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

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Contreras, whom we have.

Contreras at 1B

Alonso or Schwarber at DH.

No Yoshida

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, SoxPhan said:

 

...

[FredLynn]

3 minutes ago, SoxPhan said:

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. 
 

Why not both Alonso AND Suarez?

[JoeBrady]

6 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

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

From both a present perspective, as well as 20/20 hindsight, Breslow's off-season was flawless.  These are his off-season additions:

• Contreras
• Durbin
• Monasterio
• IKF
• Seigler
• Gray
• Suarez
• Bennett
• Guerrero

It is a real possibility that this is the best off-season the RS have ever had, and one the best off-seasons any GM in history has ever had.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, JoeBrady said:

From both a present perspective, as well as 20/20 hindsight, Breslow's off-season was flawless.  These are his off-season additions:

• Contreras
• Durbin
• Monasterio
• IKF
• Seigler
• Gray
• Suarez
• Bennett
• Guerrero

It is a real possibility that this is the best off-season the RS have ever had, and one the best off-seasons any GM in history has ever had.

I agree Joe. Not Breslow's fault that Mayer, Anthony, and Crochet got broken early in the season.

[SoxPhan]

Because of the reality of budgets and a payroll that is not endless. And sorry to burst your bubble, but Alonso and his .812 OPS is not the difference between us leading the division and where we are. Plus we would have had to eat most of the remaining money of Yoshida to dump him, which would essentially have put Alonso at like 40 mill per. 

[SoxPhan]

2 minutes ago, SoxPhan said:

Because of the reality of budgets and a payroll that is not endless. And sorry to burst your bubble, but Alonso and his .812 OPS is not the difference between us leading the division and where we are. Plus we would have had to eat most of the remaining money of Yoshida to dump him, which would essentially have put Alonso at like 40 mill per. 

Meant to quote this to Freds why not both comment..

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, SoxPhan said:

Because of the reality of budgets and a payroll that is not endless. And sorry to burst your bubble, but Alonso and his .812 OPS is not the difference between us leading the division and where we are. Plus we would have had to eat most of the remaining money of Yoshida to dump him, which would essentially have put Alonso at like 40 mill per. 

The Mets' endless PR may land them 100 losses this season. Here's hoping.

[Old Red]

42 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.

I agree, but that wasn’t bresLOW’s plan.

[Nick]

36 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

From both a present perspective, as well as 20/20 hindsight, Breslow's off-season was flawless.  These are his off-season additions:

• Contreras
• Durbin
• Monasterio
• IKF
• Seigler
• Gray
• Suarez
• Bennett
• Guerrero

It is a real possibility that this is the best off-season the RS have ever had, and one the best off-seasons any GM in history has ever had.

Too bad our golden boys Anthony and Mayer did not show up. 

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

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

The Red Sox biggest problem when they were 14 under wasn’t getting runners on base, but driving them in. Hitting more homers changed that, and Rowdy Yates showed up.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

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…

It's silly to claim we chose Gasper over Alonso.

Gasper was and still is AAA depth.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Should Breslow look hard at the Giants' Arraez? Obviously not a power hitter, but an excellent leadoff hitter. Actually, he's just an excellent hitter period.

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

Contreras at 1B

Alonso or Schwarber at DH.

No Yoshida

Yoshida was originally the fourth outfielder/non-starter.  He’s only playing as much as he is due to Anthony’s injury.   This has been pointed out multiple times, much like how the decision to sign Gasper was unrelated to negotiations with Alonso.  
 

If the Sox signed Alonso, they have to move an OF (Duran) for a 3b, and likely not Durban. So who? What affect does that have?  Or does Mayer play 3b, with Hamilton at 2b?  Is that better?

So the bench Duran but play Hamilton.  Plus still have Harrison.

Of course Story still had a hernia and Mayer unsurprisingly got hurt again.  So yeah, Sogard, Hamilton and ?? as the starting infield…

[notin]

56 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Should Breslow look hard at the Giants' Arraez? Obviously not a power hitter, but an excellent leadoff hitter. Actually, he's just an excellent hitter period.

I think so…

[moonslav59]

I think once we made the Contreras trade Alonso became a low priority signing, and that's what it looked like happened.

I understand the call for another big bat, and I agreed we needed one better than Durbin. I just think DH or LF/DH or 1B/DH was not the way to go. We had 4 OF'ers with one slotted for DH (Duran or Anthony.) We had Yoshida. We had Romy with even Casas as a long shot DH.

The obvious plan was Bregman as that "second bat," and I never felt he fit the bill. I was glad we didn't sign him at even near what he got. Assuming the Durbin trade still gets made, the bat would have been 2B or SS with Story or Mayer being benched or traded.

The other obvious choice was to trade Duran and go with Anthony in LF and add a DH, but we were still paying Yoshida and had no place for Romy, unless we platooned him at 2B w Mayer.

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

I think so…

We might eb stuck having to go rental to keep the return price low.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

We might eb stuck having to go rental to keep the return price low.

Arraez is 29. He's on a one year contract for 12 million. I don't think it would take much money to sign Arraez to a 3 year contract after the season. Maybe around 45 mil.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Arraez is 29. He's on a one year contract for 12 million. I don't think it would take much money to sign Arraez to a 3 year contract after the season. Maybe around 45 mil.

To me, Mead is the 2017 2Bman not Arraez. That's the other reason why we trade for a rental.

Also, Arraez is not good on D. He was showing signs of decline before 2026:

.861 in 2023

.739 in 2024

.719 in 2025

I'd prefer B Lowe, if PIT is a seller.

