A Realistic View at the 2027 Red Sox Part I

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

Bauers? OF/1b/DH

guy puts it all together in his age  29 and 30 seasons. He could be someone they don’t have to spend a ton on and get the power numbers. He only made 2.7m in. 2026.

If people don't trust Mead, then Bauers should be mistrusted too. 

.672 before this year.

That sample size was almost 2000 PAs!

[moonslav59]

Now that Eaton is gone, we have 46 players on the 40 and 60 Day IL. That includes 3 players about to be free agents: Gray, Sandoval & IKF. That get's it down to 43.

3 DFA or Trade:

Burgos

Cheng

Olds

Bubble Keep or Trade:

Rivera

Kelly (no options)

Jones (no options)

Moran (no options)

Possible Rule 5 Adds:

Wehunt

Jo Garcia

Maybe Mullins or Brannon

I'm not see an issue, even if we add 3-4 Rule 5 guys and FAs.

Once we hit 5-6, it gets interesting, but then again, trading Duran, Yoshida or Story could free up a slot or two as well.

Note: Arias does not need to be added to be protected.

[moonslav59]

Cheng and Eaton crossewd of MVP's list. Next up: Burgos?

[mvp 78]

48 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Cheng and Eaton crossewd of MVP's list. Next up: Burgos?

Moran trade, then Burgos DFA? 

Burgos actually has MiLB options FWIW. He could stick around. Burgos did pitch fairly well down the stretch.

Zack Kelly trade if the keep Burgos? My original post is what counts for 4 for 4 though. 

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Moran trade, then Burgos DFA? 

Burgos actually has MiLB options FWIW. He could stick around. Burgos did pitch fairly well down the stretch.

Zack Kelly trade if the keep Burgos? My original post is what counts for 4 for 4 though. 

Yes, I have also mentioned trading Kelly and Moran- both out of options. On Moran, I think he has talent- not so much with Kelly. I like Moran way more than Olds, Burgos, Kelly and even a Mulling add to the 40.

His no options makes it tough to keep him, but maybe we trade Slaten.

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, I have also mentioned trading Kelly and Moran- both out of options. On Moran, I think he has talent- not so much with Kelly. I like Moran way more than Olds, Burgos, Kelly and even a Mulling add to the 40.

His no options makes it tough to keep him, but maybe we trade Slaten.

Slaten is a high leverage arm who just gets injured a lot. He still has 3 options left too. Seems unlikely he's traded, but everything is on the table. 

[notin]

39 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, I have also mentioned trading Kelly and Moran- both out of options. On Moran, I think he has talent- not so much with Kelly. I like Moran way more than Olds, Burgos, Kelly and even a Mulling add to the 40.

His no options makes it tough to keep him, but maybe we trade Slaten.

Why trade Slaten?

Kelly and Burgos are as good as gone.  Olds is on the fence (my theory), and Moran is a question mark.

Keep Slaten…

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Why trade Slaten?

Kelly and Burgos are as good as gone.  Olds is on the fence (my theory), and Moran is a question mark.

Keep Slaten…

I liked Olds. If he can keep the bb rate down, he has value as an up and down guy the next few years. We've seen worse in the bullpen that's for sure. 

[southpaw777]

18 hours ago, NHNative said:

I do like Jake Bauer.

 

18 hours ago, NHNative said:

I do like Jake Bauer.

He’s an interesting name out there this year. I think the Sox would be wise to check in on him.

[southpaw777]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If people don't trust Mead, then Bauers should be mistrusted too. 

.672 before this year.

That sample size was almost 2000 PAs!

Seems he’s made some adjustments that have made a big difference. And the analytics nerds say the underlying numbers are repeatable. 
he’s worth looking into for sure. Seems to be the Sox speed nowadays anyway…

[notin]

26 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

 

He’s an interesting name out there this year. I think the Sox would be wise to check in on him.

Ty France is probably a better option for Fenway.  Josh Bell is a lot less risky.  Teoscar Hernandez also is very likely available…

[notin]

35 minutes ago, southpaw777 said:

Seems he’s made some adjustments that have made a big difference. And the analytics nerds say the underlying numbers are repeatable. 
he’s worth looking into for sure. Seems to be the Sox speed nowadays anyway…

Mead is also only 26 and was a BA Top 100 prospect (#65) as recently as 2024…

[moonslav59]

19 hours ago, NHNative said:

I do like Jake Bauer.

