Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread

[JoeBrady]

22 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

But the real point for me is that anybody who helped us win a ring, especially the 2004 ring, I find it hard to say anything bad about.

His obsequieness in NY annoyed the crap out of me.  The sun in NY is sunnier and the grass in NY is greener?

But it was a legendary game.  The best line of the century is still "I knew the Yankees were in trouble when the ceremonial opening pitch had more velocity than Kevin Brown's first pitch.

[JoeBrady]

On 10/7/2026 at 3:19 PM, Old Red said:

Tony C who came up at 19 was the youngest to hit his 100th Homer at that time, and was only 22 when he got beaned.

Losing Tony C and Lonborg is almost legendary bad luck.  Tony led the league in HRs at the age of 20, and missed a few games.  Lonborg won the CY at the age of 25.  Having both of them for another 10 years might have meant a much earlier WSC.

[notin]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats8.shtml

It was a rhetorical question.  I knew Valentine had one and Rico did not…

[JoeBrady]

23 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Yup, even as a kid I traded my Clemens cards for Doc Gooden cards. He was fine enough, but I definitely like Oil Can more. Boggs wasn't my thing either. I like Rice and Dewey. Later on it was Burks, Gator and Mo.  

Back when I was collecting, I was flipping a coin between 200 Eric Davis 1985 rookies or 200 Clemens.  It might have been more.  I thought Davis might be a 400/400 players which would've been a lock for the HOF.  Clemens look real good but had been injured in 1985.  So I bought the Davis.  I'm in Vegas 3 days later watching Clemens put up 20 Ks.  I literally felt nauseous.

[JoeBrady]

22 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Don't get the reference, but Bateman is an excellent actor.

Dregs of Humanity might be the funniest episode in TV history.

[Old Red]

25 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

They didn't let him 'get away'.  They had no opening for him.  He couldn't play CF, and we had Manny in LF and Papi at DH.

He was good enough to play CF when the Red Sox won, and Jacoby was still a couple of years away. Red Sox offered $40M, and the Yankees went to $52M.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

It's not that they are throwing him away, it's that he physically incapable of being an MLBer anymore. 

But we don't know that.  If a doctor looks at his knee and says he'll never be able to run again, then he is gone.  But does anyone know that at this moment?

[JoeBrady]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

He was good enough to play CF when the Red Sox won, and Jacoby was still a couple of years away. Red Sox offered $40M, and the Yankees went to $52M.

He was an awful CF.  He couldn't reach 2B with his throws.  I saw a lot of Yankee games back then, and players ran on him at will.  I held no animus towards Damon, but I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching him in CF for the NYY.

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

He was an awful CF.  He couldn't reach 2B with his throws.  I saw a lot of Yankee games back then, and players ran on him at will.  I held no animus towards Damon, but I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching him in CF for the NYY.

Yes his arm was a wet noodle, but the Red Sox still offered him $40M for 4 years. I enjoyed Jacoby playing for the Yankees better.

[mvp 78]

20 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Back when I was collecting, I was flipping a coin between 200 Eric Davis 1985 rookies or 200 Clemens.  It might have been more.  I thought Davis might be a 400/400 players which would've been a lock for the HOF.  Clemens look real good but had been injured in 1985.  So I bought the Davis.  I'm in Vegas 3 days later watching Clemens put up 20 Ks.  I literally felt nauseous.

I was a fan of Eric Davis when I was younger. It was nice to see his Reds beat the A's in '90. 

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

But we don't know that.  If a doctor looks at his knee and says he'll never be able to run again, then he is gone.  But does anyone know that at this moment?

I said it when it happened and haven't been proved wrong yet. 

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Speaking of the HOF, there appears to be two Evans who s/b enshrined, but are not.

My choices:

• Grich (by far)
• Ken Boyer
• Freehan
• Reggie Smith (yes, look it up)
• Dewey Evans
• Nettles
• Dale Murphy
• El Tiante

[JoeBrady]

4 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Yes his arm was a wet noodle, but the Red Sox still offered him $40M for 4 years. I enjoyed Jacoby playing for the Yankees better.

I told Yankee fans at the time, that they'd like Ellsbury, but he wouldn't last because of injuries, and his arm might've been worse than Damon's.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

My choices:

• Grich (by far)
• Ken Boyer
• Freehan
• Reggie Smith (yes, look it up)
• Dewey Evans
• Nettles
• Dale Murphy
• El Tiante

Of those, I'd only leave off Murphy. A bunch of guys ahead of him in line: Lofton (yes), Edmonds (yes), Bernie Williams (yes), Lynn (I wouldn't put in). 

[notin]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Off field stuff impacted Vizquel being left off ballots. I don't know. Bonds and Clemens should be in no matter what anyway. Doesn't mean I have to be a fan of Clemens though. 

Vizquel is a borderline case to begin with.  Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro, Sosa.  Put ‘em all in where they belong.  

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a historical museum. The purpose of a historical museum is to preserve history, not to selectively censor it.  Nothing to do with fandom…

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Vizquel is a borderline case to begin with.  Bonds, Clemens, Palmeiro, Sosa.  Put ‘em all in where they belong.  

The Baseball Hall of Fame is a historical museum. The purpose of a historical museum is to preserve history, not to selectively censor it.  Nothing to do with fandom…

Unlike Rose, those guys were never banned for life. I think they'll all get in eventually, but it's a shame they make these guys wait. If Pettitte gets in, all those other guys should just take his keys. 

[iortiz]

Breslow said the Red Sox needed more power.

They finished 26th in home runs, dead last in September scoring, and managed TWO runs in the playoffs.

