Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread

[moonslav59]

52 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

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

I agree, and maybe even 35 or 36. Keep him, and if we sign a bunch of players, we can trade him later. His arb cost will not be crippling.

40 Man Outlook

28 Keepers:

Rafaela, Abreu, Anthony, Mead, Contreras, Durbin, Rutschman, Sogard

Gasper, Romy, Seigler, Monasterio, Campbell

Tolle, Crochet, Suarez, Bennett, Bello, Oviedo, Houck, Crawford, Paez

Chapman, Whitlock, Miller, Guerrero, Weissert, Slaten

_____________________________

4 Trade: Duran, Wong, Yoshida, Story

4 with 0 Options: Moran, White, Jones, Cheng

______________36 Total___________________________

If we don't trade anyone from above... My guess is we don't keep White OR Jones and trade someone (1-2) from Cheng, Monasterio, Seigler, Romy and maybe one from Weissert, Slaten or Samaniego.

It will be hard to trade Yoshida or Story. I'm not sure about Duran. If we DFA or trade Wong, I doubt we slot Gasper as #2C, so we'd have to add a catcher (Jo Garcia?)

37 Samaniego

38 Eaton (0 options)

39 Casas

40 Gamboa

41 Rivera

42 Olds

43 Kelly

44 Burgos

Rule 5: Wehunt, Brannon, Jo Garcia

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

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

Plenty of room.

To me, guys like Duran, Yoshida and Story and Wong are taking away from off season adds more than Casas, but of course they are more complex in dumping. Plus, Wong would need a catcher to replace him, unless we roll the dice with Gasper. (Jo Garcia is Rule 5.)

We don't need White & Jones (both with no options), even if we trade Duran.

Eaton & Cheng are now out of options. Bye-bye.

See above, where Casas could easily be #35.

[moonslav59]

1 hour 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.

I agree. I'd like to see us give Arias the SS job. I could see us keeping Story around as the 2Bman and back-up SS, but I'm not sure how accepting he'd be of that idea, and Story at 2B forces Mead to DH, Anthony to LF and Yoshida to ____?

I don't think keeping the out of options Cheng around as the back up makes sense. Monasterio is okay for the short term, but not more than a week or 10 days. Sogard is good, but his SS defense is not.

Another option would be to trade Arias for a proven big bat SS. We might have to add Justin Gonzalez or Valera or maybe Primera, but it could fix the missing bat problem.

[notin]

3 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

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.

1.  I think sponsors might object to Rose and Jackson.  Does Fanduel really want to be represented by a gambler?   Not like Emmanuel Clase is taking their calls.

2. The Jays hopefully didn’t think Bichette was why they list, as opposed to that infinitesimal lead IKF took off third before getting thrown out by 2 inches (maybe), making Toronto the team in MLB that came the closest to winning a World Series but failing.  And then they gave up Bichette and plummeted into last place a mere 162 games later…

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I agree. I'd like to see us give Arias the SS job. I could see us keeping Story around as the 2Bman and back-up SS, but I'm not sure how accepting he'd be of that idea, and Story at 2B forces Mead to DH, Anthony to LF and Yoshida to ____?

I don't think keeping the out of options Cheng around as the back up makes sense. Monasterio is okay for the short term, but not more than a week or 10 days. Sogard is good, but his SS defense is not.

Another option would be to trade Arias for a proven big bat SS. We might have to add Justin Gonzalez or Valera or maybe Primera, but it could fix the missing bat problem.

Arias likely isn’t starting the season in Boston without an injury.

Most likely we get Mead (2b), Story (SS), Durbin (3b) and a Mystery Guest (Sato?) at DH. 
 
Mead did display quite a bit of power last year, hitting 17 HRs in 285 ABs.   However he started the year as a weak side platoon before taking over full time.  So, as he does murder LHP, his .852 OPS might have benefited from facing a disproportionate number of southpaws…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

32 minutes ago, notin said:

Arias likely isn’t starting the season in Boston without an injury.

Most likely we get Mead (2b), Story (SS), Durbin (3b) and a Mystery Guest (Sato?) at DH. 
 
Mead did display quite a bit of power last year, hitting 17 HRs in 285 ABs.   However he started the year as a weak side platoon before taking over full time.  So, as he does murder LHP, his .852 OPS might have benefited from facing a disproportionate number of southpaws…

Sounds like how Mickey crushes righties... hmmm, a new DH platoon partner? (sorry, Jahmai, but Mead's K-rate is league average, not so bad he'd be cuttable in Detroit).

Now we just have to convince Story to play 2B. Something tells me he may not be quite as amenable to moving for a rookie as when he first joined Boston and deferred to a veteran legend "for one year."

[mvp 78]

Speier reporting that Gray intends to pitch next season.

