A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Duran was 3rd in MLB in LF with 11 DRS. Not sure that can be considered a dumpster fire. 

...and LF'ers are routinely underscored due to the short field. 

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

...and LF'ers are routinely underscored due to the short field. 

People keep wanting to throw him to CF because he was "wasted" but he's kind of not wasted it seems? 

[mvp 78]

Duran's defense is only wasted if he's sitting at DH.

[notin]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Duran's defense is only wasted if he's sitting at DH.

As it stands now, he’s their 4th best defensive outfielder.  So either trade him or LF/DH him wuth Anthony.

Im as pro-Yoshida as anyone, but right now he’s not part of their best starting lineup.  Bench him or demote him.  No need to release him and very tough to trade him…

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

People keep wanting to throw him to CF because he was "wasted" but he's kind of not wasted it seems? 

We are much better off with Rafaela in CF & Abreu in RF.

Anthony should be better in LF than Duran.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, notin said:

As it stands now, he’s their 4th best defensive outfielder.  So either trade him or LF/DH him wuth Anthony.

Im as pro-Yoshida as anyone, but right now he’s not part of their best starting lineup.  Bench him or demote him.  No need to release him and very tough to trade him…

Agreed, and I still have to think Duran's value to another team as a LF'er or CF'er is worth more than the upgrade from Masa to Duran as our DH is.

[Hugh2]

20 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed, and I still have to think Duran's value to another team as a LF'er or CF'er is worth more than the upgrade from Masa to Duran as our DH is.

The way I look at it is if we trade Duran we are likely upgrading our roster/defense but downgrading the lineup. 

It's not that Duran is bad at defense, it's just that the guys you mentioned are so good, and he would bring back value (Ideally) up the middle in the infield.  But you're also subtracting him from a lineup that already needs addition not subtraction. 

Of course, this is all avoidable by just keeping him.  It's perfectly plausible to DH him and/or rotate him between DH/OF and trade pitching for an infielder. This does create a roster dilema with Yoshida, but we are kind of there with him already so its like.....whatever. 

Despite the roster crunch, I kind of like the ideal of keeping all 4 outfielders.  The concept of trading a 4-5 War outfielder for a 2-3 war infielder doesn't sit well with me, even if that means we should command more than just a Paredes (type) in a trade.

It might make sense, to trade Duran for prospects, and put together an entirely different package for an infielder (assuming you still need to move an OF),

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

The way I look at it is if we trade Duran we are likely upgrading our roster/defense but downgrading the lineup. 

It's not that Duran is bad at defense, it's just that the guys you mentioned are so good, and he would bring back value (Ideally) up the middle in the infield.  But you're also subtracting him from a lineup that already needs addition not subtraction. 

Of course, this is all avoidable by just keeping him.  It's perfectly plausible to DH him and/or rotate him between DH/OF and trade pitching for an infielder. This does create a roster dilema with Yoshida, but we are kind of there with him already so its like.....whatever. 

Despite the roster crunch, I kind of like the ideal of keeping all 4 outfielders.  The concept of trading a 4-5 War outfielder for a 2-3 war infielder doesn't sit well with me, even if that means we should command more than just a Paredes (type) in a trade.

It might make sense, to trade Duran for prospects, and put together an entirely different package for an infielder (assuming you still need to move an OF),

I have spoken about the need to upgrade the offense as part of the idea of trading Duran.

Sign E Suarez and then trade Duran for a 2Bman that can hit plus maybe a decent RP'er.

Or, trade Duran for Paredes, BKing and Janek.

[Hugh2]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I have spoken about the need to upgrade the offense as part of the idea of trading Duran.

Sign E Suarez and then trade Duran for a 2Bman that can hit plus maybe a decent RP'er.

Or, trade Duran for Paredes, BKing and Janek.

E Suarez is probably by far the worse decision this team could make to fill in the infield hole. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed, and I still have to think Duran's value to another team as a LF'er or CF'er is worth more than the upgrade from Masa to Duran as our DH is.

If teams are offering something paltry for 3 years of a 5 fWAR outfielder, I’m prone to keep him.  The notion of his value to another team is meaningless if the other team doesn’t agree…

[Hugh2]

Just now, notin said:

If teams are offering something paltry for 3 years of a 5 fWAR outfielder, I’m prone to keep him.  The notion of his value to another team is meaningless if the other team doesn’t agree…

The problem could be us, some teams might be offering us a haul but we might not like those players. 

[notin]

1 minute ago, Hugh2 said:

The problem could be us, some teams might be offering us a haul but we might not like those players. 

If the Sox don’t like the players, is that really their fault? I mean half of trading is getting back something you want…

[Hugh2]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

If the Sox don’t like the players, is that really their fault? I mean half of trading is getting back something you want…

not at all, I just wish more people understood this as you do, and that it comes from both sides.....as they say "it takes two to tango" working out trades isn't easy. 

