A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

21 minutes ago, notin said:

Well, you did mention Bradley, who was only an LCS MVP.  And frankly, it’s unfair to hold Stanley and Schiraldi’s bad inning against Barrett. Especially since Marty was instrumental in having that 2 run lead in the first place.

I listed all the MVPs in the championship years. Barrett was great that whole postseason in '86 and led in total hits, and Bruce Hurst was going to be awarded WS MVP if his staff mates didn't choke in Game 6.

But if the Red Sox did win '86, is there any doubt who'd be remembered as THE HERO of their first ring in "68 years!"

Dave Hendu Henderson RIP saved the pennant with a home run in the LCS and then blasted what should've been a bigger HR in extra innings in WS Gm 6 with the trophy on the line...

... and now we're back to home runs.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

 Hey, who knew the Pirates have scored more runs than the Yankees?

20 Konner Griffin

23 Chandler

24 Skenes & Yorke

26 Davis, Ashcraft & Montgomery

27 Cruz, Gonzales, Cooke

[Duran Is The Man]

48 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I listed all the MVPs in the championship years. Barrett was great that whole postseason in '86 and led in total hits, and Bruce Hurst was going to be awarded WS MVP if his staff mates didn't choke in Game 6.

But if the Red Sox did win '86, is there any doubt who'd be remembered as THE HERO of their first ring in "68 years!"

Dave Hendu Henderson RIP saved the pennant with a home run in the LCS and then blasted what should've been a bigger HR in extra innings in WS Gm 6 with the trophy on the line...

... and now we're back to home runs.

a few more games and Yordan Alvarez will have more than the entire Sox team

 

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

a few more games and Yordan Alvarez will have more than the entire Sox team

 

5 players more than double the ISO of Abreu, our only player with power.

[notin]

58 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

20 Konner Griffin

23 Chandler

24 Skenes & Yorke

26 Davis, Ashcraft & Montgomery

27 Cruz, Gonzales, Cooke

So your point?  Trying to counter my point that the Sox are struggling because the bulk of their team is younger, struggling players? “The Pirates have young players and they’re scoring, so that cannot be it!” type message?

Hmmm..  how to counter this utter nonsense?  I have two options.

1. A reminder that the Pirates have completely different young players who are not struggling.  Maybe I could even ask for a post with side-by-side numbers?

2.  Counter with equivalent nonsense.  Such as, by this logic, the Sox issues are definitely not related to payroll, since the Mets have spent a fortune and they are horrible.  Ditto the Blue Jays and the Giants.  Also, this negates the Sox need for a superstar bar, since the Mets have the best one and it’s already established that they suck.

You choose…

 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

So your point?  Trying to counter my point that the Sox are struggling because the bulk of their team is younger, struggling players? “The Pirates have young players and they’re scoring, so that cannot be it!” type message?

Hmmm..  how to counter this utter nonsense?  I have two options.

1. A reminder that the Pirates have completely different young players who are not struggling.  Maybe I could even ask for a post with side-by-side numbers?

2.  Counter with equivalent nonsense.  Such as, by this logic, the Sox issues are definitely not related to payroll, since the Mets have spent a fortune and they are horrible.  Ditto the Blue Jays and the Giants.  Also, this negates the Sox need for a superstar bar, since the Mets have the best one and it’s already established that they suck.

You choose…

 

I told you my points:

The Sox have just a handful of players 25 or younger, and they are not the problem, as a whole.

26 and 27 is near or part of prime. Rafaela, Abreu and other 25-27 year olds should be on the upswing.

We have capable back-ups for Anthony (3 OF'ers and Yoshida) Mayer (IKF) Durbin (Monasterio) and Early (Sandoval, Tolle and maybe Oviedo & Crawford).

I'm not sure what your two false choices offered is all about.

Most of us saw the major mistake we made, this winter. Most of us argued we had a surplus in OF/DHs and a shortage in capable IF'ers. Most of us saw our pen was thin.

I don't think our youth is the issue. In fact, I think the opposite: the youth is the only thing we can be optimistic about and not just for 2017 and beyond, but this year. Now, arguing that we shouldn't need Early and Anthony to carry us has a lot of merit, but most good teams are looking at a couple under 26 guys as major factors. The difference is, they better "other players."

I'm not pretending all my suggestions were better than we made, as guys like Suarez and Polanco are doing poorly, but many are doing well. Almost all are doing better than Durbin & IKF. (Note: I liked the idea of adding one of these two as a complimentary piece, but along with someone like Paredes, KMarte, Neto, Hoerner or even BLowe/Donovan types.)

