Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

You've been wrong a lot lately and this one is a doozy.

I choose not to live in the La-La Land of thinking something will happen, because it can if some stubborn old man chooses to change his ways.

Reality sucks sometimes. Accepting that fact is not saying you like it.

I think you just missed the joke, bud.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I think you just missed the joke, bud.

I got the joke, but the jab was meant as such.

[UtahSox]

10 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

If the Red Sox don't add more MLB bats this offseason, they should at least reshuffle the batting order to reflect the deep analysis of talksox -- and what we all value above all else in offensive stats!

Mead leadoff -- his .353 OB% was higher than any Boston fulltimer but Contreras. Plus, Curtis could provide instant longball, like Schwarber or Ohtani at the top (Mead wasn't predicted to hit homers last year, but he actually did).

Rafaela can stay at #2. Lousy OB% and a hacker with the worst challenge% in the bigs, but a Top Ten Batting Average... that's actual HITS divided by ABs. Ceddanne was leading baseball in doubles before he missed the last month; that'll move the runner.

Anthony #3. Hard contact, big contract -- he's a future staaah! what more do you want from your third batter? How bout: potential on-base machine ahead of your top sluggers.

Contreras Clean-up. The big bopper who was AL's second-best in the sacred OPS... and actually second in ON BASE %, which is why the #5 guy should be...

Abreu -- who actually did lead the league in doubles and was fifth in extra base-hits behind only Yordan, Junior, Rice and Polar Bear (good company). That's exactly the kind of SLUGGER you want batting directly after one of the best On Base men in the business.

OH PEE YESSS!!!

Good god I don’t think I can mentally process rolling out the same roster next year, just living in perpetual fear of September, when we all know Anthony will be hurt, WC40 will be playing through a broken bone for doing his crowd the plate thing, and Ceddane is worn down. Just no can’t do it. We need a big bat or 2. 

[Hitch]

20 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Wait, I thought the extension was unnecessary back then and still think it was unnecessary now for the same reasons? What gives me the right?!?!?

Nice strawman. Nobody is questioning your right to keep your opinion exactly as it is despite competing facts or evidence. That approach is very in vogue these days.

You're a modern man and let nobody tell you differently. 😎

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

9 hours ago, UtahSox said:

Good god I don’t think I can mentally process rolling out the same roster next year, just living in perpetual fear of September, when we all know Anthony will be hurt, WC40 will be playing through a broken bone for doing his crowd the plate thing, and Ceddane is worn down. Just no can’t do it. We need a big bat or 2. 

Wait -- is he -- yup, the president is about to lie again:

"A healthy Mead and Rutschman will be better than any two other bats we can add this offseason," Sam will promulgate.

And we sure are glad we have Gold Glove third baseman Caleb Durbin, instead of wasting all that money on Alex Bregman, who also won a Gold Glove... and hit 28 home runs.

[JoeBrady]

59 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

And we sure are glad we have Gold Glove third baseman Caleb Durbin, instead of wasting all that money on Alex Bregman, who also won a Gold Glove... and hit 28 home runs.

And Suarez.  It's like saying we traded Vazquez for Valdez, and ignoring Abreu.

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

And Suarez.  It's like saying we traded Vazquez for Valdez, and ignoring Abreu.

Exactly. The Bregman money went to Suarez not Durbin, and even then, it was less money.

[Nick]

"If anything, Anthony should take more hacks, especially at pitches right over the heart of the plate. For the second year in a row, his swing rate on "meatballs" -- middle-middle pitches -- was the lowest in MLB among hitters who saw at least 75 meatballs during the season. It was 51.6% in 2025 and 53.8% in '26. Relatedly: Anthony's 55.6% in-zone swing rate was the 11th lowest among 345 hitters who saw at least 400 in-zone pitches this past season."

You can't become great passing up on 'meatballs'. What that tells me is that his selectiveness at the plate is overrated.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Nick said:

"If anything, Anthony should take more hacks, especially at pitches right over the heart of the plate. For the second year in a row, his swing rate on "meatballs" -- middle-middle pitches -- was the lowest in MLB among hitters who saw at least 75 meatballs during the season. It was 51.6% in 2025 and 53.8% in '26. Relatedly: Anthony's 55.6% in-zone swing rate was the 11th lowest among 345 hitters who saw at least 400 in-zone pitches this past season."

You can't become great passing up on 'meatballs'. What that tells me is that his selectiveness at the plate is overrated.

I don't disagree, but hitting is not easy, and it's hard to know recognize every meatball pitch made. Many are breaking balls that look like they are not going to be meatballs.

I do think he needs to swing more. I'm just always hesitant to try to greatly change a player's approach. Especially one of the few players we have with a decent OBP.

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, Nick said:

"If anything, Anthony should take more hacks, especially at pitches right over the heart of the plate. For the second year in a row, his swing rate on "meatballs" -- middle-middle pitches -- was the lowest in MLB among hitters who saw at least 75 meatballs during the season. It was 51.6% in 2025 and 53.8% in '26. Relatedly: Anthony's 55.6% in-zone swing rate was the 11th lowest among 345 hitters who saw at least 400 in-zone pitches this past season."

You can't become great passing up on 'meatballs'. What that tells me is that his selectiveness at the plate is overrated.

That's always been his approach going back to MiLB. 

Other guys with similar approaches: James Wood, Adley Rutschman, Elly De La Cruz, Curtis Mead, Masa.