A Realistic View at the 2026 Red Sox Part II

[Maxbialystock]

On 9/15/2026 at 7:56 PM, moonslav59 said:

The 2026 Sox All IL, DFA'd, Traded Away & AAA Team:

SP: Crochet, Early, Houck, Crawford, Oviedo, Uberstine

RP: Slaten, Guerrero, Watson, Coulombe, Kelly, Samaniego, Rivera

C: Narvaez & Rodgers

1B: Casas

2B: Mead & Rodgers

3B: Seigler & Mayer 

SS: Arias & Cheng

LF: Yoshida

CF: Rafaela

RF: Ward

DH: Romy

 

 

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Sox vs RHPs: (2024-2026 added)

.919 Gasper (.766)

.878 Contreras (.824)

.875 White (35 ABs)

.790 Rutschman (.682)

.784 Seigler (.677)

.765 Anthony (.842)

.748 Abreu (.791)

.746 Rafaela (.717)

.743 Yoshida (.777)

.733 Sogard (.680)

.727 IKF (.701)

.721 Durbin (.717)

.624 Duran (.798)

.624 Wong (.641)

.616 Monasterio (.630)

.611 Story (.718)

.517 Romy (30 PAs) .637 '24-'26

__________________________________

v LHPs

1.203 Jones (.867)

.981 Contreras (.912)

.871 Abreu (.762)

.801 Rafaela (.694)

.798 Monasterio (.743)

.774 Yoshida (.591)

.766 Sogard (.774)

.737 Durbin (.728)

.732 Wong (.775)

,705 Story (.707)

.631 Duran (.633)

.618 Romy (.892)

.596 Anthony (.703)

.550 Seigler (.592)

.459 IKF (.548)

.382 White (23 ABs) .720

.247 Gasper (23) .393

.154 Rutschman (26) .755

____________________

Some conclusions:

Should never start vs 

RHPs: Romy, Monasterio, Wong 

LHPs: Gasper, Duran and maybe Seigler.

Should start vs

RHPs: Contreras, Gapser, Abreu, Anthony, Rutschman, Rafaela (Yoshida, White & Sogard)

LHPs: Contreras, Jones, Abreu, Rafaela, Durbin, Romy, Monasterio (Story, Sogard & Wong)

Suggested platoon possibilities:

DH: Gasper-Jones/Romy (but we have Yoshida and Duran)

2B: Sogard-Monasterio/Romy (but we have Mead)

C: AR & Wong

My goodness!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

He's a Schlit Head.

Ya, get over the fact Boston didn't draft you in 2022, Cam. Why not hate the Yankees for picking four other pitchers before you in the 7th round. A few other teams chose 219 guys before you, Cam. Why not change your jersey number to 220 so you can constantly carry that angst.

The Red Sox picked Roman Anthony 79th overall that year. Don't see him complaining that they selected two other high school kids before him.

[moonslav59]

ERAs Last 30 Days

2.70 Suarez (30 IP)

2.74 Tolle (23 IP)

2.96 Gray (24.1 IP)

3.75 Bello (24.0 IP)

_________________

1.25 Chapman + Whitlock + Weissert + Gamboa + Olds (36.1 IP combined)

___________________

These 9 pitchers combined for 137.2 IP and an ERA of 2.55. (2.30 w/o Bello)

 

[moonslav59]

Last winter, we had several players that ended the season on the IL, or who barely returned to some action near the end of the season.

We knew Houck would miss all or almost all of 2026, but others were expected back. Sandoval was known to be out for a few months and a couple others were big question marks. Crawford even managed to get a new injury before the other one was heeled.

Here is a look at this year's IL crew, in terms of 2027 expectations.

Casas: all bets should be off with a total write off likely the best odds bet.

Slaten always seems hurt or about to get hurt. He's got some scary stuff going on in his right elbow with "flexor mass degeneration." Maybe count him out for some or much of 2027.

Kelly was throwing, and Rivera hasn't pitched since mid August. No biggies on these two- make it or not.

Oviedo is apparently healthy. He's had some upside potential for a while, and Brez hoped he'd come through this year, but the flexor strain had other ideas. He should be ready for ST'ing.

Crawford was all set to start Woo's finale, but the game was cancelled. I suppose we should think he's healthy, and he has the whole summer to prepare for ST'ing. Guessing his expectations is just that- a guess.  Here is a guy who led the staff in IP a couple years ago and showed some serious promise. Now, he's like a coin toss, but with perhaps that same serious upside.

