New Red Sox Acquisition Curtis Mead Goes On Injured List With Fractured Wrist

[Hugh2]

12 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I’ll come back to the teams spending as a percentage of revenue on salaries.

23rd

You can sugar coat it anyway you want to try and twist the argument but the Sox still spend year in and year out more than the vast majority of teams.  You can't call them cheap man....not when they have a payroll well north of 200 million

[vegasbob]

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

So what's the problem? Starting today, this team is going to go 35-21 down the stretch but aren't contenders? That's a 101 win pace from here on out!

Let's keep track of the W-L's over 56 games.  It is more likely in the range 28-28 to 31-25. Look at the 6 games since the end of the 15 streak:  3-3

The pitching is showing signs of wear/tear which won't get better, and the hitting is still some hit/some miss.

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

There’s a reason IkF has moved from team to team. He’s not very good with a bat. 
Gaspar is a bum. We can do better. 

Gasper is AAA fodder whose primary skill is he can be promoted and demoted with minimal paperwork.  But the Sox (and every team) need players like that…

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

You can sugar coat it anyway you want to try and twist the argument but the Sox still spend year in and year out more than the vast majority of teams.  You can't call them cheap man....not when they have a payroll well north of 200 million

I just did. Henry is cheap in that he should be spending more money based on the income of his investment-unless he is lying about prioritizing winning of course. Could he be lying?

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, SoxPhan said:

We are in a playoff position(*second WC spot by 1.5) despite missing our Cy Young calibre ace, our projected best hitter(or one of) coming into the season, and our starting SS and 2B for most of the year. Not sure what bat you think we should have signed that would have made so huge of a difference. Breslow's offseason was just fine. Do you think we'd be in any better position rn with Bregman/alonso over Con/Durbin, minus Suarez?

I think we should have signed Contreras, Suarez, Durbin (admittedly I changed my mind about him), AND Alonso or Schwarber. Letting Bregman go was fine. Get rid of Yoshida (yes, he’s done ok lately but based on his track record he should have been dumped over the winter). 

[Hugh2]

1 minute ago, FredLynn said:

I just did. Henry is cheap in that he should be spending more money based on the income of his investment-unless he is lying about prioritizing winning of course. Could he be lying?

He's still a top spender, at a certain point spending money just to spend money has diminished returns.  Look at the New York Mets this year......all that spending the last two years have done almost NOTHING for them.  You still need to make good trades, you still need to develop guys, you still need to scout, coach, and manage.  You don't need a $300 million dollar payroll to do that.  One of the reasons the Dodgers are so good is because they do all those things, the Mets are right up there with them in spend and they suck because they do not.

Just spending more money for the sake of spending money can easily make you the New York Mets.  Dude, you're just digging for reasons to be upset.  The team is literally on an historic 100 year run and you're finding ways to be dissapointed. 

[JoeBrady]

6 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Everyone knew we needed another top notch hitter. We didn’t get one and as a result we are last or nearly last in runs scored and HRs. That unfilled piece would have completed the team. 

I think what Fred is saying is that, if the only missing piece was another top-notch hitter, then, had Anthony and Mead not gotten injured, we'd have had a top-notch team.  Good of him to finally admit it.

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

It was never a matter of Contreras OR Alonso (or Schwarber). We could have had both (Contreras and Alonso or Schwarber). 

But there is a lot of fallout from that plsn that creates questions you can’t answer because you live in a world of “we should have signed Alonso instead of Gasper.”

If the Sox signed Alonso, they need to trade an outfielder for a 2b or 3b.  So likely no Durbin.  (Milwaukee wouldn’t need an OF.) How does that impact anything?  Also if they deal an OF (Duran?) and Anthony still gets hurt, Yoshida in LF? Maybe better offense but really questionable D.  

Changes like this can impact the team, especially if the new infielder is awful.

On the bright side, maybe still have Kyle Harrison?  Downside? No Seigler or Durbin or Monasterio, which in case you missed it, is the Sox starting infield.

We might have Alonso, but with no Duran, Durbin, Seigler, or Monasterio, is this team going to win more or less games? 

