Red Sox 2026 Spring Training

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Sounds like he priced himself out of Boston this spring (kidding!)

A trade of a Sox OF'er could instantly change his chance for a role on the Sox 26.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Ward will play in the majors this year. It might only be a few games, but he'll get a call to fill a roster spot for someone on the IL, maybe just to pinch run in a pennant race.

A). it wouldn't make sense for a good team to trade Ward, because he can be useful. B).  a bad team might play him more just because he'd come cheap and might fill some seats. 

C). if Ward gets called up in Boston, pray it's for scenario A... if it's B, the offense leads the league in strikeouts.

[notin]

3 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Ward will play in the majors this year. It might only be a few games, but he'll get a call to fill a roster spot for someone on the IL, maybe just to pinch run in a pennant race.

A). it wouldn't make sense for a good team to trade Ward, because he can be useful. B).  a bad team might play him more just because he'd come cheap and might fill some seats. 

C). if Ward gets called up in Boston, pray it's for scenario A... if it's B, the offense leads the league in strikeouts.

Ward is basically the second coming of Tim Locastro, except while getting the attention of the second coming of Bryce Harper…

[mvp 78]

The first round of "cuts." 

[JoeBrady]

32 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The first round of "cuts." 

I like what little I saw of Bennett.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I like what little I saw of Bennett.

Yeah, I understand why they traded the high octane arm of Perales. He was going to be out of options sooner than Bennett and has struggled to stay healthy. He also is trending more towards a reliever arm than a starter, especially if he staying in BOS. Breslow was also probably concerned about the bb rate. 

Bennett is a big bodied guy who added velo and has a decent floor as a starter. If they unlock something there, he could provide more to the Sox than Perales would have. At the very least, it delays a decision on moving that 40 man spot to BOS. 

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

 

Finally!

[Duran Is The Man]

went to the Dodgers-Reds game today in Glendale, AZ. seeing all the Betts 50 jerseys was painful. the entire ordeal reminded me how much i absolutely loathe the Dodgers and their entitled fan base.

[mvp 78]

Tayron Guerrero spotted

[mvp 78]

Looks like Password, Chris Murphy and Drohan have had good springs. Jordan Hicks is in midseason form.

 

[Duran Is The Man]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Looks like Password, Chris Murphy and Drohan have had good springs. Jordan Hicks is in midseason form.

 

i am so happy Hicks and hamilton are gone. i was at a Brewers/ Mariners game the other day. it made my day to see Hamilton wearing a uni that didn't say Boston on the front.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i am so happy Hicks and hamilton are gone. i was at a Brewers/ Mariners game the other day. it made my day to see Hamilton wearing a uni that didn't say Boston on the front.

No player has been listed in my BTV trade suggestions more than DHam.

[Duran Is The Man]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

No player has been listed in my BTV trade suggestions more than DHam.

can we get rid of Wong next?

 

[notin]

23 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Tayron Guerrero spotted

 Spotted for throwing hard, not for throwing strikes…

[notin]

9 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

can we get rid of Wong next?

 

You that enamored with Matt Thaiss?

[Duran Is The Man]

2 hours ago, notin said:

You that enamored with Matt Thaiss?

enamored? no. over Wong? yes. his '25 OPS was nearly twice that of Wong's. hell....you could pick a random name out of a phone book that would probably do as well as Wong. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Duran Is The Man said:

enamored? no. over Wong? yes. his '25 OPS was nearly twice that of Wong's. hell....you could pick a random name out of a phone book that would probably do as well as Wong. 

I'm not a big Wong fan, but why assume a player will continue his last season's OPS again and again?

I'd be fine with Thaiss as our #2 catcher.

[Duran Is The Man]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not a big Wong fan, but why assume a player will continue his last season's OPS again and again?

I'd be fine with Thaiss as our #2 catcher.

i truly don't understand the love for Wong. he absolutely sucks ass. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i truly don't understand the love for Wong. he absolutely sucks ass. 

Where is all this Wong love you speak of?

Okay, Kimmi has said she likes him as the back-up catcher and others have said he's prtty good on defense and knows our staff, but I'm not seeing any "love."

[notin]

4 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

enamored? no. over Wong? yes. his '25 OPS was nearly twice that of Wong's. hell....you could pick a random name out of a phone book that would probably do as well as Wong. 

The job of a backup catcher these days is to work well wuth one dedicated starter.  Wong was pretty bad last year, but he did at least work well with Bello.

Im not worried about Wong, and I say that without having particularly high hopes for him…

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Where is all this Wong love you speak of?

Okay, Kimmi has said she likes him as the back-up catcher and others have said he's prtty good on defense and knows our staff, but I'm not seeing any "love."

SSS alert, but Wong and Narvaez had similar OPSa despite Narvaez being Crochet's main catcher.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

SSS alert, but Wong and Narvaez had similar OPSa despite Narvaez being Crochet's main catcher.

I'm happy about how both handle our staff, but the Wong offense has been putrid, of late. I think Thaiss is known for defense, and I guess I'd be okay with him taking Wong's slot on the 26. We could stash Wong in AAA.