Crochet might be the most important returnee or replapsee. He's been throwing and may actually be ML ready, soon, so his return depends on no setbacks or mess-ups.

Houck might be one of the most likely to succeed, but maybe as a RP'er would improve those odds.

Mead is second to Crochet in potential to make a major impact, IMO. Like Crawford, he was supposed to start with Woo, today, so he should be ready for ST'ing.

Rafaela, Contreras, Seigler, White and Yoshida should be healthy by Spring. We kinda know what they bring to the table, assuming no injury affects.

Not counting Chapman, Rafaela and Contreras, this list is 12 men long. Maybe don't count Casas, Kelly and Rivera and it's 9.

I've spoken about my opinion that there should not really be a 40 man roster crunch, but with some out of options players the 26 man cut off could get problematic.

I'm going to assume Gray is a FA. He might come back, but for now, I'll count him out. Sandoval and IKF will be FAs. With all the 60 Day IL players coming back, it seems like a crunch is looming, but here is my breakdown:

Solid Roster Players:

SP: Tolle, Suarez, Bennett, Bello, Houck, Crawford, Oviedo, Paez

RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Miller, Slaten, Weissert, Guerrero, Moran, Gamboa, Olds

C: Rutschman, Wong

1B: Contreras, Gasper, Romy

2B: Story, Seigler

SS: Arias, Monasterio

3B: Durbin, Seigler

LF: Anthony, White

CF: Rafaela, Eaton

RF: Abreu, Campbell

DH: Mead, Yoshida, Jones

That's 37.

We probably add a SP (Gray?,) a RP'er and a LHB. My guess is Duran might be back at #40 as that LHB.

Bubble/Trade: Duran, Samaniego, Cheng, Rivera, Burgos, Kelly, Casas

Rule 5 might be: Brannon (1B/DH/C3) and/or Jo Garcia (DH/1B/C3) but we already have Gasper. Maybe we trade 2 of the 3. I think we'll add Wehunt, but not Ward, Romero or Rodgers. Keeping Wehunt means Duran or someone else is traded.

 

[UtahSox]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Last winter, we had several players that ended the season on the IL, or who barely returned to some action near the end of the season.

We knew Houck would miss all or almost all of 2026, but others were expected back. Sandoval was known to be out for a few months and a couple others were big question marks. Crawford even managed to get a new injury before the other one was heeled.

Here is a look at this year's IL crew, in terms of 2027 expectations.

Casas: all bets should be off with a total write off likely the best odds bet.

Slaten always seems hurt or about to get hurt. He's got some scary stuff going on in his right elbow with "flexor mass degeneration." Maybe count him out for some or much of 2027.

Kelly was throwing, and Rivera hasn't pitched since mid August. No biggies on these two- make it or not.

Oviedo is apparently healthy. He's had some upside potential for a while, and Brez hoped he'd come through this year, but the flexor strain had other ideas. He should be ready for ST'ing.

Crawford was all set to start Woo's finale, but the game was cancelled. I suppose we should think he's healthy, and he has the whole summer to prepare for ST'ing. Guessing his expectations is just that- a guess.  Here is a guy who led the staff in IP a couple years ago and showed some serious promise. Now, he's like a coin toss, but with perhaps that same serious upside.

Crochet might be the most important returnee or replapsee. He's been throwing and may actually be ML ready, soon, so his return depends on no setbacks or mess-ups.

Houck might be one of the most likely to succeed, but maybe as a RP'er would improve those odds.

Mead is second to Crochet in potential to make a major impact, IMO. Like Crawford, he was supposed to start with Woo, today, so he should be ready for ST'ing.

Rafaela, Contreras, Seigler, White and Yoshida should be healthy by Spring. We kinda know what they bring to the table, assuming no injury affects.

Not counting Chapman, Rafaela and Contreras, this list is 12 men long. Maybe don't count Casas, Kelly and Rivera and it's 9.

I've spoken about my opinion that there should not really be a 40 man roster crunch, but with some out of options players the 26 man cut off could get problematic.

