Red Sox 2026 Spring Training

[moonslav59]

Casas could be the key to the season.

[mvp 78]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Casas could be the key to the season.

He has a career 2 bWAR since '22. He will not be the key to the season. 

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He has a career 2 bWAR since '22. He will not be the key to the season. 

I’ll be surprised if Casas shows flashes in Woo let alone Boston.

[mvp 78]

Just now, Old Red said:

I’ll be surprised if Casas shows flashes in Woo let alone Boston.

I'm hopeful that he'll be back, but I don't think we'll ever see him mash like '23 ever again. 

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm hopeful that he'll be back, but I don't think we'll ever see him mash like '23 ever again. 

He hasn’t played much the past two years, so he got a lot of catching up to do.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

The key to the season is going to be Tyler Samaniego. 

He's the lefty throw-in from the Password trade: 6'4 but who comes from a low slot -- the different-look southpaw this pitching staff needs in the bullpen.

Sure, he's had elbow issues and hasn't made it to Triple A yet, but just wait until they teach him to aim sweepers into the dirt of the righty batter's box.

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

The key to the season is going to be Tyler Samaniego. 

He's the lefty throw-in from the Password trade: 6'4 but who comes from a low slot -- the different-look southpaw this pitching staff needs in the bullpen.

Sure, he's had elbow issues and hasn't made it to Triple A yet, but just wait until they teach him to aim sweepers into the dirt of the righty batter's box.

Nope, Anthony Seigler. He's ambidextrous. He pitches, catches, plays IF and OF. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQSIr1nLncY

He's basically a real life version of Buggs Bunny playing baseball. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

He has a career 2 bWAR since '22. He will not be the key to the season. 

He'll be the DH.

In 950 PAs since '22:

3.2 oWAR

-2.3 dWAR

While that is only slightly better than Yoshida's numbers per PA, he brings power to a team that needs it. He also has decent splits vs L & R.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He'll be the DH.

In 950 PAs since '22:

3.2 oWAR

-2.3 dWAR

While that is only slightly better than Yoshida's numbers per PA, he brings power to a team that needs it. He also has decent splits vs L & R.

Hard to see that with 4 OFers all needing AB's. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm hopeful that he'll be back, but I don't think we'll ever see him mash like '23 ever again. 

You could be right. Knee injuries can be tricky for some hitters.

I think he comes back and squeezes Masa out of a job and maybe off the roster.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Hard to see that with 4 OFers all needing AB's. 

That is a concern, and even Masa could hit his way above Casas. (Campbell, too.)

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

That is a concern, and even Masa could hit his way above Casas. (Campbell, too.)

They all have the ability to be great. It's just hard to see where they all get playing time to show it with this roster construction. 

[Hitch]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He'll be the DH.

In 950 PAs since '22:

3.2 oWAR

-2.3 dWAR

While that is only slightly better than Yoshida's numbers per PA, he brings power to a team that needs it. He also has decent splits vs L & R.

Where does Duran play?

 

edit - Never mind I see you covered it above.

 

I don't see how Masa gets at bats, never mind Casas.

[moonslav59]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They all have the ability to be great. It's just hard to see where they all get playing time to show it with this roster construction. 

To me, this was the winter mistake, and it was last winter, too.

If we didn't have a big need elsewhere, it's fine to have depth like this in the OF, but we did and we do.

I like Durbin, but I have to think we could have done better by trading an OF'er, even if it was for prospects that were flipped or subbed out to add to the Durbin offer and to get KMarte or Neto.

I've made this point several times, but the step down from Duran at DH vs Masa/Casas/Campbell/Romy is not all that much. The step up from Mayer or Durbin to KMarte or Neto is way more significant.

An injury to an OF'er? We still have Campbell, Masa, Romy or Eaton.

[JoeBrady]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I like Durbin, but I have to think we could have done better by trading an OF'er, even if it was for prospects that were flipped or subbed out to add to the Durbin offer and to get KMarte or Neto.

IMHO, Durbin will be the better value than Marte, and Neto was always just a fantasy.  If LAA had any common sense whatsoever, they would offer him a lifetime contract.

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

IMHO, Durbin will be the better value than Marte, and Neto was always just a fantasy.  If LAA had any common sense whatsoever, they would offer him a lifetime contract.

If LAA had any sense, they'd keep Neto for another year or so and then deal him for prospects. The problem is that LAA has a terrible scouting system and would get fleeced in any deal. Awful org. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

IMHO, Durbin will be the better value than Marte, and Neto was always just a fantasy.  If LAA had any common sense whatsoever, they would offer him a lifetime contract.

He probably will be a "better value" at the financial and trade capital cost measurement, but we needed top quality.

[moonslav59]

44 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If LAA had any sense, they'd keep Neto for another year or so and then deal him for prospects. The problem is that LAA has a terrible scouting system and would get fleeced in any deal. Awful org. 

