Red Sox will regret not acquiring a starter at the deadline

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Bello has been better because he's not starting.  Obviously it's some kind of mental block, which perhaps is only cured by having him just start and work through it.  I'd prefer to get him an opener and let him work through it in the offseason and 2027. 

If it's working, just let it roll for the rest of the year. It's not like they are going to have him pitch 8-9 innings or anything. It's just moving a reliever to earlier in the game. 

[southpaw777]

38 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If it's working, just let it roll for the rest of the year. It's not like they are going to have him pitch 8-9 innings or anything. It's just moving a reliever to earlier in the game. 

Sandoval Tolle and Bennett all have legit concern to hit a wall. I’ve complained all year about trading away every last bit of pitching depth..with pushback. we trade Early and never replace his IP with something comparable? Sandoval? An opener and Bello? Please🙄

The rotation got worse. Why in Gods name, with IP limits and durability within the starting rotation lingering over their heads, do they not even attempt to get a starter? We actually may have to have an opener in the playoffs. Not ideal.

Think About it. What if the worst case scenario happened and Tolle hit his wall, along with Bennett.  and Sandy was pretty much useless after a two year layoff.
I just think it was incompetent at best to not take this into consideration and get a starter at the deadline..
 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

Sandoval Tolle and Bennett all have legit concern to hit a wall. I’ve complained all year about trading away every last bit of pitching depth..with pushback. we trade Early and never replace his IP with something comparable? Sandoval? An opener and Bello? Please🙄

The rotation got worse. Why in Gods name, with IP limits and durability within the starting rotation lingering over their heads, do they not even attempt to get a starter? We actually may have to have an opener in the playoffs. Not ideal.
 

Early is probably going to pitch 0 MLB innings the rest of the season no matter what. They just needed another innings eater. The guys they have in AAA are either not ready due to experience or just not very good. 

[southpaw777]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Early is probably going to pitch 0 MLB innings the rest of the season no matter what. They just needed another innings eater. The guys they have in AAA are either not ready due to experience or just not very good. 

Even if early doesn’t pitch another inning this year for another team, we still needed to replace them here. They didn’t. I don’t mind the trade for Mead, but It just seems Breslow does this kind of crap with trades. Why trade all of our depth And early if you weren’t going to replace him with something comparable? Teams were jealous of our pitching depth and we could just call up the next guy. Now we have to piece games together like a low budget organization with guys like Gamboa. 
How could they not get a starter? It was such a painfully obvious need. Teams with the best Starting pitching wins in the playoffs. 

[mvp 78]

Backsliding into the playoffs because of the pitching staff doesn't seem like a recipe for success either. They spent a lot of capital to win this year! If it ends up just being a half measure overall, what's the point? 

[Hugh2]

9 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

Even if early doesn’t pitch another inning this year for another team, we still needed to replace them here. They didn’t. I don’t mind the trade for Mead, but It just seems Breslow does this kind of crap with trades. Why trade all of our depth And early if you weren’t going to replace him with something comparable? Teams were jealous of our pitching depth and we could just call up the next guy. Now we have to piece games together like a low budget organization with guys like Gamboa. 
How could they not get a starter? It was such a painfully obvious need. Teams with the best Starting pitching wins in the playoffs. 

If Early isn't playing again this year and he needs to be replaced, then doesn't Breslow technically have the offseason to replace him too?  This pipeline of pitching that has paid huge dividends was literally built by him in just two years.  I trust he's going to bring in some arms this offseason and we may see someone pop as well. 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Hugh2 said:

If Early isn't playing again this year and he needs to be replaced, then doesn't Breslow technically have the offseason to replace him too?  This pipeline of pitching that has paid huge dividends was literally built by him in just two years.  I trust he's going to bring in some arms this offseason and we may see someone pop as well. 

That pipeline was built through the draft (nobody on the radar currently) and trades (who are they going to trade). 

[mvp 78]

It was also several years of drafting that led to Early, Dobbins, Eyanson, Tolle, etc.

[Hugh2]

I'm not really sure I fully agree with this notion that we've traded away all our starting pitching depth.  We've certainly traded away a lot of prospect depth but no one that would be helping the MLB team.  What depth did we really trade away that would have pitched and contributed this year?

The exception to this is Caleb Durbin for Kyle Harrison but I think we can all agree the offense was easily the biggest offseason concern and that showed for a long time this season.  

Durbin, has been better than Harrison, we won that trade. 

It appears to me that a lot of our "depth" has been sidelined by injury and not shipped out of town. 

Crochet/Crawford/Houck/Oviedo all would have helped out tremendously this year. 

How much better does the pitching look (which doesn't look bad) with Crochet at the top? Imagine if crochet was healthy in last years form and then we go Gray/Tolle/Saurez/Sandoval.

[Duran Is The Man]

no pitching help coming from the farm. Brez made sure to trade what little we had left for an injured catcher that can't hit.

Farm now ranked 24.  

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/in-season-farm-system-rankings-2026?p=0&partnerId=it-20260817-19428827-mlb-1-B&utm_id=it-20260817-19428827-mlb-1-B&lctg=52508046

[Hugh2]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

That pipeline was built through the draft (nobody on the radar currently) and trades (who are they going to trade). 