My point about PIT was about you bringing them up. (My guess is they miss the playoffs, again.) 

[moonslav59]

Wasn't Sandoval supposed to pitch today for Woo?

Whaddup?

[moonslav59]

The worst 9 teams in MLB by record include these 7 teams:

7-14 NYM & KCR

7-13 TOR

8-14 HOU

8-12 BOS & PHI

9-13 SEA

The best 9 teams include:

13-8 CIN & AZ

12-8 STL & TBR

12-9 PIT

Why can't we have a GM like STL's? (LOL)

[notin]

46 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I told you my points:

The Sox have just a handful of players 25 or younger, and they are not the problem, as a whole.

26 and 27 is near or part of prime. Rafaela, Abreu and other 25-27 year olds should be on the upswing.

We have capable back-ups for Anthony (3 OF'ers and Yoshida) Mayer (IKF) Durbin (Monasterio) and Early (Sandoval, Tolle and maybe Oviedo & Crawford).

I'm not sure what your two false choices offered is all about.

Most of us saw the major mistake we made, this winter. Most of us argued we had a surplus in OF/DHs and a shortage in capable IF'ers. Most of us saw our pen was thin.

I don't think our youth is the issue. In fact, I think the opposite: the youth is the only thing we can be optimistic about and not just for 2017 and beyond, but this year. Now, arguing that we shouldn't need Early and Anthony to carry us has a lot of merit, but most good teams are looking at a couple under 26 guys as major factors. The difference is, they better "other players."

I'm not pretending all my suggestions were better than we made, as guys like Suarez and Polanco are doing poorly, but many are doing well. Almost all are doing better than Durbin & IKF. (Note: I liked the idea of adding one of these two as a complimentary piece, but along with someone like Paredes, KMarte, Neto, Hoerner or even BLowe/Donovan types.)

My point about PIT was about you bringing them up. (My guess is they miss the playoffs, again.) 

The Sox younger players are not the problem?

Anthony, Durbin and Mayer are all off to bad starts.  In Snthony’s case, his numbers are league average.  Narvaez is 27 but only on his second year.  He’s been awful.  Some vets like Duran, who has been terrible and probably should be benched.  And Story in the field has been bad.  
 

By the way, saying players are in their prime answers nothing.  It’s not etched in stone for every player, and plenty of 27yo have bad seasons.
 

Struggling veterans happens  every year.  But the Sox have 4 starters added to the mix that have two years or less and are flat out not hitting.   That’s a big chunk of their lineup.  
 

The bright side is most of the younger guys will get better.  How much better is TBD.

All off-season, you kept listing who the Sox needed to replace.  Well, outside of Durbin and Contreras, they went internal with these guys.

My question is - do these guys get a longer leash than Campbell?  

[notin]

48 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The worst 9 teams in MLB by record include these 7 teams:

7-14 NYM & KCR

7-13 TOR

8-14 HOU

8-12 BOS & PHI

9-13 SEA

The best 9 teams include:

13-8 CIN & AZ

12-8 STL & TBR

12-9 PIT

Why can't we have a GM like STL's? (LOL)

Minnesota is 11-10 and less than a year ago, dealt away nearly a dozen players, including the bulk of an outstanding bullpen, and in return so far have received Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, and James Outman.  
 

Well, they did fortify their lineup by splurging on Victor Caratini and Josh Bell.  Yay…

[JoeBrady]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

but they dropped the ball on the main piece

Who was the main piece?

[JoeBrady]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If these numbers don't move in significant ways, I don't see a way to make the playoffs,

That's a generic statement true for every team.  If the RS, BJs, Mariners, NYM. Phillies and the Cubs continue to play badly, they will all miss the playoffs.

[JoeBrady]

6 hours ago, notin said:

1986 ALCS MVP.  You probably remember him best for being on base when Dave Henderson homered off Donnie Moore…

Playing hold'em at the Tropicana in LV.  Had an AK, and the flop came down AKT.  4 other players had huge hands.  A made straight, a set of 10s, a nut flush draw, and two pair.  Always interesting when you move all-in a and four players call you.

I wanted the pot, but the RS win was a nice consolation prize.

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, notin said:

The Sox younger players are not the problem?

No more than any other age group.

Let's see at season's end, especially the 25-27 year olds.

[moonslav59]

6 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

Who was the main piece?

I suggested KMart, Neto, Paredes and maybe Hoerner, and others that are not off to great starts.