I'm going to assume Gray is a FA. He might come back, but for now, I'll count him out. Sandoval and IKF will be FAs. With all the 60 Day IL players coming back, it seems like a crunch is looming, but here is my breakdown:

Solid Roster Players:

SP: Tolle, Suarez, Bennett, Bello, Houck, Crawford, Oviedo, Paez

RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Miller, Slaten, Weissert, Guerrero, Moran, Gamboa, Olds

C: Rutschman, Wong

1B: Contreras, Gasper, Romy

2B: Story, Seigler

SS: Arias, Monasterio

3B: Durbin, Seigler

LF: Anthony, White

CF: Rafaela, Eaton

RF: Abreu, Campbell

DH: Yoshida, Jones

That's 36.

We probably add a SP (Gray?,) a RP'er and a LHB. My guess is Duran might be back at #40.

Bubble/Trade: Duran, Samaniego, Cheng, Rivera, Burgos, Kelly, Casas

Rule 5 might be: Brannon (1B/DH/C3) and/or Jo Garcia (DH/1B/C3) but we already have Gasper. Maybe we trade 2 of the 3. I think we'll add Wehunt, but not Ward, Romero or Rodgers. Keeping Wehunt means Duran or someone else is traded.

 

 

[UtahSox]

Just now, UtahSox said:

Solid Roster Players:

SP: Tolle, Suarez, Bennett, Bello, Houck, Crawford, Oviedo, Paez

RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Miller, Slaten, Weissert, Guerrero, Moran, Gamboa, Olds

C: Rutschman, Wong

1B: Contreras, Gasper, Romy

2B: Story, Seigler

SS: Arias, Monasterio

3B: Durbin, Seigler

LF: Anthony, White

CF: Rafaela, Eaton

RF: Abreu, Campbell

DH: Yoshida, Jones

That's 36.

Mead?

[moonslav59]

15 hours ago, UtahSox said:

Mead?

I had him listed, then went back to edit (move him to DH with Story at 2B,) but forgot to add him. I went back and adjusted.

 

Thanks.

[moonslav59]

Consider this:

TBR +83 Run Differential and 95-60

DET +75 Run Differential and 74-83 (22 GB TBR)

[moonslav59]

The Rays are 37-27 in 1 or 2 run games.

They've been shut out 8 times.

The Sox have been shut out 7 times.

They are 33-37 in 1 or 2 run games.

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

We pretty much know the Sox 3 starters for the Yankee series. Many agree the order should be Gray-Tolle-Suarez, but who are the Yankee three and in what order will they be pitched?

The game two starter will get more rest before his next start, assuming the team advances, so that may be one consideration when ordering the starters.

Here are some Yankee numbers:

2nd Half

1.75 Schlitter (12 GS: Clearly the game #1 starter)

1.83 Fried (9GS: maybe game 2?)

2.27 Weathers (7GS: will not start one of the 3)

2.40 Rodon (6GS: Between him and Cole.)

3.36 Cole (12 GS: Rodon or Cole?)

4.00 Warren (12 GS: will not start one of the 3)

Last 7 Starts (6 for Rodon, who missed July and half AUG)

1.02 Schlitter (2.42 FIP in 44 IP- has not let up more than 1 ER/gm in 8 GS)

1.49 Fried (2.77 FIP in 36 IP missed a couple starts in AUG)

2.40 Rodon (4.06 FIP in 30 IP)

2.62 Warren (3.43 FIP in 34 IP)

4.20 Cole (4.97 FIP in 41 IP)

I think they go with Cole, in part because Rodon is a LHP, and we do better vs lefties.

Game 1: Schlitter v Gray

Game 2: Fried v Tolle

Game 3: Cole v Suarez

[drewski6]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 

Only thing we can do is accept it.  And I do think we can be fine with this duo.  I do like Breslows activity and willingness to turn the roster over. I do like his stockpile of depth.  Ive seen some hiccups when it comes to dealing with humans, but Ive also seen him acknowledge that he wants to be better with communication.

And the pitching side, which he built up, has been carrying us last 2 years now.  I would like to see him focus on offense, but its not like its all pitching. He went out and got contreras, traded some pitching for durbin, grabbed mead and adley at the deadline.