I mean, I'm not thinking really hard about it either way.  But you never know, there are guys left over from the 24-25 draft that could pop.  I'm not placing bets on someone like Brady Tygart or Brandon Neely taking a leep forward.  But we don't really need them too either. 

How is Oviedo/Houck/Crawford/Crochet going to look next year? you have 4 guys coming back who could all start and entire draft class we haven't seen yet, and he could conceivably make more moves. 

[Hugh2]

Just now, Duran Is The Man said:

no pitching help coming from the farm. Brez made sure to trade what little we had left for an injured catcher that can't hit.

Farm now ranked 24.  

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/in-season-farm-system-rankings-2026?p=0&partnerId=it-20260817-19428827-mlb-1-B&utm_id=it-20260817-19428827-mlb-1-B&lctg=52508046

Did you think Witherspoon or Eyanson was going to start this year?

[Duran Is The Man]

1 minute ago, Hugh2 said:

Did you think Witherspoon or Eyanson was going to start this year?

no doofus, i was just pointing out that he has traded the last bit of depth we had.

[Hugh2]

1 minute ago, Duran Is The Man said:

no doofus, i was just pointing out that he has traded the last bit of depth we had.

If they were not going to start this year, they were not depth. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

A catcher wasn't a priority. What Brez traded, not including Narvaez, for Rutschman could have landed the Sox a decent starter.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I'm not really sure I fully agree with this notion that we've traded away all our starting pitching depth.  We've certainly traded away a lot of prospect depth but no one that would be helping the MLB team.  What depth did we really trade away that would have pitched and contributed this year?

The exception to this is Caleb Durbin for Kyle Harrison but I think we can all agree the offense was easily the biggest offseason concern and that showed for a long time this season.  

Durbin, has been better than Harrison, we won that trade. 

It appears to me that a lot of our "depth" has been sidelined by injury and not shipped out of town. 

Crochet/Crawford/Houck/Oviedo all would have helped out tremendously this year. 

How much better does the pitching look (which doesn't look bad) with Crochet at the top? Imagine if crochet was healthy in last years form and then we go Gray/Tolle/Saurez/Sandoval.

The trade was Harrison AND Drohan. Drohan has been worth a lot more than you think. 

We already knew Houck was going to be out for most of the season and weren't planning on him. Kutter has been out for 2 full seasons now and it's time to just write him off. 

"If everyone was healthy, we wouldn't have a depth issue!" Is that a serious argument? 

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I mean, I'm not thinking really hard about it either way.  But you never know, there are guys left over from the 24-25 draft that could pop.  I'm not placing bets on someone like Brady Tygart or Brandon Neely taking a leep forward.  But we don't really need them too either. 

How is Oviedo/Houck/Crawford/Crochet going to look next year? you have 4 guys coming back who could all start and entire draft class we haven't seen yet, and he could conceivably make more moves. 

We know what Tanner Houck is already. He's had one great half of a season to his career. The rest of it has been a conversation of "is he a starter or reliever." 

Oviedo has a substantial injury history. Kutter has the same. How can a reasonable CBO count on either of them? 

I don't even know what to say about Crochet TBH. He's somewhere between CY and TJS. 

[Hugh2]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The trade was Harrison AND Drohan. Drohan has been worth a lot more than you think. 

We already knew Houck was going to be out for most of the season and weren't planning on him. Kutter has been out for 2 full seasons now and it's time to just write him off. 

"If everyone was healthy, we wouldn't have a depth issue!" Is that a serious argument? 

Yes, but I mentioned those guys because they will be back in the picture next year.  Was Drohan going to start this year?

Its' not a serious argument, it's what happened.  Where did our depth go this year? we started the year with like.....ten starters. No one was complaining about depth then. 

[mvp 78]

Just now, Hugh2 said:

Yes, but I mentioned those guys because they will be back in the picture next year.  Was Drohan going to start this year?

Its' not a serious argument, it's what happened.  Where did our depth go this year? we started the year with like.....ten starters. No one was complaining about depth then. 

At this point, Drohan would be in the starting conversation TBH. He has started for MIL. 

If they are including Houck, Kutter and Oviedo, they'll have to go 13-14 deep next season. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

17 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

A catcher wasn't a priority. What Brez traded, not including Narvaez, for Rutschman could have landed the Sox a decent starter.

I'm guessing we'll be seeing a lot of TBD's starting for the Sox as the season finishes up.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

Sandoval Tolle and Bennett all have legit concern to hit a wall. I’ve complained all year about trading away every last bit of pitching depth..with pushback. we trade Early and never replace his IP with something comparable? Sandoval? An opener and Bello? Please🙄

We traded Early while he was on the IL and he has not come back, so we did not trade away pitching depth on that trade..

While Brez did trades away many pitchers, he added many, too.

We heard about priester, last summer, but he's not pitching now. Do you wish we had not traded him?

Harrison and Drohan are doing well, but Brez added Gray, Suarez & Bennett. Oviedo was added too but has been hurt. He also added Sandoval, last year, and he's been good in 5 of 7 starts this year.