I was not big on paying that much for Bregman, but he was their "main piece," and they dropped the ball on at least levels with him:

1. They failed to land him.

2. They failed when they made him the "main piece" and target.

[moonslav59]

This offense needed more than KMarte, Neto or Paredes/Hoerner.

At this point, it looks like we probably needed Contreras, Schwarber AND Paredes/Hoerner/Neto/KMarte.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

So glad the owners were there yesterday to see in person the putrid fruits of their impotence.

The Sox did finally score their first run of the entire series on a swing resulting in an initial bounce greater than 70 feet. It came on a home run by a guy who also hit the last Fenway Park HR back on April 6: Willson Contreras (rhymes with rarest).

But the Tigers won again because they hit three times as many homers off Boston's ace. That was the difference, and it will be all year when the Sox lose. No more excuses about running into tough pitching -- the Red Sox turn every starter they face into Cyanide Young.

When NESN noted Crochet had the second-worst stats of any MLB starter, they didn't tell us who was worse -- my first thought was Dustin May, who completely shut down his old club by exposing their weakest link: weaklings. 

[moonslav59]

8-13

Tied for 12th worst AL record with TOR.

HOU, KCR & CWS are worse.

[mvp 78]

At least the ChiSox get to watch Murakami.

 

[moonslav59]

Counting today...

Last 15 games

.128 Duran

.161 Mayer

.172 Narvaez

[Duran Is The Man]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Counting today...

Last 15 games

.128 Duran

.161 Mayer

.172 Narvaez

Refsnyder is .045 on the season (1-22). Seattle probably regretting that deal.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

Refsnyder is .045 on the season (1-22). Seattle probably regretting that deal.

The biggest site question is how long you keep your moniker.

 

[moonslav59]

OPS Leaders

.889 Yoshida

.885 Wong

.870 Contreras

.883 Abreu

.747 Rafaela

.704 Anthony

.596 Monasterio

,549 Mayer

.542 Narvaez

.539 Story

.497 Duran

.495 Durbin

.459 IKF

Worst batters in MLB (50+ ABs)

.183 Ke'Bryan Hayes

.337 Harrison Bader

.407 Alec Bohm

.417 Denzel Clarke

(19 more players)

23. Durbin .495

24. Duran .497

[moonslav59]

On 4/19/2026 at 11:02 AM, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I listed all the MVPs in the championship years. Barrett was great that whole postseason in '86 and led in total hits, and Bruce Hurst was going to be awarded WS MVP if his staff mates didn't choke in Game 6.

But if the Red Sox did win '86, is there any doubt who'd be remembered as THE HERO of their first ring in "68 years!"

Dave Hendu Henderson RIP saved the pennant with a home run in the LCS and then blasted what should've been a bigger HR in extra innings in WS Gm 6 with the trophy on the line...

... and now we're back to home runs.

Speaking of home runs and Hendu...

Earlier in that game, Hendu ran back to almost catch a ball that would have maybe been a double, but the ball bounced up and over the fence for a dinger.

He'd have been blamed for the loss had he not homered.

[Duran Is The Man]

50 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The biggest site question is how long you keep your moniker.

 

yeah, he's sucking ass right now, but....it's still early. right? 😂

[Kimmi]

On 4/15/2026 at 8:09 AM, mvp 78 said:

The rumor is that a lot of the team has been showing up late. Narvaez is a really hard worker, but showed up late. As an example to the rest of the team, Cora benched him. 

Well, if there's any truth to the rumor that a lot of the team has been showing up late, that speaks very poorly about the team's professionalism and their attitude towards righting the ship.  There's no excuse for not showing up every day, no matter how bad things get.  Cora should bench every one of them. 

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

yeah, he's sucking ass right now, but....it's still early. right? 😂

There are more Sox batters sucking ass than doing well, so he's not alone.

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Well, if there's any truth to the rumor that a lot of the team has been showing up late, that speaks very poorly about the team's professionalism and their attitude towards righting the ship.  There's no excuse for not showing up every day, no matter how bad things get.  Cora should bench every one of them. 

It wouldn't really be fair to Narvaez, if others have been late, too and not benched.

If several players are late and get away with it, then Cora needs the reprimanding.

[Kimmi]

It is astounding how poorly the Red Sox are performing, with the exception of a few players.   They have not been much fun to watch, even when they win.  In fact, it's been downright agonizing.  I still expect them to make the playoffs, but in the meantime, it's been pure frustration.  I didn't sign up for this.  :(

[moonslav59]

The AL has really sucked, so far. As bad as the Sox have been, they are 1/2 GB the middle tier (middle 5) and 2 GB being a top tier team. (Top 5)