[moonslav59]

Last 30 Days ERA by starters

0.83 Schlitter

1.83 Fried

2.37 Warren

2.42 Rodon

2.70 Suarez

2.74 Tolle

2.96 Gray

4.66 Bennett

5.34 Cole

6.12 Sandoval

_______________________________

Last 30 Days ERA by RP'ers: (all with 7+ IP)

0.00 Weissert

0.00 Whitlock

0.75 Blackburn

0.87 Gamboa

1.54 Olds

2.00 Schreiber

2.25 Chapman

3.75 Bello (some as SP)

4.00 Bednar

4.50 Fulmer & Moran

4.63 Yarbrough

5.25 Headrick

6.48 T Hill & E Miller

6.52 Elemer Rodrigues

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Only thing we can do is accept it.  And I do think we can be fine with this duo.  I do like Breslows activity and willingness to turn the roster over. I do like his stockpile of depth.  Ive seen some hiccups when it comes to dealing with humans, but Ive also seen him acknowledge that he wants to be better with communication.

And the pitching side, which he built up, has been carrying us last 2 years now.  I would like to see him focus on offense, but its not like its all pitching. He went out and got contreras, traded some pitching for durbin, grabbed mead and adley at the deadline.

The pitching depth is a question to me. Others may disagree, but I think the high minors depth won't be there in 2027. They also punted on adding college arms this year while trading away their best prospects. 

I know they've added Tolle and Bennett to the rotation this season, but that won't always be the case. 

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Only thing we can do is accept it.  And I do think we can be fine with this duo.  I do like Breslows activity and willingness to turn the roster over. I do like his stockpile of depth.  Ive seen some hiccups when it comes to dealing with humans, but Ive also seen him acknowledge that he wants to be better with communication.

And the pitching side, which he built up, has been carrying us last 2 years now.  I would like to see him focus on offense, but its not like its all pitching. He went out and got contreras, traded some pitching for durbin, grabbed mead and adley at the deadline.

I think the Early for Mead trade was a major step and sign that he wants to improve the offense. It could have been a spectacular move. The AR move gave up a lot of pitching futures stock. (Azocar was no slouch, either.) I like the Jones and White additions, too. These were all in-season moves.

The Contreras, Durbin, Monasterio, Seigler and IKF moves over the winter were not all geared towards offense, and maybe Brez put too much faith in Anthony being healthy and productive. Maybe e put too much faith in Narvaez, too. I think he planned well for possible injuries or stumbles by Story & Mayer with the IKF, Monasterio, Cheng, Rodgers & Seigler adds. 

Maybe I'm too high on Mead. It wouldn't be the first time, but I really see him as a major addition. Early had some high projected value. I hated losing him, but I think it was a good effort to rebalance the roster. The AR struggles are not really surprising, and I think what he brings to the defense and pitching staff may be undervalued by some, but he will need to hit better to make that trade look good. (Of course, if all the guys we gave up fizzle out, we may not see it as a bad trade, but that seems doubtful.)

Our offense looks pretty good in 2027 and deeper than we can even sustain on teh 26 and 40 man rosters.

We lose just IKF

C: AR & Wong (Gasper & Jo Garcia Rule 5)

1B: Contreras & Romy w Casas (Mead, Gasper & Sogard as depth) Brannon is Rule 5

2B: Mead & Story w Sogard, Seigler & Monasterio (Rodgers/Romero)

SS: Arias & Story w Monasterio, Sogard, Cheng (Godbout)

3B: Durbin & Eaton w Seigler, Cheng & Monasterio (Romero/Winnay)

LF: Anthony & Duran (Campbell & Gonzales)

CF: Rafaela & White (Ward)

RF: Abreu & Campbell (Gonzales)

DH: Yoshida & Jones w Mead/Duran/Anthony/Romy/Story/Gasper (Jo Garcia/Brannon as Rule 5s)

Maybe I wear pink glasses. Maybe I'm a bonafide homer, but I like that offense as is. Even with expected injuries, the depth looks solid.

I suppose we could add a DH (LHB) but Yoshida could be fine and is paid a lot.

 

[drewski6]

I dont think Breslow loved the offense he was building. So I dont think it was an example of him having too much faith in like Roman/Duran et al.  I think he failed to execute his offseason plan, and Im not going to go back into it, but its pretty well documented.

I think he did a great job of salvaging. I think turnign to pitchign and D first was a pivot. But I think so far it has worked out well.  And if we beat the yankees, Ill be stoked.

But if we have a repeat of last year vs the yankees, score like an avg of 2/game and lose the series. It will be hard to be jazzed for an offense that went out with a whimper the prev 2 years, and I like Mead but I dont think thats enough to change that.