We coulda-shoulda worked on on a fleece package.

[Old Red]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He probably will be a "better value" at the financial and trade capital cost measurement, but we needed top quality.

I agree. Better player vs better value. Sometimes   you have to take the better player even if it hurts a little.

[mvp 78]

53 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We coulda-shoulda worked on on a fleece package.

They asked too much apparently. What too much is? Nobody is saying.

[moonslav59]

48 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I agree. Better player vs better value. Sometimes   you have to take the better player even if it hurts a little.

Yes, and at what other time is that true than when you are in a 3+ year window with a bunch of talented players in prime or neatring primes, all at once?

We've disagreed on going all in every year, but to me, this was/is that time.

I don't view prospects as suspects, like you, but I was willing to part with Tolle & Mayer for KMarte. I'm not sure what LAA wanted for Neto, but I'd give up an overpay to get the guy we need- not the better value guy.

Hell, go ahead and get Durbin and trade Mayer for Neto. Value and better.

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They asked too much apparently. What too much is? Nobody is saying.

Re-work the fleece.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

We coulda-shoulda worked on on a fleece package.

It's almost a waste of time dealing with teams (Cincy, Pitt, the Rox) like that.  They can't make a decision out of fear that they will be wrong.  They wind up asking 50% over market.  Guys like Preller and Friedman, etc., don't care about the optics of anything.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It's almost a waste of time dealing with teams (Cincy, Pitt, the Rox) like that.  They can't make a decision out of fear that they will be wrong.  They wind up asking 50% over market.  Guys like Preller and Friedman, etc., don't care about the optics of anything.

I get that, and I have said I'd have to see what the demand was for Neto, before blaming Brez for the near miss.

I think I heard the demand for KMarte was Mayer & Tolle. I'd have done that and the Durbin & Contreras deals.

It would be a gamble, and KMarte is not getting any younger.

[mvp 78]

30 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I get that, and I have said I'd have to see what the demand was for Neto, before blaming Brez for the near miss.

I think I heard the demand for KMarte was Mayer & Tolle. I'd have done that and the Durbin & Contreras deals.

It would be a gamble, and KMarte is not getting any younger.

With Marte, he plays 2b for 2-3 years and then transitions to 1b for the end of the contract. Not the end of the world IMO. 

[notin]

6 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Nope, Anthony Seigler. He's ambidextrous. He pitches, catches, plays IF and OF. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQSIr1nLncY

He's basically a real life version of Buggs Bunny playing baseball. 

Not good, because Bugs would throw his glove at a ball out of reach to catch it (successfully, no less), but during a non-cartoon game that would result in the hitter being awarded 3 bases…

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Hell, go ahead and get Durbin and trade Mayer for Neto. Value and better.

Except the ask for Neto was probably Arias, Early & Tolle.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

I agree. Better player vs better value. Sometimes   you have to take the better player even if it hurts a little.

IMO, that's what we did.  We paid up for Suarez and Gray and went cheaper on Contreras & Durbin.  To me, it depends on what you need and what's available.  Again, only imho, but Bregman was too injury-prone and slightly to old to match the Cubs, and Alonso is decidedly one-dimensional.  A guy like Marte is definitely a step up, but for how long?  Two years?

OTOH, I was happy with the price we paid for both Crochet and Suarez.

[moonslav59]

40 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

With Marte, he plays 2b for 2-3 years and then transitions to 1b for the end of the contract. Not the end of the world IMO. 

If he was a bad defensive 2Bman, I'd be more worried. Perhaps the brutal 2B play over the last decade, both on offense and defense has numbed my sense to where I can accept some awful defense, if the offense is still a plus, but I really liked KMarte as "THE SOLUTION."

We needed a 2B/3Bman more than 1B and certainly much more than DH. I think of Alonso as a DH pretending to play 1B. That's not to say I did not want Alonso or Schwarber, but KMarte was THE FIT.

Neto might have been #2, although I never really thought of him as an option, until I read about the near miss - or not so near miss. (Assume Mayer &  Tolle for KMarte

1. L Anthony CF

2. S KMarte 2B

3. L Duran LF/ R Contreras 1B

4. R Neto SS

5. R Contreras1B / L Duran LF

6. L Abreu RF/ R Story 2B

7. R Story 2B/ L Abreu RF

8. L Casas-Yoshida/ R Romy-Campbell DH or Rafaela CF

9. R Narvaez C

Maybe we still trade for Durbin and not sign IKF.

[jad]

3 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

It's almost a waste of time dealing with teams (Cincy, Pitt, the Rox) like that.  They can't make a decision out of fear that they will be wrong.  They wind up asking 50% over market.  Guys like Preller and Friedman, etc., don't care about the optics of anything.

It's really bizarre to hear RS fans (whose team dealt/released/drove out two All-Star players, one an MVP, [not to mention losing Bregman] getting absolutely nothing in return) deride other front offices for not knowing what they're doing.