[Duran Is The Man]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm happy about how both handle our staff, but the Wong offense has been putrid, of late. I think Thaiss is known for defense, and I guess I'd be okay with him taking Wong's slot on the 26. We could stash Wong in AAA.

we should always be looking to upgrade. at every position. always. i know Wong catches Bello but there is no way there isn't someone we could get that's better. what if Narvaez goes down for an extended time? Wong's position in the batting order is a giant freakin' black hole. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

we should always be looking to upgrade. at every position. always. i know Wong catches Bello but there is no way there isn't someone we could get that's better. what if Narvaez goes down for an extended time? Wong's position in the batting order is a giant freakin' black hole. 

Again, I'm fine with replacing Wong, especially with someone who has a good defensive profile.

Oh, and by the way, Wong got very nice results from more than just Bello. His top 5 pitchers by PAs:

.643 Bello (575 PAs) w Narvaez .790

.597 Crochet (126) w Narvaez .620

.581 Whitlock (101) w Narvaez .528

.715 Buehler (95) w Narvaez .845

.509 Weissert (92) w Narvaez .729

The year before our pitchers did better with Wong, too. I'm not arguing for keeping him, and I don't see the lovefest you speak of, but he does have some good qulaities.

 

[notin]

10 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

we should always be looking to upgrade. at every position. always. i know Wong catches Bello but there is no way there isn't someone we could get that's better. what if Narvaez goes down for an extended time? Wong's position in the batting order is a giant freakin' black hole. 

So you want a backup catcher that can hit and field?  Any reason that player settles for a backup job? 
 

If Narvaez goes down, the Sox have Wong, Jason Delay, and Matt Thaiss.  None are really hitters.  But then someone like Ivan Herrera or Will Smith isn’t signing on to be a backup catcher…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

56 minutes ago, notin said:

So you want a backup catcher that can hit and field?  Any reason that player settles for a backup job? 
 

If Narvaez goes down, the Sox have Wong, Jason Delay, and Matt Thaiss.  None are really hitters.  But then someone like Ivan Herrera or Will Smith isn’t signing on to be a backup catcher…

Speaking of Will Smith... wonder if he'll start behind the plate in the WBC Final Four. Nothing against Cal Raleigh (0-for-9, 5 Ks) -- except that he's apparently a germaphobe avoiding handshaking and fist-pumping teammates he's going to have to be in close proximity with in dugouts, clubhouses, bus stations, airports and hotels for the next 8 months...

... but Smith has only caught 72 postseason MLB games compared to Raleigh's 17, and won three world titles. Sure, Cal can hit a lot of homers, but Will's HR in extra innings of 2025's Game Seven won ring bling for every trolley dodger in LA.

[notin]

27 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Speaking of Will Smith... wonder if he'll start behind the plate in the WBC Final Four. Nothing against Cal Raleigh (0-for-9, 5 Ks) -- except that he's apparently a germaphobe avoiding handshaking and fist-pumping teammates he's going to have to be in close proximity with in dugouts, clubhouses, bus stations, airports and hotels for the next 8 months...

... but Smith has only caught 72 postseason MLB games compared to Raleigh's 17, and won three world titles. Sure, Cal can hit a lot of homers, but Will's HR in extra innings of 2025's Game Seven won ring bling for every trolley dodger in LA.

I think teams expect the Sox to have benches like WBC teams.  Yes the Sox backup catcher cannot hit.  Know who else has that issue?? Every team in MLB!  The Mets, with a payroll north of $300 gazillion dollars, have Luis Torrens as the backup.  Their little sisters the Yankees (payroll wise) use career minor league JC Escarria behind Austin Wells.  The Phillies, lead by free-spender Dave Dombrowski, have Rafael Marchan, who I believe did not play major or minor league baseball last year.  (Source: Roster Resource.  Final rosters might vary.)

Some teams like the Dodgers (Dalton Rushing) and Orioles (Sam Basallo) have backup catchers who were top prospects that will likely move to other positions in the near future.  Just like the Athletics did with Tyler Soderstrom.

But for the most part, backup catchers are the punters of MLB - they go from team to team silently and only have one skill useful to their sport.  Expecting a backup catcher who can catch and hit is like expecting the punter that can catch passes and block…

[notin]

29 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Speaking of Will Smith... wonder if he'll start behind the plate in the WBC Final Four. Nothing against Cal Raleigh (0-for-9, 5 Ks) -- except that he's apparently a germaphobe avoiding handshaking and fist-pumping teammates he's going to have to be in close proximity with in dugouts, clubhouses, bus stations, airports and hotels for the next 8 months...

... but Smith has only caught 72 postseason MLB games compared to Raleigh's 17, and won three world titles. Sure, Cal can hit a lot of homers, but Will's HR in extra innings of 2025's Game Seven won ring bling for every trolley dodger in LA.

And Raleigh over Smith.  No question.

Smith’s Series-wing home run doesn’t happen without Miguel Rojas’ game-tying home run, a blast that put Rojas ahead of Francisco Lindor on the “Most Career Game-Tying Home Runs in the Ninth Inning of Game 7 of the World Series” list, but I wouldn’t start Rojas over Lindor if it was a choice between the two…

[jad]

Dunno,  Might want to check the police blotter for backup catcher.  That's worked in the past (when you don't have a superstar to trade for one.)