So what I need to see is some playoff potency on the offensive side.  Win or lose, give me 4 runs per game in the postseason (or more) and Im happy.  Im also happy if we win one series , even if we fail to score 4/game.

But going down 2 years in a row because you couldnt hit a very reasonable 4 runs/game in the playoffs, and then coming into the offseason jazzed about that offense with no additions (actually subtractions, cuz youre a Story hater) - just doesnt feel right to me.

And if we do salvage some playoff potency with zee bats. If we do get to my 4 runs per game, you know who my best guess is going to be the reason why? Captain Trevor Story.  Arias can wait another year.

[drewski6]

20 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The pitching depth is a question to me. Others may disagree, but I think the high minors depth won't be there in 2027. They also punted on adding college arms this year while trading away their best prospects. 

I know they've added Tolle and Bennett to the rotation this season, but that won't always be the case. 

I agree.

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The pitching depth is a question to me. Others may disagree, but I think the high minors depth won't be there in 2027. They also punted on adding college arms this year while trading away their best prospects. 

I know they've added Tolle and Bennett to the rotation this season, but that won't always be the case. 

I agree. 

I was fine with trading Harrison, Drohan, Fitts, Priester & Dobbins. Some had low expectations from me and many others. Trading Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Aita and a few others seemed a little risky as maybe one ends up shining brightly, but we needed Gray, Contreras, Durbin and others. The Bennett swap worked fine: the Oviedo one not so much.

Trading away Early for Mead was fine with me, too, but no doubt it took a big dent out of our rotation depth. Trading Eyanson & Witherspoon was a bigger hit to the future depth than Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Aita and others combined.

We've gone 11-12 deep for a couple seasons, now, and despite having nice depth, we need to add Dustin May, last summer and could have used an addition this summer to replace Sandoval's bad performances. We've also used way too many pen games than we should have.

We can't go 11-12 deep next year without relying on some shaky AAA starters. I doubt any become the next Bennett. Assuming we lose Gray and Crochet returns healthy, we will need Houck, Crawford and Oviedo to come trough. Many feel Houck should go to the pen, and I agree, but we may not have that luxury, unless we bring Gray back or replace him with a similar horse.

The 2027 rotation slots look like this, as of now....

1. Crochet

2. Tolle

3. Suarez

4. Bennett

(5? Bello)

5/6/7/8. Houck/Crawford/Oviedo

8/9 Paez

9/10 Wehunt

10/11 Holobetz

11/12 Ziehl

12/13 Mullins

Bello might be the "savior" of the group and allow the Houck/Crawford/Oviedo trifecta to remain as solid depth or be used from the pen, but it never works out that way. Someone(s) will get hurt. We will likely need all 3 and then some.

Brining Gray back would satisfy me, but another trade like for Oviedo would be an idea worth pursuing- hopefully wit a better outcome. I'm also thinking Oviedo could be a big boost in 2027.

 

 

[drewski6]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I agree. 

I was fine with trading Harrison, Drohan, Fitts, Priester & Dobbins. Some had low expectations from me and many others. Trading Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Aita and a few others seemed a little risky as maybe one ends up shining brightly, but we needed Gray, Contreras, Durbin and others. The Bennett swap worked fine: the Oviedo one not so much.

Trading away Early for Mead was fine with me, too, but no doubt it took a big dent out of our rotation depth. Trading Eyanson & Witherspoon was a bigger hit to the future depth than Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Aita and others combined.

We've gone 11-12 deep for a couple seasons, now, and despite having nice depth, we need to add Dustin May, last summer and could have used an addition this summer to replace Sandoval's bad performances. We've also used way too many pen games than we should have.

We can't go 11-12 deep next year without relying on some shaky AAA starters. I doubt any become the next Bennett. Assuming we lose Gray and Crochet returns healthy, we will need Houck, Crawford and Oviedo to come trough. Many feel Houck should go to the pen, and I agree, but we may not have that luxury, unless we bring Gray back or replace him with a similar horse.

The 2027 rotation slots look like this, as of now....

