Red Sox sign Ranger Suarez. 5 years $130 Million

[mvp 78]

49 minutes ago, notin said:

By that logic, Tristan Gray is safe, too…

I think Tristan Gray is probably safe. 

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

I forgot anout Eaton, but it could be him.

I was thinking Sogard, because the Sox have Hamilton and Gray now…

Hamilton, Gray and Sogard! (More than enough after we add an infielder.)

[moonslav59]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

I think Tristan Gray is probably safe. 

IMO, safer than Eaton, although Cora might disagree.

It's Brez who counts on this choice.

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

But then the media hypes it up as Cora looking at possibly moving Story to 2B. Story pouts and throws a tantrum. Brez steps in and steps on his own two feet, and Story demands a trade.

Story didn't pout when playing 2b. He doesn't seem like he'd pout if asked to move now? 

[mvp 78]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

IMO, safer than Eaton, although Cora might disagree.

It's Brez who counts on this choice.

They added a pitcher, they'll drop a pitcher (trade or DFA). 

[Old Red]

11 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Story didn't pout when playing 2b. He doesn't seem like he'd pout if asked to move now? 

I don’t think Story would pout either. 

[Hugh2]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I think Mayer/Romy/DHam at 2B is average or better. (2026>2025)

I think Contreras is average or better at 1B. (2026>>2025)

I think Story is average or better at SS, but the numbers say otherwise. (2026=2025)

Suarez would be bottom 5-10 at 3B after having a top 5-10 (2026<<<<<2025)

I'm specifically talking about Suarez and his defense. 

[notin]

41 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Story didn't pout when playing 2b. He doesn't seem like he'd pout if asked to move now? 

He read your post and started pouting…

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

He read your post and started pouting…

Story, it's ok. Have a hug. I'm nice. 🤗

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Story didn't pout when playing 2b. He doesn't seem like he'd pout if asked to move now? 

He won't. It was sarcasm.

(I do think Cora might have a hard time asking Story to move, though)

[Kimmi]

On 1/14/2026 at 4:56 PM, notin said:

Not really.

In fact, with Crochet, Suarez, Bello, Sandoval, Crawford, Gray and Oviedo, I’m not sure how many of these starting pitchers have options left.

I think Oviedo does..

I know we have an abundance of pitchers.  Most of us were anticipating some trades coming involving our pitchers.  I just wouldn't trade Bello because he's too high up on the totem pole.  Of course it goes without saying that anyone is tradeable if the return is right.  I wouldn't do a lateral trade of Bello for a position player.  The position player would have to be a clear upgrade over what Bello brings to the rotation.

[Behindenemylines]

7 hours ago, notin said:

So now the question - who goes?

Candidates include:

Jovani Moran

Nick Sogard

Tristan Gray

Tyler Uberstine 

Shane Drohan

Other (specify)

Or, a trade for a 2B or 3B could be coming!

[moonslav59]

Our owner might be greedy.

Our FO may be poor communicators and deceivers.

They aren't dumb. They know we need a bat and a 3Bman/2Bman- maybe one stroke gets us both.

We need action not words.

[moonslav59]

I'm not saying fWAR tells the whole picture, and certainly what a pitcher does in the last two years does not mean he will do near the same this year, especially if they are 89 going on 90 years old, but we currently have 3 of the top 13 SP'ers by fWAR from 2024 to 2025 (300+ IP.) WOW!!!!

Have we ever had that going into a season?

4. Crochet 10.4

12. Sanchez 7.5

13. Gray 7.4

(41. Bello 3.9)

FIP

6. Crochet 2.80

9. Gray 3.26

10. Suarez 3.29

(36. Bello 4.13)

Note: Bello is ahead of Gray in ERA- (93 to 100)

 

[jad]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

But then the media hypes it up as Cora looking at possibly moving Story to 2B. Story pouts and throws a tantrum. Brez steps in and steps on his own two feet, and Story demands a trade.

Don't be ridiculous!  That would never happen.  Instead, they would simply waive him or perhaps, yes,  trade him, but only to the Dodgers,  and for no more than a prospect and perhaps a player under indictment.

[mvp 78]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We need action not words.

That's all most of us have been saying. We just say it in different ways. 

[Hugh2]

The offseason is not over, and it's likely a pitcher will be moved. 

But here is your non 1-5 starting rotation Kyle Harrison/Patrick Sandoval/Kutter Crawford/Connelly Early/Payton Tolle. 