His reward? 

A contract through 2030.

Apparently you don't have to fix the offense in Boston. 

Just keep explaining why it's broken.

[notin]

20 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Unlike Rose, those guys were never banned for life. I think they'll all get in eventually, but it's a shame they make these guys wait. If Pettitte gets in, all those other guys should just take his keys. 

Being banned from baseball shouldn’t necessarily mean being banned from Cooperstown.  Completely separate entities.

Pettitte shouldn’t get in.  He’s far down on the list of deserving pitchers…

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, iortiz said:

Breslow said the Red Sox needed more power.

They finished 26th in home runs, dead last in September scoring, and managed TWO runs in the playoffs.

His reward? 

A contract through 2030.

Apparently you don't have to fix the offense in Boston. 

Just keep explaining why it's broken.

The extension was given prior to the trade deadline apparently. It just wasn't made public. 

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

Being banned from baseball shouldn’t necessarily mean being banned from Cooperstown.  Completely separate entities.

Pettitte shouldn’t get in.  He’s far down on the list of deserving pitchers…

If they put Rose in, they should put Shoeless Joe in too. It doesn't really bother me anyway. When I was there as a kid, there was enough about Abner Doubleday, that I now know the Hall really is just about the story of baseball. 

[Nick]

Wow, looks like we'll talking about 1919 Red Sox and everything else under the sun.

Can someone direct me to the topic of off season moves?

See you next April.

[notin]

2 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

He was an awful CF.  He couldn't reach 2B with his throws.  I saw a lot of Yankee games back then, and players ran on him at will.  I held no animus towards Damon, but I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching him in CF for the NYY.

Even needing to use Manny as his cutoff man…

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

If they put Rose in, they should put Shoeless Joe in too. It doesn't really bother me anyway. When I was there as a kid, there was enough about Abner Doubleday, that I now know the Hall really is just about the story of baseball. 

I would put both in.  But I would not let either of them work for an MLB team in any capacity.  They needed to learn their lesson…

[moonslav59]

6 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

It's not that they are throwing him away, it's that he physically incapable of being an MLBer anymore. 

That's impossible to know, so they'd be throwing away the chance of a bounce back.

I don't have high hopes he'll return, and if he does, it might not be near .800, but I'd rather roll the dice on a long shot return by an .800 batter than roll the dice on a near replacement level player with a 95-99% good health outlook. (Note: we have enough of them to create a roster space for Casas.)

Now, I am not for starting the season with 7-8 guys on the 60 Day IL. While they technically don't take away a roster slot from someone like Eaton, Burgos or Kelly, there should be a limit on how many people you pay to never play.

I'm against nontendering Tristan but would not be upset if we choose to do so.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That's impossible to know, so they'd be throwing away the chance of a bounce back.

I don't have high hopes he'll return, and if he does, it might not be near .800, but I'd rather roll the dice on a long shot return by an .800 batter than roll the dice on a near replacement level player with a 95-99% good health outlook. (Note: we have enough of them to create a roster space for Casas.)

Now, I am not for starting the season with 7-8 guys on the 60 Day IL. While they technically don't take away a roster slot from someone like Eaton, Burgos or Kelly, there should be a limit on how many people you pay to never play.

I'm against nontendering Tristan but would not be upset if we choose to do so.

The problem is that it takes away from an offseason acquisition as you can't put them on the IL until ST. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, notin said:

I would put both in.  But I would not let either of them work for an MLB team in any capacity.  They needed to learn their lesson…

But Rose and Shoeless Joe could both work for MLB's sponsors. Integrity left capacity long ago and moved to audacity. Thank dog I'm a country boy.

Meanwhile, in the current offseason, Red Sox employees who respect the thirst of a fanbase for young homegrown ballplayers who actually perform to the level of hype should do everything they can to prevent Breslow from trading Franklin Arias.

Arias is now the #2 prospect in baseball, mainly based off this past season when he was Boston's Minor League Offensive Player of the Year. That's great, but we've seen mixed production from other recent winners, like the Password passed over, KC and the sunshine banned, and the flickering Roman candle.

Here's the reason the Sox need Arias longterm -- he's a solid if not spectacular shortstop. With quick hands, footwork and a strong arm, he'll be the middle infield leader to build around. 

Yankee fans know they can't say that about their top prospect George Lombard, whose stats were dwarfed by Arias at the same levels this year. Lombard and Volpe can hit, but NY can't trust either in the infield right now (just like the Blue Jays knew they couldn't win a title with Bichette at SS).

Even if Arias doesn't hit right away, plug him in at short and leave him alone. Above-average D at MLB minimum wage gives the Red Sox an asset at a key position they won't have to worry for a long time.

[jad]

3 hours ago, Nick said:

Wow, looks like we'll talking about 1919 Red Sox and everything else under the sun.

Can someone direct me to the topic of off season moves?

See you next April.

You want to post about that?  Who's stopping you?

[JoeBrady]

12 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Even if Arias doesn't hit right away, plug him in at short and leave him alone. Above-average D at MLB minimum wage gives the Red Sox an asset at a key position they won't have to worry for a long time.

I've always liked that approach.  A high level of defense, at SS, is almost always worth it.  You hope for some hitting, but fine defense at minimum wage is a good deal.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm against nontendering Tristan but would not be upset if we choose to do so.

I doubt that we will have a #40 more valuable than Casas.

[NHNative]

50 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

I've always liked that approach.  A high level of defense, at SS, is almost always worth it.  You hope for some hitting, but fine defense at minimum wage is a good deal.

Hmmmmm? Sounds like good strategy to me.