Bregman signs with the Cubs

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

All I've said is that I want to see him do it again before I'm convinced he's a 850 OPS guy. For someone who had a career 617 OPS prior to 2026, I think it's fine to be a little skeptical. A lot of players have come out of nowhere to have a good to great season and then have disappeared again. He made some adjustments over the offseason, let's see if it continues to work out for him in '27. I'm just not penciling him in as a plus bat just yet. 

And its not like we dont have other options as backup plans. Im with you.  I think Mead is likely, maybe even very likely to be a game 1 starter for this team next year.  But lets see how he comes back, and keep in mind that we have plenty of options that he'll have to beat out.  Story/Arias/Romy/Sogard/Siegler/Monasterio.

Now if one of Story or ARias is playing SS full time and thats one less competitor for 2b, sure.  If one from that group is playing DH or Mead is playing DH, fine.

It may be a situation where Story is WS MVP, Arias proves hes ready in spring and we sign ARozarena in offseason.  Then what?

[NHNative]

56 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

No. He's not on the MLB HOF.

Yes--thank you.

[JoeBrady]

40 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

It may be a situation where Story is WS MVP, Arias proves hes ready in spring and we sign ARozarena in offseason.  Then what?

I see little chance that Story is the WS AND Arias has a chance to prove himself.  If he has a .375 with three HRs, he is the automatic 27 starter (and probably will be no matter what).  Mead would have to be absolutely awful in ST to not get the OD call.

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I see little chance that Story is the WS AND Arias has a chance to prove himself.  If he has a .375 with three HRs, he is the automatic 27 starter (and probably will be no matter what).  Mead would have to be absolutely awful in ST to not get the OD call.

I think Mead is likely to get the OD call.  And I think the most likely reason why he wouldnt be is if he's traded.

I hear you on the probabilities.  And I agree.  I think Mead has a well above 50% chance of being OD next year.  Unless its against a lefty and Romy gets the nod.

But Im not locking it in.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

In my way of thinking, I feel free to build cases, and then pick the one the greater likelihood.  Had one looked at Mead in the minors, he looked like a 25-HR, .275 hitter.  When I see a guy with 17 HRs and a 62/39 K/W in , it feels like that's in the range of what I would've expected after seeing his AA and AAA stats.

I'd also throw in that he has not had any bad months in 2026.  Had he had a red-hot April, and then flattened out, I'd be more suspicious.  But Mead looks like the player his ranking would've suggested.

He's not a lock to be an allstar, and certainly 300 PA sample sizes can be a fluke, but I trust Brez not to give up Early for a fluke. (That's not the only reason I have confidence in him.)

[JoeBrady]

34 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Unless its against a lefty and Romy gets the nod.

My guess is that Romy is gone.  We won't do any type of R/R platoon, and unlikely to even do a R/L platoon.  And we have plenty of IF depth pieces in Sogard, Monasterio, and Seigler, all of whom provide more flexibility.  And since JJ can play RF, I think he provides more backup in the DH/LF slot.

[mvp 78]

41 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I see little chance that Story is the WS AND Arias has a chance to prove himself.  If he has a .375 with three HRs, he is the automatic 27 starter (and probably will be no matter what).  Mead would have to be absolutely awful in ST to not get the OD call.

Mead will be on the Opening Day roster no matter what. He's cheap. Even if he's just a parttime player or DH, it may still not be the end of the world. They have lots of control over him so a long time to figure it out. 

One likely scenario:

Sox deal Masa and eat all his salary

Duran LF

Roman DH

Mead 2B

Arias is waiting in the wings to be injury replacement for Story or 2b. Could move Mead to DH if Roman or an OFer gets hurt. With a weird lockout offseason, the likelihood of somebody getting injured early on seems high. 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

My guess is that Romy is gone.  We won't do any type of R/R platoon, and unlikely to even do a R/L platoon.  And we have plenty of IF depth pieces in Sogard, Monasterio, and Seigler, all of whom provide more flexibility.  And since JJ can play RF, I think he provides more backup in the DH/LF slot.

Romy's defense isn't good enough to play anywhere but 1B. His chase/whiff rate is way too high for what this offense is trying to do. The only saving grace is that he has another option available next season. There are worse players to stash in WOO than Romy. 

[drewski6]

Having major league players you can stash in AAA = sooooo valuable for sure.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Arias is waiting in the wings ...

... for the new CBA. Hopefully, new rules won't hold him back so his owners can secure one more year of control... and he won't have to hit a 500-foot grand slam in June before getting the call like Anthony did.

But the Sox owe Story $25 million for 2027 no matter what, so they'll push it off as long as they can. Remember, Boston can flop around in last place for three months and still make the playoffs.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

My guess is that Romy is gone.  We won't do any type of R/R platoon, and unlikely to even do a R/L platoon.  And we have plenty of IF depth pieces in Sogard, Monasterio, and Seigler, all of whom provide more flexibility.  And since JJ can play RF, I think he provides more backup in the DH/LF slot.

Brez might prefer Jones over Romy as a platoon DH guy, and Romy's value as a back-up 1B is now covered by Sogard. His value as some sort of 2B platoon could still be in play, but only if Story is not at 2B or on the team AND Mead is used at DH.

You are probably right. I always liked Romy. He still has some trade value but not a lot.