Is this 2026 Red Sox team…CONTENDERS or PRETENDERS?

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

It was skeptical to even be fair with them.

Can Durbin win Comeback Player of the Year for rising from the grave in the same year? And don't compare him to Bregman any more, since they're now the same guy:

Bregman 1.2 dWAR, 10 HR, .699 OPS

C. Durbin 1.2 dWAR, 10 HR, .699 OPS

Red Sox fans of this year care more about the one key difference -- and it's not salaries... because the Durbin acquisition also brought in Seigler and Monasterio!

Monasterio has been better when his PA's have been limited. The same may go for Seigler if they can get someone else to start at 2b. 

[moonslav59]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

They were below .500. That's enough of a gauge to tell if the team was good or not. 

The whole league was garbage and still is. The GB mattered and we can see why, now.

It's not silly to set the goal for the WC slot, even if that slot ends up being a .500 or worse team.

Silly to you, but not so silly, now, is it? We could be at .500 right now and be tied for the WC3 slot. Instead we are 3 over, now.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It won't be popular, but I'd go with Duran/JJ in LF.

Our worst sOPS+ in the lineup is the lead-off slot.  Our worst sOPS+ by position is 2B.  IMHO, Arraez would be a perfect pickup.

I think the Sox do, unless they upgrade JJ.  But otherwise 

1. Duran is already here and despite his weak BA and OPS, is still third on the team in HR and RBI (and it took a recent surge from Abreu to push him back to third in both).

2. Jones means Duran doesn’t have to face LHP (career OPS .614).

3. Trading for a LF might be wasteful if Anthony returns

4. It’s not like Duran has never hit before.  
 

So yeah, very likely….

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

The whole league was garbage and still is. The GB mattered and we can see why, now.

It's not silly to set the goal for the WC slot, even if that slot ends up being a .500 or worse team.

Silly to you, but not so silly, now, is it? We could be at .500 right now and be tied for the WC3 slot. Instead we are 3 over, now.

Wow the 3rd WC slot! What a team! They should mortgage the future for it! 

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Wow the 3rd WC slot! What a team! They should mortgage the future for it! 

You pointlessly and needlessly conflate saying we'd be a great team if we made the WC3 slot and setting it as the goal a month ago. Nobody even implied the WC3 slot team is great.

How do you feel, now?

Had we lost 3 more games, in this recent stretch and were tied for the 3rd WC slot at .500, would you want us to be sellers, now? Really? Over 3 games?

Oh, and by the way, we are the WC3 team now, and almost everyone is saying "BUY!" and some even want to mortgage the whole future for 2026.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

How do you feel, now?

😎🐟🐊🏝️☀️🏄‍♂️🦋🌳

[notin]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

😎🐟🐊🏝️☀️🏄‍♂️🦋🌳

Do you kiss your mother with that emoji sequence?

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, notin said:

Do you kiss your mother with that emoji sequence?

💀

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

😎🐟🐊🏝️☀️🏄‍♂️🦋🌳

We are the #3 WC team, right now. The one you poo-poo'd.

[Bellhorn04]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They were below .500. That's enough of a gauge to tell if the team was good or not. 

Crazy game though.  In 2004 the Sox played .500 ball for about a 3 month stretch, which infamously led to Shaughnessy calling them "frauds".

[moonslav59]

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

Crazy game though.  In 2004 the Sox played .500 ball for about a 3 month stretch, which infamously led to Shaughnessy calling them "frauds".

Did Shaughnessy take on the Fred monniker?

From fraud to flops...

 

[southpaw777]

7 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Crazy game though.  In 2004 the Sox played .500 ball for about a 3 month stretch, which infamously led to Shaughnessy calling them "frauds".

And this team played far worse than that 500 team. Anyone who thought they didn’t have a chance was justified. Even after the winning streak I was skeptical because they go on one every July. But here we are and I am in the BUYERS lane now. 
I didn’t think they had a chance, but after legit beating the two best teams in the weak AL, myself, and everyone would be foolish to not want them to go get a bat another starter and a maybe a ring…

[notin]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

💀

Just as I thought.  Full of 🗿

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We are the #3 WC team, right now. The one you poo-poo'd.

