Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

SOme of these fans tell me that we dont need Alonso or Bregman because "play the kids"

Who and where? 

[drewski6]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Josh Reddick 2012: 35 HR, 85 RBI, 85 R, gold glove

He was decent with BOS, but I don't think he was really overly hyped. I think you're just trying to list off a bunch of prospects from yesteryear for some reason. The hyped OF prospect at the time was Kalish. 

The hype train on Reddick really took off.  But fine , sub in Kalish.

But red sox fans screaming to make room for the kids is nothing new is my point.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Who and where? 

Joe Brady said that it was of paramount importance to make sure we keep a spot open for Casas just last offseason.  ANd he was saying we need to play the kids sometimes and thats KC, Mayer, and Roman in key roles the year before that.

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Nobody in their right mind would have a HS prospect in MLB that quickly unless they were a top 5 pick. Moss, Lowrie and Murphy all had decent careers. Manny was traded in 2008. The return for the Manny trade was off the roster after 2009. 

Ortiz had 54 bombs in 06. Somehow, the story doesn't quite work to me. A depth chart is just a depth chart. It doesn't really mean Jason Place is going to be in BOS. It just means he's the 10th OFer or whatever. Who cares? I don't see anyone wanting to give up on Ortiz at the height of his powers. People didn't start turning on him for a few more years. 

On BDC tehre was a guy named BurritoT who wanted to get rid of Ortiz at the height of his careers to make room for more prospects.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

The hype train on Reddick really took off.  But fine , sub in Kalish.

But red sox fans screaming to make room for the kids is nothing new is my point.

Who is screaming to make room for kids right NOW?!?!?!? There are no kids to make room for! Arias? He's a good prospect, but he doesn't have to be up Opening Day. I think you're making up a problem to be made about this offseason. 

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

On BDC tehre was a guy named BurritoT who wanted to get rid of Ortiz at the height of his careers to make room for more prospects.

Never posted here. Wrong website. 

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

No Im telling you that I was annoyed when fans told me we didnt need ALonso or Bregman and we needed Ranger more, when it was on the heels of noodlebatting out of the playoffs in 2025.....And those fans told me the offense would be fine in 2026 (it wasnt) and that it wouldnt hold us back in playoffs because they are one big crapshoot (lack of thump did).

SOme of these fans tell me that we dont need Alonso or Bregman because "play the kids"

Who said we needed Ranger more?

I'm not sure anyone even mentioned his name, and not as an alternative to Bregman.

Once Bregman signed with the Cubs and we signed Suarez and traded for Durbin, several posters made points like "there are other ways to win- like with better pitching and defense over defense." 

A lot of posters said they did not want to sign Bregman at that money, we fine with the moves made, but felt we still needed a bigger bat beyond Contreras.

Also, what kid were people saying should play over Alonso or Breggie? We didn't have any kids at 3B/1B/DH.

 

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Joe Brady said that it was of paramount importance to make sure we keep a spot open for Casas just last offseason.  ANd he was saying we need to play the kids sometimes and thats KC, Mayer, and Roman in key roles the year before that.

Keeping a 40 man spot vs keeping a 26 man spot are two different things. You can stash Casas for 3 more years since he has options. He can be the king of WOO if Breslow wants him to be. 

[drewski6]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Who is screaming to make room for kids right NOW?!?!?!? There are no kids to make room for! Arias? He's a good prospect, but he doesn't have to be up Opening Day. I think you're making up a problem to be made about this offseason. 

Arias is getting a lot of hopes pinned on him, though.  And Im not exclusively talking about right now.  Its been a lot of wait for the prospects to arrive , and rebuild the farm, and homegrown talk the last 7 years which have been more frustrating than not.

[drewski6]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Who said we needed Ranger more?

I'm not sure anyone even mentioned his name, and not as an alternative to Bregman.

Once Bregman signed with the Cubs and we signed Suarez and traded for Durbin, several posters made points like "there are other ways to win- like with better pitching and defense over defense." 

