A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Well, if it was going to be made at all, it probably did.  Sale was coming of 4 years of barely pitching and hadn’t been elite Sale for 6 years.  Another early season injury and he was untradable again.  Grissom was a young promising player who didn’t pan out.  But he was also the only time Boston got offered anything even remotely valuable for the oft-injured pitcher.  It didn’t work out, but it was at least understandable.  Unlike dealing Priester and acquiring May, both moves of which made zero sense…

I was talking about when Sale was resigned, and not when he was traded.

[drewski6]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Connelly Early for Matt Shaw?  Shaw has certainly shown he can hit and is a great defensive infielder blocked everywhere in Chicago.  And the Cubs desperately need SP.   

Would you pull that trigger?

No. You lost me at "can hit" and "great fielder"

I want "great hitter" 

[notin]

18 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

No. You lost me at "can hit" and "great fielder"

I want "great hitter" 

At 2b?  Limited options there.

Upgrade 2b.  Get a thumper for DH.. 

[moonslav59]

55 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

They would have been better off with the same budgets if they:

a) Kept Betts

b) Let Sale and Bogaerts walk

c) Hired a CBO who made better moves

 

Could be, but who knows. It's hard for any GM to make up for all the players lost and aging stars with big contracts to rebuild when spending less and less each winter.

Maybe deadline moves could have swung some seasons, but the "new GM" would have had to have great winters, year after year. Hard to do on peanuts.

[UtahSox]

36 minutes ago, notin said:

Connelly Early for Matt Shaw?  Shaw has certainly shown he can hit and is a great defensive infielder blocked everywhere in Chicago.  And the Cubs desperately need SP.   

Would you pull that trigger?

Yes I think he is really good defender as well. Plus there are pitching FA available next year virtually no bats

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

At 2b?  Limited options there.

Upgrade 2b.  Get a thumper for DH.. 

That seems an easier path.

Abrams at SS or Torres at 2B could help, if no great bat DH can be added.

Who are you thinking of as that DH?

 This assumes we will be buyers: would even Abrams and ______ (DH/LF) be enough?

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

Yes I think he is really good defender as well. Plus there are pitching FA available next year virtually no bats

Matt Shaw turns 25 this November and has a 100 OPS+ to start his career (550 PAs)

That sure beats....

88 OPS+ from Durbin at age 26 and 728 career PAs

76 OPS+ from Mayer at age 23.5 and 336 PAs.

We'd need to see vast improvement for Shaw to be called even a "good" hitter. Do we really need more speculative value added?

[UtahSox]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Matt Shaw turns 25 this November and has a 100 OPS+ to start his career (550 PAs)

That sure beats....

88 OPS+ from Durbin at age 26 and 728 career PAs

76 OPS+ from Mayer at age 23.5 and 336 PAs.

We'd need to see vast improvement for Shaw to be called even a "good" hitter. Do we really need more speculative value added?

Shaw would be a great to elite get for RS. Cubs probably do the deal for Sonny Gray+ Early.

2027 SP- Crochet, Suarez, Tolle, Bennett, Oviedo, Kutter ability to add someone else if injuries happen. 

[Old Red]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Could be, but who knows. It's hard for any GM to make up for all the players lost and aging stars with big contracts to rebuild when spending less and less each winter.

Maybe deadline moves could have swung some seasons, but the "new GM" would have had to have great winters, year after year. Hard to do on peanuts.

Same old speculations on how the new GM’S had to work under such brutal conditions. Here’s another speculation that a better GM could have done a better job.

[Bellhorn04]

30 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Could be, but who knows. It's hard for any GM to make up for all the players lost and aging stars with big contracts to rebuild when spending less and less each winter.

Maybe deadline moves could have swung some seasons, but the "new GM" would have had to have great winters, year after year. Hard to do on peanuts.

Our payrolls weren't really peanuts.  They were disappointing to us as demanding Sox fans, but they weren't peanuts.  Story and Yoshida are obvious examples of spending badly.