They were a good pitching and defense team with the worst offense in the league. I wasn't wrong about how they were playing with Mayer, Story, Duran, Narvaez in the lineup. 

They are still 28th in HR and only 1 from last place. Romy hasn't been Romy and Cheng's numbers are going to come down quick (inflated BABIP and 30%+ k rate). 

I do NOT care about the 3rd WC in a terrible AL. I don't. They are 51-48. They need to keep winning. 

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They were a good pitching and defense team with the worst offense in the league. I wasn't wrong about how they were playing with Mayer, Story, Duran, Narvaez in the lineup. 

They are still 28th in HR and only 1 from last place. Romy hasn't been Romy and Cheng's numbers are going to come down quick (inflated BABIP and 30%+ k rate). 

I do NOT care about the 3rd WC in a terrible AL. I don't. They are 51-48. They need to keep winning. 

They had serious issues on offense, and still do. I'm not arguing that. 

I'm also not saying we are a great team.

My point was that the goal was to get into the playoffs, even if it was the WC3 slot with a near or even below .500 team, and you called it a silly goal than and now.

We are the WC3 team now, and it's no longer silly to think we have a shot with a key buy or two.

It's not about calling you, others and nearly all of us wrong. The goal to get to the #3 WC was and still is not silly. The goal was to get here and see if we can get beyond here. That could happen via trade(s) and or returning players from the IL.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I do NOT care about the 3rd WC in a terrible AL. I don't. They are 51-48. They need to keep winning. 

But this whole forum you moderate in extremes is all about making the CRAPshoot postseason.

What future is any CBO mortgaging if he's actually trying to win? Another year of offseason moves that have media and evaluators predicting up to 95 wins and title contention... only to see them neutered in neutral for the first half... only to surge back in the summer... with a chance to add reinforcements for a stretch run... when they GO FOR IT? 

Are any fans ever really happy to dismiss any current season when their team is in it, to wait another season or two or five? Is anyone immortal (except Keith Richards)?

 

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

But this whole forum you moderate in extremes is all about making the CRAPshoot postseason.

What future is any CBO mortgaging if he's actually trying to win? Another year of offseason moves that have media and evaluators predicting up to 95 wins and title contention... only to see them neutered in neutral for the first half... only to surge back in the summer... with a chance to add reinforcements for a stretch run... when they GO FOR IT? 

Are any fans ever really happy to dismiss any current season when their team is in it, to wait another season or two or five? Is anyone immortal (except Keith Richards)?

 

Last game of the season: the Sox are 87-74 and tied for the WC slot.

MVP wont care about the WC3 slot?

Highly doubtful, IMO, but to each his own, I guess. To me, not caring would be "silly."

We are currently the WC3 team and everybody cares about what we are doing on the field, with roster choices and what we will do at the deadline.

It's not silly.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Last game of the season: the Sox are 87-74 and tied for the WC slot.

MVP wont care about the WC3 slot?

Highly doubtful, IMO, but to each his own, I guess. To me, not caring would be "silly."

We are currently the WC3 team and everybody cares about what we are doing on the field, with roster choices and what we will do at the deadline.

It's not silly.

And even if they make it without Anthony again, it's not the same situation. They'll have main men on the field and in the dugout who won the World this year. 

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

We also need a pitcher to take the innings from out limited innings pitchers (Bennett, Tolle, Early and maybe even Suarez.)

I don't think Early and Suarez are innings-challenged.  If my math is correct, we can easily get another 10-11 GS from Early.  I'd like to see a few piggy-back games with Tolle-Bello and Bennett-Bello.  Bello could actually pitch twice through each rotation.  It's a heck of a long-shot to work, but it could extend all three pitchers until September.

[mvp 78]

58 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

They had serious issues on offense, and still do. I'm not arguing that. 

