A Realistic View at the 2027 Red Sox Part I

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Thats was my attempt at humor, and the joke was he plays 162 games

Rifle arm was mine.

[Hugh2]

10 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Rifle arm was mine.

Well look at that, we both got jokes.

 

Before 2026 one could of said Story's arm was just as good as Alex Bregmans, but his arm speed slowed way the f*** down in 2026. Maybe he's better in 2027, but he should probably never touch the left side of an infield ever again. 

[mvp 78]

Story's max throw from SS was 76th out of 79 at SS (82.9 mph) last season. For overall mph he was 74th out of 79 (79.7 mph). 

IKF was 79th for both. 

[southpaw777]

So after some thought, I’ve come up with my personal offseason plan. Maybe not as in depth as some but still serves the purpose.

non tender

Houck, Crawford, Oviedo, Duran, Monasterio, White , Wong, Gonzalez, Casas, Kelly and Jones. All gone. Maybe a couple sign and trades but ultimately all should have jobs elsewhere. we have a decent amount of pitching depth right now and can probably sign some cheaper and more reliable options besides these guys. I could be persuaded to take one or two off that list though.

Players that should be traded.

Story, Yoshida, and Bello. 
the first two are clogging up the roster. Toss in a prospect and eat some cash. They need to go. and Bello is a change of scenery guy. I believe there’s a deal out there for him. I’d rather spend the 9.5M elsewhere. He’s a better fit in someone else’s rotation. Not ours.

I resign Gray for 25M. If it takes a 2 year deal I’m ok with that. I think he’s got two more good years in him anyway. He’s a gamer. Good veteran to have. Leader. That would solidify our rotation for the next couple years until another prospect is possibly ready in 2029. It’s also not much to spend on what would look like a top rotation in baseball if healthy. Crochet, Gray, Suarez, Tolle, Bennett is pretty formidable.

I like Arozarena for a bat to sign. He could hit 30 in Fenway. There’s also a power Japanese bat, Sato, but I don’t think the Sox will enter the bidding for him. I’d go get Vaz to be the BU catcher in Boston behind Rutschman. Veteran presence and clubhouse leader (much needed) cheap price tag, and I miss him. 

Invite a bunch of players into spring training and see who sticks. A RH starter and a RH power bat are the two real NEEDS for this team. The rest is deleting a bunch of wasted roster spots and cash off the payroll to spend that money and use those spots for better options.

1b Contreras

2b Mead/Seigler

SS Arias

3b Durbin

LF Anthony/Arozarena

CF Rafaela

RF Abreu

C Rutschman/ Vaz

I’ll take that starting lineup and rotation. Obviously there will be other players and depth to fill the holes, but this is my plan A.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Thats was my attempt at humor, and the joke was he plays 162 games

As a FT DH is over/under on games played might be 62.

[moonslav59]

On 10/27/2026 at 11:07 AM, Old Red said:

I don’t really see the Red Sox going into next season withThe Great Gasper as the backup plan at catcher...

Prediction or suggestion?

[moonslav59]

Vaz?

Why not bring VTek back as a catcher?

[moonslav59]

Depth

With our minor league SP'er depth Paez, Wehunt Holobetz & Ziehl, I'm thinking we need to keep Houck, Crawford and Oviedo in hopes that 1-2 do well enough to fill the rotation depth needs, or maybe pitch from the pen and eat some meaningful innings.

The pen depth looks very shaky.

I'm not a big fan or Wong, but he has an option left, so maybe we add a catcher and keep him in AAA as the #3 Catcher. (We don't usually burn 3 slots on the 40, and if you count Gapser, that would be 4.)

Mead, Romy, Gasper and Sogard can all play 1B. Casas remains a long shot, but I'd keep him on the 40 into ST'ing.

Assuming Mead is the starting 2Bman, we have very nice depth: Romy, Sogard, Seigler & Monasterio. Story could play 2B, if Arias wins the SS job.

SS does not have much depth beyond Story or Arias. Monasterio is not a long term solution. Cheng is good on D. Sogard is not.

3B depth is kinda sketchy: Monasterio, Story, Cheng, Mead...

The OF had White, Jones and Duran, if he's still here. KC in AAA.

DH has too many to list.