A lot of posters said they did not want to sign Bregman at that money, we fine with the moves made, but felt we still needed a bigger bat beyond Contreras.

Also, what kid were people saying should play over Alonso or Breggie? We didn't have any kids at 3B/1B/DH.

 

Plenty of people were saying no, no, no, no, no to Alonso and Bregman and pointing to guys like KC and Casas as the role fillers.

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Roman ranks among bottom of MLB in meatball swing %.  YOu think thats good?

I think an .800 batter after 545 PAs is good, yes.

You don't?

If he starts slipping, then fine try to make adjustments. Until then, YES, I'm fine.

I was also fine not messing with Rafaela as long as he kept getting better every year, which he has.

People complained about Devers chasing outside and low balls, and wanted to change his approach. I laughed.

In baseball, don't tinker with success.

I wish Duran learned that lesson after 2024.

[drewski6]

The last 7 years, the sox have mostly avoided getting elite free agnet position players, and mostly avoided trading for elite position players.....Instead we've been more focused on subtracting position players and trying to fill em in with young, homegrowns like KC, Mayer, RA....

And the results have not been pretty.  And no, neither Story nor Yoshida were considered elite when we got them.  Maybe Story, but thats not enough to convince me that we should be cheap forever more with position players.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

Plenty of people were saying no, no, no, no, no to Alonso and Bregman and pointing to guys like KC and Casas as the role fillers.

Name one. That's just not true.

"Role fillers" is one thing. Nobody wanted Casas slotted as the FT 1Bman to start 2026, not KC at 3B, and I'm one of the few Casas supporters left on this site. I'm also one of the farthest "give up on KC" posters here.

Yes, a few posters did not think we needed to add a proven bat like Schwarber and Alonso. Anyone who thought Bregman was a proven big bat did not know his previous 4-5 year history.

Some liked Contreras and felt the improvements made elsewhere made us better than 2025, but how I remember it, only 2-3 maybe 4 posters felt the offense was good enough on opening day.

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think an .800 batter after 545 PAs is good, yes.

You don't?

If he starts slipping, then fine try to make adjustments. Until then, YES, I'm fine.

I was also fine not messing with Rafaela as long as he kept getting better every year, which he has.

People complained about Devers chasing outside and low balls, and wanted to change his approach. I laughed.

In baseball, don't tinker with success.

I wish Duran learned that lesson after 2024.

So we are happy with Roman being an .800 player the rest of his career?  If so, fine, but thats disappointing.

Also, stats stats stats stats stats.  I see from watching the games, that Roman needs to be more aggressive.  If hes so good, why not swing more?  Im not sure you fully understand how connected it all is.  You meet the ball out in front.  You attack mistakes.  Your EV, LA, HR, SLG all go up.  If you stop taking meatballs , your OBP goes up too.

I dont know why Roman lets so many meatballs go early in the count, but I suspect, if he didnt , his OPS would be .900.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

The last 7 years, the sox have mostly avoided getting elite free agnet position players, and mostly avoided trading for elite position players.....Instead we've been more focused on subtracting position players and trying to fill em in with young, homegrowns like KC, Mayer, RA....

And the results have not been pretty.  And no, neither Story nor Yoshida were considered elite when we got them.  Maybe Story, but thats not enough to convince me that we should be cheap forever more with position players.

Agreed.

Until the Crochet trade, we avoided any and all elite players. Between Price (2016) and Crochet (2025) we traded for Sale ('17) and signed JD ('18.)

That's it.

Basically, 2018 to 2025- nada.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

So we are happy with Roman being an .800 player the rest of his career?  If so, fine, but thats disappointing.
 

I never said that. I specifically said, I'm fine with .800 after his first 545 PAs. I expect better, but even if he stays only at .800, I'd pay someone $15M x 8 for that.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I never said that. I specifically said, I'm fine with .800 after his first 545 PAs. I expect better, but even if he stays only at .800, I'd pay someone $15M x 8 for that.

What is 800 broken down to? 

