romy

-3/208 Urias

DRS- KC was way worse:

-16/472 KC

-11/825 EValdez

-5/235 Reyes

-4/205 Nunez

-3/28 Pedey

 

[notin]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Romy/Hamilton platoon. Yeah. 

Status quo?

[notin]

20 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Arauz was worse, but did not last long/

OAA/Innings

-12/825 EValdz

-8/ 585 Kike

-8/471 KC

-6/208 Arauz was horrific

-4/418 Romy

-3/208 Urias

DRS- KC was way worse:

-16/472 KC

-11/825 EValdez

-5/235 Reyes

-4/205 Nunez

-3/28 Pedey

 

Meanwhile Nick Yorke…

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/nick-yorke-694377?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

[notin]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

100% Enmanuel Valdez's fault.

But if only every Sox trade went so well…

[notin]

44 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

2019 to 2025 team fWAR at 2B:

28. BAL 4.0

29. BOS 3.3

30. COL -1.2

Whats even funnier is we took Colorado’s 2b this past offseason as a potential fix in Boston…

[notin]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Romy/Hamilton platoon. Yeah. 

I assumed an outfielder (Duran, specifically) would be dealt for a 2b/3b…

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, 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!

Anthony has played in 17 of the 18 games.  His slow start isn't because he got a day off.  Duran has more time off, but he hasn't hit at any point in the season.

[notin]

4 hours ago, 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!

Absolutely.  I think having Judge, Stanton, Grisham, Bellinger, Dominguez, Rice and Goldschmidt and only 3 OF, 1b and DH places to play them all is what limited the 2025 Yankees to only 94 wins.

[Old Red]

41 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, I took it that way, and many of us feel that move is long overdue.

Mayer hasn’t proven he can hit MLB pitching, or stay healthy, or be an everyday player yet.

[mvp 78]

37 minutes ago, notin said:

Meanwhile Nick Yorke…

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/nick-yorke-694377?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

🫠

[mvp 78]

32 minutes ago, notin said:

I assumed an outfielder (Duran, specifically) would be dealt for a 2b/3b…

Not allowed to trade an OFer according to many on here.

[notin]

45 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not allowed to trade an OFer according to many on here.

I’ll trade any outfielder I damn well please and neither you nor anyone else can stop me!

[Old Red]

53 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Not allowed to trade an OFer according to many on here.

I don’t know if Breslow agrees, or just asking to much.