I'm also not saying we are a great team.

My point was that the goal was to get into the playoffs, even if it was the WC3 slot with a near or even below .500 team, and you called it a silly goal than and now.

We are the WC3 team now, and it's no longer silly to think we have a shot with a key buy or two.

It's not about calling you, others and nearly all of us wrong. The goal to get to the #3 WC was and still is not silly. The goal was to get here and see if we can get beyond here. That could happen via trade(s) and or returning players from the IL.

Tracking the WC no matter your record when there is 90 games left is silly. 

[mvp 78]

51 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Last game of the season: the Sox are 87-74 and tied for the WC slot.

MVP wont care about the WC3 slot?

Highly doubtful, IMO, but to each his own, I guess. To me, not caring would be "silly."

We are currently the WC3 team and everybody cares about what we are doing on the field, with roster choices and what we will do at the deadline.

It's not silly.

I especially don't care about it with 90 games left. That's the argument. It'd be different with 5 games left. Depending on the year, I may or may not care.

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I don't think Early and Suarez are innings-challenged.  If my math is correct, we can easily get another 10-11 GS from Early.  I'd like to see a few piggy-back games with Tolle-Bello and Bennett-Bello.  Bello could actually pitch twice through each rotation.  It's a heck of a long-shot to work, but it could extend all three pitchers until September.

I don't see Bello as trade bait because of the innings the Sox need to fill. 

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Tracking the WC no matter your record when there is 90 games left is silly. 

Agreed, but we did have one or two people (JoeB for sure) pointing out that our Pythagorean record was better than the actual record and that Breslow's offseason moves were actually pluses, and that it was weird that this wasn't translating to wins. 

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Agreed, but we did have one or two people (JoeB for sure) pointing out that our Pythagorean record was better than the actual record and that Breslow's offseason moves were actually pluses, and that it was weird that this wasn't translating to wins. 

That's a different argument altogether. 

[moonslav59]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Tracking the WC no matter your record when there is 90 games left is silly. 

It was about seeing how far we were away from contention.

The whole "but 7 teams are between us and the playoffs" was a mirage.

Being 14 games under .500 and 16 GB the WC berth is a lot different than 14 games under .500 and 5-6 GB. To not think there is a difference is just plain silly.

[southpaw777]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

I don't think Early and Suarez are innings-challenged.  If my math is correct, we can easily get another 10-11 GS from Early.  I'd like to see a few piggy-back games with Tolle-Bello and Bennett-Bello.  Bello could actually pitch twice through each rotation.  It's a heck of a long-shot to work, but it could extend all three pitchers until September.

I wouldn’t even mind seeing Eyanson for a start in September too. I usually wouldn’t suggest a AA starter, but he’s dominating them, so Why not?

id still like them to go trade for a guy like we did with Peavy. Would really take some weight off the shoulders of this rotation. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

For me, being in contention through the summer was always the most vital part of being a baseball fan. 

Of course, autumn was where it all counted, but postseason berths were rare last century... and for any glory to happen, you had to get there first.

Staying alive through the summer -- and ideally upgrading weaknesses to ensure the best possible shot -- were the means to the beginning.

I won't mock the current format where more teams than ever make the playoffs. It exists and so do the Red Sox. They didn't for so many years of this decade -- so go for it.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

I wouldn’t even mind seeing Eyanson for a start in September too. I usually wouldn’t suggest a AA starter, but he’s dominating them, so Why not?

id still like them to go trade for a guy like we did with Peavy. Would really take some weight off the shoulders of this rotation. 

Agreed. Maybe STL would part with this guy who has a 3.26 FIP. I think his name is Mustin Day.

LOL.

[southpaw777]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed. Maybe STL would part with this guy who has a 3.26 FIP. I think his name is Mustin Day.

LOL.

😝 

[southpaw777]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Monasterio has been better when his PA's have been limited. The same may go for Seigler if they can get someone else to start at 2b. 

Yes, they are both replacement players that will get exposed with too many ABs. Great players to have but not your main guys