[Larry Cook]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

If the Sox don’t like the players, is that really their fault? I mean half of trading is getting back something you want…

We seem to get abused in salary dump trades, betts/price, sale and Devers. And also in deadline trades!  
but we seem do have more success in prospect trades 
 

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

E Suarez is probably by far the worse decision this team could make to fill in the infield hole. 

It's not the WORST decision. It's not a great one though.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

not at all, I just wish more people understood this as you do, and that it comes from both sides.....as they say "it takes two to tango" working out trades isn't easy. 

This is a lie. It's so easy to do on MLB the Show. 

[notin]

11 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

not at all, I just wish more people understood this as you do, and that it comes from both sides.....as they say "it takes two to tango" working out trades isn't easy. 

Yes.  And if the Sox cannot get back what they want for Duran, keep him.  It’s not a bad thing.

I am for trading Bello instead.  Unlike Duran, every team will want him. Maybe not to the point of giving up their 2b, 3b or catcher.  But the interest should be universal.

And while I understand you can never have enough pitching, it is possible to have too many starting pitchers on your 40 man roster…

[notin]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

This is a lie. It's so easy to do on MLB the Show. 

It’s also easy for Matt Wallner to bat .350 with 45 home runs in MLB The Show…

[moonslav59]

42 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

E Suarez is probably by far the worse decision this team could make to fill in the infield hole. 

Other than Paredes, he might be the best option to fill the need on offense for a power RH'd bat.

Yes, he might be the worst defensive choice.

[moonslav59]

On E Suarez, it might also be about the money, the 3rd tax line and a willingness to defer salary.

[mvp 78]

21 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s also easy for Matt Wallner to bat .350 with 45 home runs in MLB The Show…

If he was a RHB, Craig would have traded for him by now.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Or, trade Duran for Paredes, BKing and Janek.

I would do that.  I don't think Houston would, but I don't think it is far off either.

[JoeBrady]

27 minutes ago, notin said:

I am for trading Bello instead.  Unlike Duran, every team will want him.

I'd add to that the fact that injuries likely won't change Duran's market.  Between now and opening day, there is a pretty good chance that at least one GM just doesn't like their rotation, or there is an injury, a rookie/2nd year guy just loses the plate.  I feel pretty strongly that someone will call up for Bello.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

E Suarez is probably by far the worse decision this team could make to fill in the infield hole. 

It was his parents poor decision to give a newborn and future big leaguer a name that begins with an E. 

E Suarez has already appeared too many times in the wrong places of box scores. In case anyone is nervous, he has more career errors at 3B than Raffy (but hasn't led his league as many times).

And now we know why he likes to be called Geno. At least G Suarez is a gamer.

[Hugh2]

42 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Other than Paredes, he might be the best option to fill the need on offense for a power RH'd bat.

Yes, he might be the worst defensive choice.

Is he really that good though? I'm not saying he sucks he has amazing power but that's literally ALL he does.  He hits home runs and that's it, and I think fans have a tendency to over value that. 

He's going to hit 30 HR's next year, that's like a home run once a week but he's going to be striking out every day and letting more balls through to his left every day. 

Sox went over the 2nd luxury tax threshold on pitching to go out and bring in a guy who has some of the leagues worse range at 3B???? we have a ground ball heavy staff.  We can't ignore that his defense makes EVERY pitcher on our team just a little worse. 

I'd rather pay a much steeper premium and go for a bat that can also play defense or just go with Parades.

I've been wrong before, but I do not believe the Sox invested $34 million on a ground ball pitcher to bring in a guy who is even older and among the worse at fielding ground balls.  

[Hugh2]

22 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

It was his parents poor decision to give a newborn and future big leaguer a name that begins with an E. 

E Suarez has already appeared too many times in the wrong places of box scores. In case anyone is nervous, he has more career errors at 3B than Raffy (but hasn't led his league as many times).

And now we know why he likes to be called Geno. At least G Suarez is a gamer.

Raffy is actually a great comp.  He's Raffy but with even more swing and miss and less AVG/OBP. 

The only thing he has in common with Raffy is home runs and horrible defense. 

[mvp 78]

19 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Raffy is actually a great comp.  He's Raffy but with even more swing and miss and less AVG/OBP. 

The only thing he has in common with Raffy is home runs and horrible defense. 

And they moved Raffy to DH before trading him. Why bring a poor man's Raffy to BOS? 

[notin]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

E Suarez is probably by far the worse decision this team could make to fill in the infield hole. 

Y Moncada?

[Hugh2]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

And they moved Raffy to DH before trading him. Why bring a poor man's Raffy to BOS? 

It literally makes zero sense at all.  People just see that he hit a ton of home runs last year and that's it.  It's like a horse race wearing his blinders that can't see anything else but that HR. 

HR are nice, and very important, but you have to see the forest for the trees as well.  

[Hugh2]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

Y Moncada?

A Moncada/Romy platoon would probably return similar value for a fraction of the cost.  I still don't like it though