1. Crochet

2. Tolle

3. Suarez

4. Bennett

(5? Bello)

5/6/7/8. Houck/Crawford/Oviedo

8/9 Paez

9/10 Wehunt

10/11 Holobetz

11/12 Ziehl

12/13 Mullins

Bello might be the "savior" of the group and allow the Houck/Crawford/Oviedo trifecta to remain as solid depth or be used from the pen, but it never works out that way. Someone(s) will get hurt. We will likely need all 3 and then some.

Brining Gray back would satisfy me, but another trade like for Oviedo would be an idea worth pursuing- hopefully wit a better outcome. I'm also thinking Oviedo could be a big boost in 2027.

 

 

If Gray stays healthy here until end and gives you quality playoff start(s), I dont see how retaining him isnt priority #1.

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

If Gray stays healthy here until end and gives you quality playoff start(s), I dont see how retaining him isnt priority #1.

I'm pretty sure he will be, and looking at what we traded to get him and the money spent on his 2026 contract, I'd say Brez must really like him. The 2027 did nothing to convince him otherwise.

We aren't getting Skubal, and we've depleted our trading capacity getting Mead and AR, so other options don't seem to be there.

Other FA options: Burnes, M King, Gausman, Imanaga, Woodruff and others don't move the needle for me.

If he's not our #1 target, who is? Fred will cry for a bat, but what's the best bat? Springer (37 y/o)? Bichette? Arraez?

[moonslav59]

Reminder on what Brez inherited after the 2023 season:

Major contracts: 

$313/10 Devers (just beginning in '24)

$100M/4 Story (remaining)

$72M/4 Yoshida (remaining)

$28M/1 Sale (with option)

$25M/1 Jansen & Martin combined.

$18M/3 Whitlock (with 2 option years)

The Roster (yrs remaining) :

Sale (1) Bello (4) Pivetta (1) Crawford (4) Houck (4)

Jansen (1) Martin (1) Whitlock (3-5) Winckowski (3) Bernardino (3) Schreiber (3) Murphy (3) Robertson/Kelly/ Llovera/Joely

McGuire (2) Wong (4)

Casas (5) Dalbec (3)

E Valdez (5) Reyes (3)

Devers (10)

Story (4)

Verdugo (3) Refsnyder (3)

Rafaela (5)

Abreu (5)

Yoshida (4)

Fall 2023 farm:

1. Anthony, 2. Mayer, 3 Teel, 7 Perales, 12 Meidroth, 14 Drohan, 19 Blaze

5 Bleis, 6 Yorke, 9 Wikelman, 10 Cespedes, 11 Zanetello, 13 Castro, 14 Jo Garcia, 16 Hickey, 17 Paulino, 18 Romero, 20 Monegro, 21 DHam, 22 Anderson, 23 Dobbins, 24 Elmer Rod, 15 Luis Guerrero, 16 Bastardo, 27 Mata, 28 Hoppe, 29 Alcantar, 30 Arias

 

[MADSTORK]

11 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

The pitching depth is a question to me. Others may disagree, but I think the high minors depth won't be there in 2027. They also punted on adding college arms this year while trading away their best prospects. 

I know they've added Tolle and Bennett to the rotation this season, but that won't always be the case. 

?

26 Draft arms with promise 

Davenport college

lanman college 

lafavor

volmerding college

 

 

[UtahSox]

12 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I agree. 

I was fine with trading Harrison, Drohan, Fitts, Priester & Dobbins. Some had low expectations from me and many others. Trading Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Aita and a few others seemed a little risky as maybe one ends up shining brightly, but we needed Gray, Contreras, Durbin and others. The Bennett swap worked fine: the Oviedo one not so much.

Trading away Early for Mead was fine with me, too, but no doubt it took a big dent out of our rotation depth. Trading Eyanson & Witherspoon was a bigger hit to the future depth than Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Aita and others combined.

We've gone 11-12 deep for a couple seasons, now, and despite having nice depth, we need to add Dustin May, last summer and could have used an addition this summer to replace Sandoval's bad performances. We've also used way too many pen games than we should have.

We can't go 11-12 deep next year without relying on some shaky AAA starters. I doubt any become the next Bennett. Assuming we lose Gray and Crochet returns healthy, we will need Houck, Crawford and Oviedo to come trough. Many feel Houck should go to the pen, and I agree, but we may not have that luxury, unless we bring Gray back or replace him with a similar horse.

The 2027 rotation slots look like this, as of now....