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, Hugh2 said:

He's still a top spender, at a certain point spending money just to spend money has diminished returns.  Look at the New York Mets this year......all that spending the last two years have done almost NOTHING for them.  You still need to make good trades, you still need to develop guys, you still need to scout, coach, and manage.  You don't need a $300 million dollar payroll to do that.  One of the reasons the Dodgers are so good is because they do all those things, the Mets are right up there with them in spend and they suck because they do not.

Just spending more money for the sake of spending money can easily make you the New York Mets.  Dude, you're just digging for reasons to be upset.  The team is literally on an historic 100 year run and you're finding ways to be dissapointed. 

Correct. They do all those things well and as a result have a juggernaut.

Why can’t we do it too?

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, notin said:

But there is a lot of fallout from that plsn that creates questions you can’t answer because you live in a world of “we should have signed Alonso instead of Gasper.”

If the Sox signed Alonso, they need to trade an outfielder for a 2b or 3b.  So likely no Durbin.   How does that impact anything?  Also if they deal an OF (Duran?) and Anthony still gets hurt, Yoshida in LF? Maybe better offense but really questionable D.  

Changes like this can impact the team, especially if the new infielder is awful.

On the bright side, maybe still have Kyle Harrison?  Downside? No Seigler or Durbin or Monasterio, which in case you missed it, is the Sox starting infield.

We might have Alonso, but with no Duran, Durbin, Seigler, or Monasterio, is this team going to win more or less games? 

How about we have Alonso but no Yoshida?

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I think what Fred is saying is that, if the only missing piece was another top-notch hitter, then, had Anthony and Mead not gotten injured, we'd have had a top-notch team.  Good of him to finally admit it.

So you knew that Anthony would get hurt over the winter? That’s when Alonso was available. 

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Again you fail to address the fact that Breslow had great offseason.  Gray/Saurez/Bennet/Contreras/Durbin now.....even the lesser roster pieces have done really well for their roles E.G. Moran/Watson/Guerrero/Monasterio.

When has a GM ever added that many quality players in one offseason?  

This was one of the best off-seasons I have ever seen.  Everyone has injuries, but one could argue that, if we had the Crochet and Anthony from last year, we'd have the best record in the league.

[Hugh2]

Just now, FredLynn said:

Correct. They do all those things well and as a result have a juggernaut.

Why can’t we do it too?

We have many times, we've just not been as successful at that since 2018.  But as the Mets have clearly shown us you don't just spend your way to the top.  Sox added $71 million to their per anum payroll this past year and you don't have 26' numbers to compare this year yet.  They added a .900 OPS bat, they added Durbin who's been on a tear and looks close to one too and they added two guys who have been borderline front line starters. 

That's almost unprecedented to add that many quality player in one offseason. Most teams are lucky to add 1 premium player, even the Dodgers go out and sign 2-3 big guys during a BIG offseason.

You can't give them all the blame when things are bad and still have those same complaints when everything is going good. 

If the Sox spent like the Mets they'd have a 420 million dollar a year payroll.  They couldn't even get there this offseason if they tried.  And what the Mets are doing is unsustainable. 

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

This was one of the best off-seasons I have ever seen.  Everyone has injuries, but one could argue that, if we had the Crochet and Anthony from last year, we'd have the best record in the league.

One could also argue that if we had Crochet and Anthony plus Alonso or Schwarber we would be the odds on favorite in the east.

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, Old Red said:

When the HR ticked up the runs ticked up, and the wins shot up.

The HRs went up from June by 10% (prorated).  The OBP went up 15%.

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

We have many times, we've just not been as successful at that since 2018.  But as the Mets have clearly shown us you don't just spend your way to the top.  Sox added $71 million to their per anum payroll this past year and you don't have 26' numbers to compare this year yet.  They added a .900 OPS bat, they added Durbin who's been on a tear and looks close to one too and they added two guys who have been borderline front line starters. 

That's almost unprecedented to add that many quality player in one offseason. Most teams are lucky to add 1 premium player, even the Dodgers go out and sign 2-3 big guys during a BIG offseason.

You can't give them all the blame when things are bad and still have those same complaints when everything is going good. 

If the Sox spent like the Mets they'd have a 420 million dollar a year payroll.  They couldn't even get there this offseason if they tried.  And what the Mets are doing is unsustainable. 

Correct. It’s not just a matter of spending. You have to spend wisely too. Is that too much to ask of Breslow?