Kyle Harrison (former top 25 prospect, still just 24 years old, characteristics Sox love)

Patrick Sandoval (put up 6 War in 2022-2023, 29 years old Sox saw something in him)

Kutter Crawford (still just 29, not an all star but we've seen MLB rotation potential in him)

Connelly Early 23 year old with perhaps a little more development left, showed potential in 2025

Payton Tolle 23 year old, perhaps still cooking, top Sox prospect, current top 100. 

Honorable mention, are close prospects like David Sandlin, & Jake Bennett

currently sox have the #1 projected WAR in the big leagues on the pitching side, lets' not talk about the offense. 

 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We need action not words.

That's all most of us have been saying. We just say it in different ways. 

That's odd, because I keep telling fans not to pay any attention to what they say.  I never do.

[moonslav59]

59 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

The offseason is not over, and it's likely a pitcher will be moved. 

But here is your non 1-5 starting rotation Kyle Harrison/Patrick Sandoval/Kutter Crawford/Connelly Early/Payton Tolle. 

Kyle Harrison (former top 25 prospect, still just 24 years old, characteristics Sox love)

Patrick Sandoval (put up 6 War in 2022-2023, 29 years old Sox saw something in him)

Kutter Crawford (still just 29, not an all star but we've seen MLB rotation potential in him)

Connelly Early 23 year old with perhaps a little more development left, showed potential in 2025

Payton Tolle 23 year old, perhaps still cooking, top Sox prospect, current top 100. 

Honorable mention, are close prospects like David Sandlin, & Jake Bennett

currently sox have the #1 projected WAR in the big leagues on the pitching side, lets' not talk about the offense. 

 

Nice breakdown.

Merloni is very high on Crawford, saying he was fantastic before the knee injury. He should be over that.

He had a 1.75 ERA after 8 starts in 2024. He seemed to imply the injury caused his poor second half to '24.

[drewski6]

21 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Well you should because that's reality. That's the way of the world. 

Until injuries and slumps get in the way.

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

That's odd, because I keep telling fans not to pay any attention to what they say.  I never do.

Paying attention to actions has not always been all that much fun, until last winter.

[Hugh2]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Nice breakdown.

Merloni is very high on Crawford, saying he was fantastic before the knee injury. He should be over that.

He had a 1.75 ERA after 8 starts in 2024. He seemed to imply the injury caused his poor second half to '24.

Of those 8 guys, a few might completely bust, a few might end up in the bullpen, and 1-2 might be traded.  If a few develop into reliable starters it's a win. 

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

That's all most of us have been saying. We just say it in different ways. 

Plenty of action under Breslow.

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Nice breakdown.

Merloni is very high on Crawford, saying he was fantastic before the knee injury. He should be over that.

He had a 1.75 ERA after 8 starts in 2024. He seemed to imply the injury caused his poor second half to '24.

I love Kutter Crawfish.

[drewski6]

15 hours ago, Kimmi said:

I know we have an abundance of pitchers.  Most of us were anticipating some trades coming involving our pitchers.  I just wouldn't trade Bello because he's too high up on the totem pole.  Of course it goes without saying that anyone is tradeable if the return is right.  I wouldn't do a lateral trade of Bello for a position player.  The position player would have to be a clear upgrade over what Bello brings to the rotation.

Im not sure Bello makes the rotation.

[drewski6]

Regarding Bello, I will say that if we go out of our way to prioritize infield defense due to Jason Lee Scott and his groundball (and earth saving) tendencies....

It may start to make sense to NOT trade Bello because he has ground ball tendencies himself.

I am on a lifelong quest to figure out the difference between a 2-seamer and a sinker, and I keep coming up empty - but maybe Red Ranger and Bello highlight the difference.  We call heavy ones sinkers and flat ones 2-seamers?

Bello gets ground balls , just not as many and the ones off him are harder.  And he makes more mistakes with his secondaries.  But he does hunker down and get out of jams himself with his 2-seam/sinker hybrid I have honestly no idea which one it is.

[drewski6]

Part of me wants Ranger Suarez to close, so we can hear gogo power rangers when he comes out of the bullpen.

[drewski6]

This crowd may be a little old to appreciate that ^

I was kinda old for it myself.  I was borderline, like I was 9-10 when first season dropped. And me and my pals loved it. Flash forward season 2 was about to drop, and now all of a sudden "its for babies" and I pretended like I agreed and watched season 2 (and 3) in secret.

[notin]

29 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

That's odd, because I keep telling fans not to pay any attention to what they say.  I never do.

Same.

I’ve frequently compared Sam Kennedy to Squealer from Animal Farm…

[notin]

19 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Im not sure Bello makes the rotation.

He’s a lock.

I trade him because he’s good enough to fetch a decent player back but his talent is really no better than many of the other pitchers fighting for a rotation spot.  And unlike Crawford and Sandoval, he pitched last year…