1. Crochet

2. Tolle

3. Suarez

4. Bennett

(5? Bello)

5/6/7/8. Houck/Crawford/Oviedo

8/9 Paez

9/10 Wehunt

10/11 Holobetz

11/12 Ziehl

12/13 Mullins

Bello might be the "savior" of the group and allow the Houck/Crawford/Oviedo trifecta to remain as solid depth or be used from the pen, but it never works out that way. Someone(s) will get hurt. We will likely need all 3 and then some.

Brining Gray back would satisfy me, but another trade like for Oviedo would be an idea worth pursuing- hopefully wit a better outcome. I'm also thinking Oviedo could be a big boost in 2027.

 

 

Easy to add quality starter at trade deadline if pitching is limping along in June/ July. I agree with Breslow moves to get hitting with control.. I have a feeling Early might have similar trajectory to Harrison not to say they won’t be solid/ good. I just don’t think they have TOTR stuff. 

[Hitch]

I'm very worried about starting pitching depth at the moment. We've traded A LOT away. And don't have much in AAA should we get injuries, which we definitely will next year. 

So I expect to see some moves in the winter to get some pitching in. 

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, MADSTORK said:

?

26 Draft arms with promise 

Davenport college

lanman college 

lafavor

volmerding college

5th rounder

6th rounder

10th rounder HS

8th rounder

The ceiling for those arms is typically low. Once in a while you'll get an Early, but it's not likely. More often those guys are turned into relievers or just AAA depth arms. Wonder why Stork didn't list Adetuyi? 🤔

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, Hitch said:

I'm very worried about starting pitching depth at the moment. We've traded A LOT away. And don't have much in AAA should we get injuries, which we definitely will next year. 

So I expect to see some moves in the winter to get some pitching in. 

I agree. It's how they obtained Bennett. We'll see if their tiny scouting department is up to the task. 

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I agree. It's how they obtained Bennett. We'll see if their tiny scouting department is up to the task. 

It's interesting that the Bennett get was by trading SP'er "depth" for "depth."

We got Oviedo for Jh Garcia but also added Travieso (SP depth for the future)

We go Gray for 3 pitchers (Fitts- a ML'er, Clarke- a promising prospect & Galle - a longshot.)

We got a RP'er E Miller + Gutierrez for Mayer

Before that, the big trade was Devers for Harrison, Hicks and others.

These were the deals that wacked the pitching depth:

Early for Mead

Dobbins, Fajardo & Aita for Contreras

Harrison, Drohan & DHam for Durbin, Monasterio & Seigler

Eyanson, Witherspoon, Azocar & Narvaezfor AR

(I'm not counting Uberstine for White, but some may call him depth.)

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's interesting that the Bennett get was by trading SP'er "depth" for "depth."

We got Oviedo for Jh Garcia but also added Travieso (SP depth for the future)

We go Gray for 3 pitchers (Fitts- a ML'er, Clarke- a promising prospect & Galle - a longshot.)

We got a RP'er E Miller + Gutierrez for Mayer

Before that, the big trade was Devers for Harrison, Hicks and others.

These were the deals that wacked the pitching depth:

Early for Mead

Dobbins, Fajardo & Aita for Contreras

Harrison, Drohan & DHam for Durbin, Monasterio & Seigler

Eyanson, Witherspoon, Azocar & Narvaezfor AR

(I'm not counting Uberstine for White, but some may call him depth.)

I don't think Perales was considered SP depth. He was coming off injury and the Sox were pushing him towards the bullpen due to issues with his options running out. 

Clearly, not all of those guys will work out as SP's. However, it does greatly impact the SP pipeline and depth that the Sox will need in the next two seasons. They'll need to figure out how to add some guys or they'll see more Paez type starts going forward.

[Hitch]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I agree. It's how they obtained Bennett. We'll see if their tiny scouting department is up to the task. 

I've been pretty happy with their pitching moves so far, both in and out, so hopefully more of the same. But, yes, still uneasy about the dramatic reduction in scouting at the organisation. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I don't think Perales was considered SP depth. He was coming off injury and the Sox were pushing him towards the bullpen due to issues with his options running out. 

Clearly, not all of those guys will work out as SP's. However, it does greatly impact the SP pipeline and depth that the Sox will need in the next two seasons. They'll need to figure out how to add some guys or they'll see more Paez type starts going forward.

Good point on starter vs RP.

It turned out to be a great trade (so far.)