Red Sox Pre-Offseason Mega Thread

[notin]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

thats what happened to Achilles of greek lore. 

He got hit by an inside pitch, too?

[Hugh2]

35 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Durbin is a starter if you’ve got other good bats around him. Bregman definitely would have helped the Red Sox more in 2026.

I think that's an unfair way to think about it in terms of holding Durbin to the standard of being Alex Bregman. 

He's certainly a better value costing you less than 1 million, and I thought it made sense at the time if the Sox turned around and spent that money saved which they did on Ranger Suarez +. 

I think a more realistic way to look at it is they should have used the money to sign another big bat rather than another pitcher. 

[Old Red]

9 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I think that's an unfair way to think about it in terms of holding Durbin to the standard of being Alex Bregman. 

He's certainly a better value costing you less than 1 million, and I thought it made sense at the time if the Sox turned around and spent that money saved which they did on Ranger Suarez +. 

I think a more realistic way to look at it is they should have used the money to sign another big bat rather than another pitcher. 

I’m just saying Bregman would have helped the Red Sox more with his bat than DUBin did. I agree on using the Money on getting a big bat instead of pitching.

[mvp 78]

38 minutes ago, notin said:

He got hit by an inside pitch, too?

Low and inside

[mvp 78]

57 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Durbin is definitely a starter.  Seigler and Money only got the ABs they did because of injuries, but they are fine as bench pieces.

On the rest of it, I agree.  I most definitely think OBP works, but we just didn't do a good job of it.

There's only three starters that can hit 7, 8 and 9. 

Right now: 3b, 2b, SS, C (if Wong), CF and LF all have strong cases to hit in the back third of the lineup. 

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

There's only three starters that can hit 7, 8 and 9. 

Right now: 3b, 2b, SS, C (if Wong), CF and LF all have strong cases to hit in the back third of the lineup. 

That’s why I said he’s fine if you’ve got good bats around him. If not bats like Raffy, and Bregman are more needed.

[Hugh2]

Durbin, after a slow start was an .800 OPS guy most of the season with elite defense at third, sure he's not Alex Bregman but he's much younger and probably is better than for the next 4 years for a fraction of the cost. 

Obviously Durbin is not the guy who puts this team over the top, but he's fine.  There's plenty of other places this team can improve moving forward. SS/2B/OF/C/DH

[Hugh2]

What I want to see is Durbin truly the guy he was the first two months? the guy he was the last 4? or is he something inbetween? maybe he's a going to be a streaky guy who has massive slumps and then long streaks where he carries a team. 

As long as his defense is solid you can live with the later if he's 7-8-9 in your lineup, but if he's closer to the player he was from mid June on he can a lot more valuable than that.  I'm not banking on it yet, but maybe he's a young guy still figuring it out. 

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Durbin, after a slow start was an .800 OPS guy most of the season with elite defense at third, sure he's not Alex Bregman but he's much younger and probably is better than for the next 4 years for a fraction of the cost. 

Obviously Durbin is not the guy who puts this team over the top, but he's fine.  There's plenty of other places this team can improve moving forward. SS/2B/OF/C/DH

479 OPS 3/26 - 5/24 

891 OPS 5/28 - 7/31

703 OPS 8/1 - EOY

Two unplayably bad months. Two great months. Two below average months. 

[Old Red]

16 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Durbin, after a slow start was an .800 OPS guy most of the season with elite defense at third, sure he's not Alex Bregman but he's much younger and probably is better than for the next 4 years for a fraction of the cost. 

Obviously Durbin is not the guy who puts this team over the top, but he's fine.  There's plenty of other places this team can improve moving forward. SS/2B/OF/C/DH

That’s all good, but I was just commenting on what just happened in 2026, and more pop was needed. 3B was one of those positions. The Red Sox have gone from Raffy, to Bregman, and now DuBin. Yes his bat picked up for a time as the season went on, but his bat was One of the reasons the team was 14 games under at 1 point.

[Old Red]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

479 OPS 3/26 - 5/24 

891 OPS 5/28 - 7/31

703 OPS 8/1 - EOY

Two unplayably bad months. Two great months. Two below average months. 

Add it all up, and meh.

[mvp 78]

8 of Durbin's 13 HR were hit over a 25 G stretch

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

Add it all up, and meh.

He's ok. He's a starter somewhere. He's not a "foundational guy" which was the original point I made. You can move on from him and improve at that position. 

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's ok. He's a starter somewhere. He's not a "foundational guy" which was the original point I made. You can move on from him and improve at that position. 

I agree he’s not a foundational guy. He a cheap option, and ok if you’ve got good hitters around him in the lineup.