[Old Red]

13 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

So we are happy with Roman being an .800 player the rest of his career?  If so, fine, but thats disappointing.

Also, stats stats stats stats stats.  I see from watching the games, that Roman needs to be more aggressive.  If hes so good, why not swing more?  Im not sure you fully understand how connected it all is.  You meet the ball out in front.  You attack mistakes.  Your EV, LA, HR, SLG all go up.  If you stop taking meatballs , your OBP goes up too.

I dont know why Roman lets so many meatballs go early in the count, but I suspect, if he didnt , his OPS would be .900.

Roman definitely likes watching strikes go by. Lots of them are strike threes, but some say it’s alright, because he can draw some walks too.

[Old Red]

24 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Arias is getting a lot of hopes pinned on him, though.  And Im not exclusively talking about right now.  Its been a lot of wait for the prospects to arrive , and rebuild the farm, and homegrown talk the last 7 years which have been more frustrating than not.

I’ve warned everyone on here that the farm crop might not turnout as good as everyone was hoping for, and counting on, and everything might not ever get to being AWESOME, or a good turnout. Seems the term Suspects were used more than once.

[Old Red]

39 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Who said we needed Ranger more?

I'm not sure anyone even mentioned his name, and not as an alternative to Bregman.

Once Bregman signed with the Cubs and we signed Suarez and traded for Durbin, several posters made points like "there are other ways to win- like with better pitching and defense over defense." 

A lot of posters said they did not want to sign Bregman at that money, we fine with the moves made, but felt we still needed a bigger bat beyond Contreras.

Also, what kid were people saying should play over Alonso or Breggie? We didn't have any kids at 3B/1B/DH.

 

More likely than not if someone goes back through everything you’ll find some we needed Ranger more especially after #12 bresLOW botched the Bregman negotiations, and then pivoted over to Ranger, and DUBin. Alonso definitely did, but even Bregman hit more HR, and had more RBI than anyone on the Red Sox. 

[drewski6]

33 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Name one. That's just not true.

"Role fillers" is one thing. Nobody wanted Casas slotted as the FT 1Bman to start 2026, not KC at 3B, and I'm one of the few Casas supporters left on this site. I'm also one of the farthest "give up on KC" posters here.

Yes, a few posters did not think we needed to add a proven bat like Schwarber and Alonso. Anyone who thought Bregman was a proven big bat did not know his previous 4-5 year history.

Some liked Contreras and felt the improvements made elsewhere made us better than 2025, but how I remember it, only 2-3 maybe 4 posters felt the offense was good enough on opening day.

Joe Brady, Kimmi.....

[moonslav59]

36 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Arias is getting a lot of hopes pinned on him, though.  And Im not exclusively talking about right now.  Its been a lot of wait for the prospects to arrive , and rebuild the farm, and homegrown talk the last 7 years which have been more frustrating than not.

There has been a lot of frustration, especially with some recent ones like Mayer and KC, and to a lesser extent with Roman, but none of these guys are over 550 PAs yet.

Can we count it as frustrating that we got Crochet, Contreras, Gray, Durbin, AR & Mead for several top prospects? (Early B4 his trade, too, and others in previous seasons.)

I'm not frustrated with Tolle & Bennett. I wasn't last year with Narvaez, and guys like Rafaela, Abreu, Duran and even Casas for a bit, before that.

I like Arias a lot, but I'm not planning on even .725 in 2027. I've suggested trading him a lot.

Others seem more sure of his success than I am, but I haven't heard one poster say they are expecting even .750 from him year one. Some like him more than Story, but that's more a slight on Story than a big confidence boost for Arias, IMO.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

Joe Brady, Kimmi.....

They wanted Casas as our FT 1Bman and KC at 3B?

[drewski6]

26 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I never said that. I specifically said, I'm fine with .800 after his first 545 PAs. I expect better, but even if he stays only at .800, I'd pay someone $15M x 8 for that.