[Old Red]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think once we made the Contreras trade Alonso became a low priority signing, and that's what it looked like happened.

I understand the call for another big bat, and I agreed we needed one better than Durbin. I just think DH or LF/DH or 1B/DH was not the way to go. We had 4 OF'ers with one slotted for DH (Duran or Anthony.) We had Yoshida. We had Romy with even Casas as a long shot DH.

The obvious plan was Bregman as that "second bat," and I never felt he fit the bill. I was glad we didn't sign him at even near what he got. Assuming the Durbin trade still gets made, the bat would have been 2B or SS with Story or Mayer being benched or traded.

The other obvious choice was to trade Duran and go with Anthony in LF and add a DH, but we were still paying Yoshida and had no place for Romy, unless we platooned him at 2B w Mayer.

Huh? The Red Sox offered Alonso a contract first, and when he turned them down traded for Contreras a couple weeks after that, so you got it all wrong, and ass backwards. Come on man I thought you were better than that.🤔🤭🙈

[notin]

2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

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

So Fred’s plan is to replace the Sox fourth OF, Yoshida, with Pete Alonso?   How did Breslow miss this.

Again - opening day.

1b - Contreras

LF - Duran/Anthony

CF - Rafaela

RF - Abreu

DH - Anthony/ Duran

But you have REPEATEDLY insisted on using Alonso to replace Yoshida from his bench role.

And Breslow is the problem?

[FredLynn]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

So Fred’s plan is to replace the Sox fourth OF, Yoshida, with Pete Alonso?   How did Breslow miss this.

Again - opening day.

1b - Contreras

LF - Duran/Anthony

CF - Rafaela

RF - Abreu

DH - Anthony/ Duran

But you have REPEATEDLY insisted on using Alonso to replace Yoshida from his bench role.

And Breslow is the problem?

Correct 

Alonso would have been a better choice for DH than Yoshida. 
And yes-Breslow should be fired for not signing the players necessary to compete for a ring. Essentially we have wasted a year of being competitive. We can’t afford to do that

[FredLynn]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It's silly to claim we chose Gasper over Alonso.

Gasper was and still is AAA depth.

Gaspar is taking a roster spot is he not?

[notin]

17 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Correct 

Alonso would have been a better choice for DH than Yoshida. 
And yes-Breslow should be fired for not signing the players necessary to compete for a ring. Essentially we have wasted a year of being competitive. We can’t afford to do that

YOSHIDA WASN’T THE f***ING DH!!

<sigh> Calm down, notin.  Remember you’re trying to argue with someone who still thinks that the Sox chose Gasper over Schwarber…

[notin]

22 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Gaspar is taking a roster spot is he not?

No.

Gasper is in Worcester.  But he is the starting DH there.

Oh I get it now.  You wanted Breslow to sign Alonso or Schwarber to minor league deals.  Yeah, it was just silly he didn’t do that.

[FredLynn]

14 minutes ago, notin said:

YOSHIDA WASN’T THE f***ING DH!!

<sigh> Calm down, notin.  Remember you’re trying to argue with someone who still thinks that the Sox chose Gasper over Schwarber…

What position does Yoshida now play most frequently?

[SoxPhan]

14 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Correct 

Alonso would have been a better choice for DH than Yoshida. 
And yes-Breslow should be fired for not signing the players necessary to compete for a ring. Essentially we have wasted a year of being competitive. We can’t afford to do that

Pete Alonso is not that amazing man. He is looking overpaid already and it is only year 1.. Sure, if we could leave everything the same and swap out Masa for Pete, I would do it ofc. But that is not how things work. In the real world, we do not get Suarez if we sign Alonso. And most likely Contreras is not here either. 
We have not wasted a year. We started slow and are now on fire and currently in the playoffs. WITHOUT numerous important players for most of the year. A couple decent moves at the deadline and/or a little luck for once with injuries, and we can easily compete in the playoffs. Breslow wins or ties like 5 or 6 trades this offseason, signs an All-Star starter, and you want him fired for not giving Pete Alonso crazy money, and instead trading for someone who is vastly outperforming him, while costing us way less?

[notin]

Just now, FredLynn said:

What position does Yoshida now play most frequently?

Are there injuries to maybe a guy whose name rhymes with Snowman Panthony?

Arguing Yoshida was the opening day DH is like arguing Monasterio was the opening day shortstop.

Is there an emoji for a conniption?

[FredLynn]

2 minutes ago, SoxPhan said:

Pete Alonso is not that amazing man. He is looking overpaid already and it is only year 1.. Sure, if we could leave everything the same and swap out Masa for Pete, I would do it ofc. But that is not how things work. In the real world, we do not get Suarez if we sign Alonso. And most likely Contreras is not here either. 
We have not wasted a year. We started slow and are now on fire and currently in the playoffs. WITHOUT numerous important players for most of the year. A couple decent moves at the deadline and/or a little luck for once with injuries, and we can easily compete in the playoffs. Breslow wins or ties like 5 or 6 trades this offseason, signs an All-Star starter, and you want him fired for not giving Pete Alonso crazy money, and instead trading for someone who is vastly outperforming him, while costing us way less?

Alonso has better stats than Yoshida. He would have made a fine DH. He is a 5 time all star. 

[FredLynn]

Just now, notin said:

Are there injuries to maybe a guy whose name rhymes with Snowman Panthony?

Arguing Yoshida was the opening day DH is like arguing Monasterio was the opening day shortstop.

Is there an emoji for a conniption?

Where does Yoshida usually fit into the lineup when he plays nowadays?