Talk Sox’s Community Awards: 2025 MLB Season

[Brock Beauchamp]

Hello again, Sox fans! Twice a year, I sit down and find the most popular posts and blogs on Talk Sox, and their creators receive prizes for their contributions to the sprawling behemoth that is this site. While the 2025 Red Sox season ended in disappointment, there were many great times to be had at Fenway in 2025. We look at the most popular posts and blogs created by our users.

Let's dive into the most popular content of the 2025 MLB season.

Most Popular Post
In the most popular post of the 2025 season, @JerryL1042 pointed out that instead of trading Jarren Duran, perhaps the coaching staff should better address his weaknesses. Trading Duran is always a popular and controversial topic in New England sports.

For this well-liked post, you win this replica 2004 World Series champions ring. Please private message @Brock Beauchamp with your address so I can ship this fun prize to you!

Most Popular Post Runner-Up
Rob Refsnyder is one of those players who is easily overlooked. He plays the short side of a platoon. He's not spectacular in any single skill. But on a postseason-bound team, guys like him are needed. In this celebratory Refsnyder thread, long-time user @moonslav59 had the second most popular post of the 2025 season!

Most Popular Game Thread
I like to point out which game thread drew the most fans over a long 162-game season, and this year it was a mid-August showdown against the Orioles that drew 497 replies. The Red Sox spent the stretch jockeying for position, and game thread posters showed up for it. To show how much Talk Sox has grown in the past year, the high water mark in game threads last season was 264 replies, just over half the number of this season.

Most Popular Blog Post
To the surprise of absolutely no one, a blog entry about the call-up of super-prospect Roman Anthony was the most popular entry of the season. Thank you to @Charlie Hoke for being one of our most regular bloggers, and writing this very popular entry in mid-season!

For this well-liked post, you win this miniature replica of Fenway Park! Please private message @Brock Beauchamp with your address so I can ship this fun prize to you!

Most Popular Blog Post Runner-Up
Was it really this season when Rafael Devers was traded? Seems like an eternity ago. Mid-season, Charlie Hoke looked at Devers's reluctance to move to first base in our second-most popular blog entry of the season.

Most Prolific Poster
We always like to hat-tip the poster who earned the most reputation points, which are given based on the number of posts, how many users liked that content, and other metrics. In the 2025 season, it was @mvp 78! Thanks for being such a great contributor to Talk Sox!

That's all for this season, folks. Give a round of applause to all of those mentioned in this piece, and here's to a successful offseason for the Red Sox!

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[notin]

No award for “Craziest Entry That Turned Out To Be Wrong in the Least Expected Way”?

My nominee is:

Romy wound up with a slash line of .305/343/.483 for a 826 OPS (128 OPS+).

Vientos finished with a .233/.289/.413 for a .702OPS (97 OPS+)

Next year’s follow up? “Can Mark Vientos be the next Romy Gonzalez?”

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, notin said:

No award for “Craziest Entry That Turned Out To Be Wrong in the Least Expected Way”?

My nominee is:

Romy wound up with a slash line of .305/343/.483 for a 826 OPS (128 OPS+).

Vientos finished with a .233/.289/.413 for a .702OPS (97 OPS+)

Next year’s follow up? “Can Mark Vientos be the next Romy Gonzalez?”

Romy even hit near the league norm vs RHPs (.718.) Was it a fluke, or does he deserves a shot at much more playing time?

He was 5th on the team in PAs (283) from June 2nd on.

 

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Romy even hit near the league norm vs RHPs (.718.) Was it a fluke, or does he deserves a shot at much more playing time?

He was 5th on the team in PAs (283) from June 2nd on.

 

Uninspiring on defense. He just feels like a bench guy and that 2025 was his one year. 

[notin]

26 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Uninspiring on defense. He just feels like a bench guy and that 2025 was his one year. 

Agreed.  He’s fine as a bench player.  It’s probably worth remembering that at one point, he wasn’t even good enough to be rostered on arguably the worst team in MLB history…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Agreed.  He’s fine as a bench player.  It’s probably worth remembering that at one point, he wasn’t even good enough to be rostered on arguably the worst team in MLB history…

... the perfect place to shop for a mid-market club with the support of nearly the entire northeast region of a northeast region.

[notin]

10 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

... the perfect place to shop for a mid-market club with the support of nearly the entire northeast region of a northeast region.

Hey who was the last player thr Red Sox got from the Lesser Sox that didn’t work out?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Just now, notin said:

Hey who was the last player thr Red Sox got from the Lesser Sox that didn’t work out?

Hendriks for sure.

Sale post-extension, but not post-trade.

Giolito: 2024 regular season, 2025 postseason (but he bounced around other cities before Sox to Sox).

Seaver didn't make it to the '86 postseason -- would've had Nipper's start vs. the Mets...

Aparicio? Something like 0-for-40, then he fell down.

 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Hendriks for sure.

Sale post-extension, but not post-trade.

Giolito: 2024 regular season, 2025 postseason (but he bounced around other cities before Sox to Sox).

Seaver didn't make it to the '86 postseason -- would've had Nipper's start vs. the Mets...

Aparicio? Something like 0-for-40, then he fell down.

 

Pierzynski had a forgettable stop over in TEX before his forgettable BOS appearance.

Bobby Jenks

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Uninspiring on defense. He just feels like a bench guy and that 2025 was his one year. 

He looked okay on D, but nothing special.

I do think the odds are 2025 was an outlier, but maybe not. I do not hand hima FT job- for sure.

What impressed me most was his okay numbers vs righties. I thought he might be our next Refsnyder, but maybe he can be more.

[notin]

57 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Hendriks for sure.

Sale post-extension, but not post-trade.

Giolito: 2024 regular season, 2025 postseason (but he bounced around other cities before Sox to Sox).

Seaver didn't make it to the '86 postseason -- would've had Nipper's start vs. the Mets...

Aparicio? Something like 0-for-40, then he fell down.

 

Hendriks is really the only one I can think of.  Especially if we limit it to players that came directly from the White Sox and not just ex-White Sox…

[moonslav59]

I'm just glad they took Diekman.

[notin]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm just glad they took Diekman.

And Reese McGuire, while unexciting, was very not horrible…

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, notin said:

And Reese McGuire, while unexciting, was very not horrible…

I was on the fence on whether or not to submit Reese McGuire

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I was on the fence on whether or not to submit Reese McGuire

He was fine in '22 and '23. 

[moonslav59]

We also dumped all of the remaining Diekman contract. It was a decent deal on both ends.