[Hugh2]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

This was one of the best off-seasons I have ever seen.  Everyone has injuries, but one could argue that, if we had the Crochet and Anthony from last year, we'd have the best record in the league.

I know right.  I was in total sell mode a month ago but now I'm looking at keeping Contreras for another year, excited about Durbin, who I was very skeptical one but now it looks like they have found a gem in.  Saurez will still be around after this year and they have it coupled with a nice youth movement too (Tolle/Bennett).

Losing Anthony and Crochet and still being this good is a real testament to the depth built.  Hats off to the team that never gave up and played their way back.  I gave up on them, and never expected this. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

9 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I think we should have signed Contreras, Suarez, Durbin (admittedly I changed my mind about him), AND Alonso or Schwarber. Letting Bregman go was fine. Get rid of Yoshida (yes, he’s done ok lately but based on his track record he should have been dumped over the winter). 

Masa's track record is a career .279 BA and a .755 OPS.

Yup, definitely dump worthy.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, notin said:

The Sox were slow starters not due to not adding Alonso, but to the individual performances of Duran, Durbin, Story, and Narvaez along with the injury to Anthony.  Getting a different DH doesn’t change any of that…

I've probably posted the results over overlaying the 2025 results of Story, Duran and Narvaez over the 2026 results a dozen times.  It shows us having a very good offense.  I thought this was accepted science by this time.

[FredLynn]

4 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Masa's track record is a career .279 BA and a .755 OPS.

Yup, definitely dump worthy.

Alonso is at .812/127. Five time all star. Which player would you rather have?

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, Old Red said:

The first plan was resigning Bregman, and adding Alonso whom they made an offer to first. That didn’t work out, so they went with the Con Man. When Bregman went to the Cubs the Red Sox pivoted to Ranger, and then went cheap with DUBin.

The miserable start that Bregman had wouldn't have helped us at all.  Adding Bregman + Alonso instead of Durbin, Contreras and Ranger would've made us worse, worse off.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, FredLynn said:

Alonso is at .812/127. Five time all star. Which player would you rather h?

What does Alonso have to do with what I posted?

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

3 hours ago, FredLynn said:

It’s good enough if we can sustain it. It would have been even better had Breslow signed another RHH with power to protect Contreras. 

You're not even trying now.  Are you saying that Contreras' .930 OPS would be even higher had he had better protection?

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

  2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

I want to complain that we are not competing for a ring this year despite having most of the pieces to do it. Instead of signing a Schwarber or Alonso we signed bums like Gaspar

So in your mind, we were either going to sign Schwarber or Gaspar for $750k and decided on Gaspar?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

The miserable start that Bregman had wouldn't have helped us at all.  Adding Bregman + Alonso instead of Durbin, Contreras and Ranger would've made us worse, worse off.

Bregman may be the least bang for the buck than anyone playing in MLB. I'm glad he went to the Cubs.

[FredLynn]

4 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

What does Alonso have to do with what I posted?

We don’t need two DHs. It’s either Masa or Pete. 

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

So in your mind, we were either going to sign Schwarber or Gaspar for $750k and decided on Gaspar?

Schwarber would have costed just a little more. But somehow I think our BILLIONAIRE owner could have afforded it. He chose not to.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

4 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

So in your mind, we were either going to sign Schwarber or Gaspar for $750k and decided on Gaspar?

Well, Gaspar does have a helluva 'stache.

[JoeBrady]

9 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

7 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Alonso is at .812/127. Five time all star. Which player would you rather h?

Contreras, whom we have.

[SoxPhan]

8 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I think we should have signed Contreras, Suarez, Durbin (admittedly I changed my mind about him), AND Alonso or Schwarber. Letting Bregman go was fine. Get rid of Yoshida (yes, he’s done ok lately but based on his track record he should have been dumped over the winter). 

Ok, that is nice, but in reality. if we signed Alonso, we are not signing Saurez. I suppose we could still have traded for Conman to DH, but realistically we would not have.  And Schwarber was never leaving Philly unless they gave him an insulting offer, just to be clear. He was never a real option. So best case we would have had Alonso and Contreras instead of Alonso and Saurez. You think that makes up the difference between us being in a WC spot instead of leading the division?
It is also funny to claim that we should have dropped a guy who has been reasonably productive because the track record at the time said so. Things can change fast in baseball.