Add all the pitchers he traded away and compare to those he added, and tell me which way the balance has swung. Earlier, this season, most of the criticism was that Brez put too many eggs in the pitching basket and neglected the bat basket. Fred & others ae still claiming that.

[southpaw777]

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

If Early isn't playing again this year and he needs to be replaced, then doesn't Breslow technically have the offseason to replace him too?  This pipeline of pitching that has paid huge dividends was literally built by him in just two years.  I trust he's going to bring in some arms this offseason and we may see someone pop as well. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

I'm not really sure I fully agree with this notion that we've traded away all our starting pitching depth.  We've certainly traded away a lot of prospect depth but no one that would be helping the MLB team.  What depth did we really trade away that would have pitched and contributed this year?

The exception to this is Caleb Durbin for Kyle Harrison but I think we can all agree the offense was easily the biggest offseason concern and that showed for a long time this season.  

Durbin, has been better than Harrison, we won that trade. 

It appears to me that a lot of our "depth" has been sidelined by injury and not shipped out of town. 

Crochet/Crawford/Houck/Oviedo all would have helped out tremendously this year. 

How much better does the pitching look (which doesn't look bad) with Crochet at the top? Imagine if crochet was healthy in last years form and then we go Gray/Tolle/Saurez/Sandoval.

My whole point was they needed a starter in the rotation NOW. Not this offseason, NOW.  the upcoming innings pitch limits are real. they needed a starter this year and they didn’t get one at the deadline . at the end of September you’ll all wish they got a starter instead of Adley. He wasn’t more important than the rotation 

[southpaw777]

2 hours ago, Duran Is The Man said:

no pitching help coming from the farm. Brez made sure to trade what little we had left for an injured catcher that can't hit.

Farm now ranked 24.  

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/in-season-farm-system-rankings-2026?p=0&partnerId=it-20260817-19428827-mlb-1-B&utm_id=it-20260817-19428827-mlb-1-B&lctg=52508046

That’s what I’m saying but it seems some people keep defending everything he does. It made zero sense to NOT get a starter and instead give away a bunch of top prospects to keep Adley from going to NYY. 

[southpaw777]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We traded Early while he was on the IL and he has not come back, so we did not trade away pitching depth on that trade..

While Brez did trades away many pitchers, he added many, too.

We heard about priester, last summer, but he's not pitching now. Do you wish we had not traded him?

Harrison and Drohan are doing well, but Brez added Gray, Suarez & Bennett. Oviedo was added too but has been hurt. He also added Sandoval, last year, and he's been good in 5 of 7 starts this year.

Add all the pitchers he traded away and compare to those he added, and tell me which way the balance has swung. Earlier, this season, most of the criticism was that Brez put too many eggs in the pitching basket and neglected the bat basket. Fred & others ae still claiming that.

What pitchers did he add that are going to help us with the playoffs this year? don’t say Bennett cause he’s about done. And Sandoval will probably have his issues before the years over.

he traded away everybody that was ready to be called up. There is now literally nobody that is ready to come up that anyone trusts in a playoff run. 
we needed a solid arm like we did when we got Jake Peavy in 2013. Veteran who’s been there and can get us through aug/sept dog days. We NEEDED that this year.

breslow FAILED to do that.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

That’s what I’m saying but it seems some people keep defending everything he does. It made zero sense to NOT get a starter and instead give away a bunch of top prospects to keep Adley from going to NYY. 

Who cares about that TBH? Get a guy because you want him. Don't pay extra to keep him away from the Bronx.

[Hugh2]

12 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

 

 

My whole point was they needed a starter in the rotation NOW. Not this offseason, NOW.  the upcoming innings pitch limits are real. they needed a starter this year and they didn’t get one at the deadline . at the end of September you’ll all wish they got a starter instead of Adley. He wasn’t more important than the rotation 

Well that I agree with, I doubt anyone remembers but I was arguing with half the board about how one of our biggest needs at the deadline WAS starting pitching.  
 

if your argument was Breslow traded away all this prospect depth and didn’t get any starting pitchers I completely agree

[Hugh2]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

"If everyone was healthy, we wouldn't have a depth issue!" Is that a serious argument? 

It’s about as serious an argument as “omg I can’t believe we are trading Harrison because we need starters” back in March.

[southpaw777]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Who cares about that TBH? Get a guy because you want him. Don't pay extra to keep him away from the Bronx.

That’s all I heard…haha, we got him when the NYY wanted him. We stopped Adley from going to NY.

We had the chance to get a starter and have less worries than we have now and we didn’t. Breslow chose a catcher. 

 

 

[southpaw777]

6 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Well that I agree with, I doubt anyone remembers but I was arguing with half the board about how one of our biggest needs at the deadline WAS starting pitching.  
 

if your argument was Breslow traded away all this prospect depth and didn’t get any starting pitchers I completely agree

We agree. 

[notin]

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Who cares about that TBH? Get a guy because you want him. Don't pay extra to keep him away from the Bronx.

I seriously doubt the Sox acquired Rutschman for any other reason.  Do people think his plan was to grab every RHH catcher and block the Yankees?