His history before this year was not good.

(Neither was Mead's, and I'm high on him, so I'm not being consistent on this.)

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Why trade Slaten?

Kelly and Burgos are as good as gone.  Olds is on the fence (my theory), and Moran is a question mark.

Keep Slaten…

I'm not handing Slaten away. He has real value.

I'm sick of injury prone pitchers. If we don't get a nice return, keep him.

Apparently, I like Moran more than others.

[mvp 78]

37 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

His history before this year was not good.

(Neither was Mead's, and I'm high on him, so I'm not being consistent on this.)

Less surprising that a guy breaks out at 26 than is almost out of baseball and breaks out at 30 after a middling career. 

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not handing Slaten away. He has real value.

I'm sick of injury prone pitchers. If we don't get a nice return, keep him.

Apparently, I like Moran more than others.

Moran wasn't on the playoff roster, right? 

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Less surprising that a guy breaks out at 26 than is almost out of baseball and breaks out at 30 after a middling career. 

Yup.

I'd pass on Bauers.

[moonslav59]

Sonny Gray is officially a FA, now.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Moran wasn't on the playoff roster, right? 

That's pretty telling, when you figure all the pitchers out injured, but the weird thing to me was Crochet after such little time in rehab. Olds and Gamboa over Moran pretty much shows what they thought about Moran.

He's probably traded within days.

My point about Slaten was not that Moran is better, but if we got something good for Slaten and kept Moran on the 26, it might be less of a drop off than from Slaten to Kelly/Burgos/Song.

[southpaw777]

2 hours ago, notin said:

Mead is also only 26 and was a BA Top 100 prospect (#65) as recently as 2024…

I’m looking forward to seeing Mead play in Fenway. Power numbers should take a tick upward like Contreras. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, southpaw777 said:

I’m looking forward to seeing Mead play in Fenway. Power numbers should take a tick upward like Contreras. 

I might be a homer on this, but I trust his half season in 2026 was legit.

Double his numbers and even Red might approve: .253 34 96.

70 XBHs

.353 OBP

.498 SLG

.851 OPS

It's kinda like we are signing Mead as a FA this winter. (No Early)

[JoeBrady]

8 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Less surprising that a guy breaks out at 26 than is almost out of baseball and breaks out at 30 after a middling career. 

445 ABs by Mead before this year, and age 26.004.  1,704 by Bauer and age 31.024.

[Randy Red Sox]

On 10/29/2026 at 1:49 PM, moonslav59 said:

I would say, he's spent a lot on positions of greater need than DH, but here we are: DH is now a top 2-3 high need area.

Top Sox OPS 2025-2026 (on current roster)

200+ PAs

.901 Contreras

.823 Gasper

.803 Anthony

.782 Romy

.778 Abreu

.736 Rafaela

.727 Seigler

.725 Yoshida

.710 Durbin

.708 Sogard

.706 Story

.688 Rutschman

.665 Monasterio

.664 KC

.586 Wong

.580 Casas

 

Look at the shift from 2024-2025:

.859 Anthony (Gotta wonder why we had any hope on this clown)

.805 Duran (Already showing decline)

.786 Romy (Who?)

.784 Abreu (Ready for a career year? NOPE)

.742 Yoshida (Did not look like a one of our weaker need areas, last winter.)

.740 Story (Word is out, many Sox posters projected a repeat of '25)

.730 Casas (I mean, why sign Willson?)

.726 Narvaez (Yup, I fell for the hype.)

.688 Wong (Mr. Consistent)

.686 Rafaela (Talk to Fred.)

.664 KC

.656 Sogard

 

This is interesting: 2023-2024:

.838 Casas

.832 Duran (These top two are laughed at, now.)

.794 Abreu

.775 Yoshida

.723 Romy (always in the top 5)

.720 Wong (our Catcher of the future!)

.664 Rafaela

.630 Story

 

sorry i am sure there is good info here but it is too long to comprehend.  In any event providing a lockout doesn't affect FA I expect to hear constant reports that the Sox are interested in this guy, that guy, and some other guy but simply another Durbin type or 2 and call it an offseason. Given the last several offseaons and a low market team winning this WS why would any Sox fan expect any different?

 

I truly expect JH to be on the side of the low market teams in negotiations this offseason. No more new shiny toys for RSN.