[JimEd]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Speier reporting that Gray intends to pitch next season.

i'd love to have Gray back. and i'd love for the Sox to sign Skubal, but i don't expect either to happen. the bottom line and "winning contracts" are FAR more important to Henry than winning championships.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Horsehide Trivia reports today that in the 2021 HR Derby at Coors Field, Trevor Story hit one 518 feet to break Judge's record of 513... a mark that stood for 20 minutes before Juan Soto hit one 520.

But seriously, did Story ever look like the Incredible Hulk? I don't think people realize the elite hand-eye coordination required to barrel a BP pitch right on the sweet spot to make it carry that far...

... then again, Coors: America's Fine Light Beer.

Or... can Trevor ever regain such longball skills? Arenado did.

 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Horsehide Trivia reports today that in the 2021 HR Derby at Coors Field, Trevor Story hit one 518 feet to break Judge's record of 513... a mark that stood for 20 minutes before Juan Soto hit one 520.

But seriously, did Story ever look like the Incredible Hulk? I don't think people realize the elite hand-eye coordination required to barrel a BP pitch right on the sweet spot to make it carry that far...

... then again, Coors: America's Fine Light Beer.

Or... can Trevor ever regain such longball skills? Arenado did.

 

Hey! The guy led the team in HRs in 2025!

Also, RBIs (by 12 over #2 Duran and 27 over #3 Abreu) and SBs (with just one late season CS.)

That being said, I'm 100% ready to move on from Story. We should go with Arias at SS and Mead at 2B.

I'm also 100% done with Duran. Trade him.

I'm 90% done with Yoshida.

Bye-bye to IKF and Sandoval.

Gray needs to be brought back or replaced near in kind, but I can see Brez thinking Crochet, Houck, Crawford and Oviedo will be viewed as "enough."

Any financial resources set aside for winter spending should go towards a bat- preferably a LH'd power bat. Don't spread the wealth: go top quality on one guy, unless the budget is big enough to go top quality for one and one moderate add.

[notin]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Hey! The guy led the team in HRs in 2025!

Also, RBIs (by 12 over #2 Duran and 27 over #3 Abreu) and SBs (with just one late season CS.)

That being said, I'm 100% ready to move on from Story. We should go with Arias at SS and Mead at 2B.

I'm also 100% done with Duran. Trade him.

I'm 90% done with Yoshida.

Bye-bye to IKF and Sandoval.

Gray needs to be brought back or replaced near in kind, but I can see Brez thinking Crochet, Houck, Crawford and Oviedo will be viewed as "enough."

Any financial resources set aside for winter spending should go towards a bat- preferably a LH'd power bat. Don't spread the wealth: go top quality on one guy, unless the budget is big enough to go top quality for one and one moderate add.

Story snd Yoshida will both be in Boston next year. Arias will start the year in Worcester.

Also who is this “one guy” the Sox need to withhold the reserves to afford? Teruaki Sato? 33yo Brandon Lowe? The surprisingly good but no team ever wants him Josh Bell?  The utterly useless Gleyber Torres?

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Story snd Yoshida will both be in Boston next year. Arias will start the year in Worcester…

I wouldn't be surprised if all this happens and Duran is back, too.

Since Arias does not need to be added to the 40, we may hold off on that, and hence his promotion until after the season starts.

Players can be placed on the 60 Day IL once ST'ing arrives, so he may be added then, but only if they plan on promoting him to MLB.

Although it might be easier to trade Story or Yoshida, since they only have one year left, it's still will be very difficult, even if we throw in 80-90% of their remaining contractual cost or add a prospect to the deal. I get that.

A lot depends on how many players we have on the 60 Day IL. IMO, we cannot afford to have 8-10 guys on the IL plus Story, Yoshida and Duran, who only seem to have slots due to their contractual costs.

To me, I'd prefer Arias-Mead-Sogard to Story. I'm fine with Seigler, Monasterio & Cheng as depth.

To me, Gasper or a healthy Casas vs RHPs offers close to the same projection as Yoshida. Note: while Romy, Jones and Sogard are way better vs LHPs, they don't really offer better than Yoshida v RHPs. Mead could DH v L with Story at 2B, and we wouldn't miss Yoshida, but I'd like to see both Story and Yoshida (plus Duran) gone.

I fully realize the chances just one is gone may not even be 40-50%. Two is maybe 10-20%, at best. All 3 is probably under 2%.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I'm not thinking Arias will bump Story from the starting line-up or even over to 2B in '27. There will have to be player movement: to the IL or another team.

But try ranking these potential leftfielders by most ABs in the majors next season: Duran, Anthony, Kristian Campbell (notice I didn't say for the Red Sox).

And I didn't forget The Password! It has to be either a combination of my dogs' names or my son's birthday.