Bello will be 27 this year and we thought we'd see improvement from him by now. Unfortunately, most of us see him not as a top of the rotation guy, but falling towards a #4. He fell apart in September (5.40 ERA, 1 W, 3 L), still walks too many guys (16th percentile k, 41st percentile bb) and is still hovering around 165 IP. If he just stopped nibbling and was better at just pitching to contact, maybe he'd be more useful. He throws too many waste pitches that nobody chases (37th percentile).
He came in with a lot of hype. Sox made him the Opening Day Starter one year. People just need to reset their expectations for him IMO.
Yeah, the broken player argument just doesn't make sense. Not every prospect is meant to work out. I can't imagine it's the pressure at that point. It's most likely the increase in skills that is harder to overcome.
Second Basemen
Ozzie Albies (30) – $7MM club option
Bo Bichette (29) – can opt out of remaining two years, $84MM, resulting in a $5MM buyout
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (29)
Mauricio Dubon (32)
Luis Garcia Jr. (27)
Nico Hoerner (30)
Jonathan India (30)
Brandon Lowe (32)
Gavin Lux (29)
Nick Madrigal (30)
Amed Rosario (31)
Gleyber Torres (30)
Ildemaro Vargas (35)
If his confidence was ruined because of May 2025, it was never going to work out. The Sox showed their confidence in him and supported him all along the way. 🫠
They didn't trade Jhostynxon until he was actually on the 40 man. I think they aren't real in a future sense until they are pushing the AAA level and making big waves. Arias might be a highly ranked prospect, but he's not exactly tearing through the system. There's an obvious path where he's not good enough to be an everyday player.
I guarantee you that he's not using white boards in 2026.
Why would he show Arias as a starting SS if he hasn't shown the ability to even hit at AA? It doesn't make sense. All these guys are fungible to Breslow. They probably should be as long as there is enough of them.
In 1980, he set the single-season record for most assists by a shortstop (621), and began his string of 13 consecutive Gold Glove awards.[34] Smith's fielding play prompted the Yuma Daily Sun to use the nickname "the Wizard of Oz" in a March 1981 feature article about Smith.[35] While "the Wizard of Oz" nickname was an allusion to the 1939 motion picture of the same name, Smith also came to be known as simply "the Wizard" during his playing career, as Smith's Baseball Hall of Fame plaque would later attest.
I really doubt Breslow is looking at the depth chart and thinking "Arias will really help us in 2028" or "we can't trade Juan Valera because he's going to be in our rotation someday."
I just don't think CBOs look at this roster and think, wow these are the guys I'm going to have for the next 5 years. I think they know that everyone could be dealt and they are more focused on 2-3 years than what the team looks like well into the future.
Maybe Casas really wasn't the DH of the future? After his ARB years were up, he was just going to be elsewhere? The idea was probably to let him play 1B through season 6 and then let him go. His bat is fine, but doesn't have Devers's ceiling.
He doesn't fit, because Cora isn't committed to DHing him 130 Games a year. In '24 when he was hitting well, Cora sat him frequently. It didn't make sense.