Roman should not be an .800 OPS hitter. Im not saying hes bad if he stays at that level.  But you said that you wouldnt tweak it until it starts slipping.  I think even at his age , his .800 OPS is leaving a lot on the table.  Because he lets too many meatballs go by.  He doesnt swing early in teh count enough. He doesnt hunt his pitches enough. Hes not aggressive enough.

If he stops taking fastballs early in the count, stops letting meatballs go by, his slg, LA, exit velocity, OPS, OBP, SLG should all improve.  I dont think he is an .800 OPS talent.  I think hes a .900 OPS talent and he'll unlock that being more aggressive.

[drewski6]

21 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Roman definitely likes watching strikes go by. Lots of them are strike threes, but some say it’s alright, because he can draw some walks too.

I dont think he should let strike one go by.

[drewski6]

If you dont swing at a meatball, and wind up drawing a walk or hitting a single, you are disappointed on first base.

[Old Red]

Just now, drewski6 said:

I dont think he should let strike one go by.

I agree.

[Old Red]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

There has been a lot of frustration, especially with some recent ones like Mayer and KC, and to a lesser extent with Roman, but none of these guys are over 550 PAs yet.

Can we count it as frustrating that we got Crochet, Contreras, Gray, Durbin, AR & Mead for several top prospects? (Early B4 his trade, too, and others in previous seasons.)

I'm not frustrated with Tolle & Bennett. I wasn't last year with Narvaez, and guys like Rafaela, Abreu, Duran and even Casas for a bit, before that.

I like Arias a lot, but I'm not planning on even .725 in 2027. I've suggested trading him a lot.

Others seem more sure of his success than I am, but I haven't heard one poster say they are expecting even .750 from him year one. Some like him more than Story, but that's more a slight on Story than a big confidence boost for Arias, IMO.

Stop making excuses on many AB little A has had. Are you saying he’s not ready yet, and deserved the hype, and expectations? Of course he can’t stay healthy either.

[mvp 78]

56 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Arias is getting a lot of hopes pinned on him, though.  And Im not exclusively talking about right now.  Its been a lot of wait for the prospects to arrive , and rebuild the farm, and homegrown talk the last 7 years which have been more frustrating than not.

Anyone pinning "lots of hopes" onto Arias is misguided. He's a good prospect, but is a bottom of the order bat right now. He's got a better glove than Story, but his bat could be a downgrade. 

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Roman should not be an .800 OPS hitter. Im not saying hes bad if he stays at that level.  But you said that you wouldnt tweak it until it starts slipping.  I think even at his age , his .800 OPS is leaving a lot on the table.  Because he lets too many meatballs go by.  He doesnt swing early in teh count enough. He doesnt hunt his pitches enough. Hes not aggressive enough.

If he stops taking fastballs early in the count, stops letting meatballs go by, his slg, LA, exit velocity, OPS, OBP, SLG should all improve.  I dont think he is an .800 OPS talent.  I think hes a .900 OPS talent and he'll unlock that being more aggressive.

I'm not for wily nilly trying to fundamentally change the approach of a good batter. I'm just not.

K's have never bothered me, if the guys gets on base and /or smacks HRs. Anthony does enough of both to not concern me about too many Ks. I don't think tweaking a player's general approach is a simple matter. It involves great risk of destroying the good the player was doing.

I literally laughed when people would say, "They need to teach Papi to not swing at low and outside pitching." To me, that is an idiotic statement. (Sorry, if tat was you, because you are not an idiot.)

I have no issues with Rafaela, and he just topped out at .761. Fred still can't stop suggesting we replace him or that he needs to change his approach. He's fine as is.

I'm not saying to never try to offer advice or get someone to try a little tweak here and there. but this sounds like a major approach change request, and I'm 200% against even trying it. Maybe he cliff-dives like KC and I eat crow. I like Anthony's approach. I like his swing. I like his eye. I think he ends up over .800 and probably over .850 for his prime years.

I'm actually more bothered by batters swinging for Hrs every time than guys like Roman.