sk7326

Obviously "don't worry" is not a real answer - but we're still very much in small sample size theater, so that is worth noting. But yeah the offense has been the problem - and that Cora suddenly became the problem is pretty silly. Him getting fired is not a surprise - management is definitely quick to panic. The left side of the infield being an absolute zero offensively was certainly a plausible reality entering the season, and it is. Roman Anthony becoming a three true outcomes hitter without the 3rd outcome is less plausible.

As it turns out, the early returns on the bullish case for Arias are pretty darn good.

1. Cora being fired is whatever. He is a good manager - but it's not surprising that Breslow/ownership decided a head had to roll with this start. But I'm also pretty sure Cora didn't tell these players not to hit. 2. That said, it is fair to ask exactly why Roman Anthony is not pulling the ball or really attacking it. 27 games is 27 games, but this is not the same hitter that showed up for Team USA. I doubt that's the hitting coach specifically - these are usually larger decisions, but still yuck. 3. If Mayer is going to just be a platoon player, then he might as well have stayed in Worcester to hit against lefty pitching. Nobody is helped here. And he should be playing 3rd. Durbin is probably a better player than he has shown so far, but he was going to be a power vacuum at that position anyway. 4. Small sample sizes abound, but was it really more likely that Story would build on last season or that was the best it was going to get. He has been bad - but it's not all that surprising. The biggest crime of this ownership - and yes, it's the best ownership the franchise has ever had, sigh - is that they listen to talk radio too much and seem prone to these pretty rash pivots. Here is another one.

I think Mayer being made of glass probably scares Cora a little. But I do think it is the best defensive alignment - and maybe everybody figures that out as the season wears on.

89-73. I wish the ball went over the fence more. But this is a good team - and might be even better if Story moved over to 2B.

Sox Prospects does a great job. The national guys I think are useful for putting them into a league perspective. They get limited looks, but might look at the Statcast results a little more, and check with team contacts and stuff to cross check. Ultimately, all the views end up helping.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7027413/2026/02/09/boston-red-sox-2026-top-20-prospects-keith-law/ Prospects 11-19 (since #20, Shane Drohan just got traded) 11. Dorian Soto, SS 12. Henry Godbout, 2B 13. Johanfran Garcia, C 14. Gage Ziehl, RHP 15. Yordanny Monegro, RHP 16. Miguel Bleis, OF 17. Yophery Rodriguez, OF 18. Endy Azocar, OF 19. Adonys Guzman, C Others of note (not quoting, summarizing) Hayden Mullins, LHP - Hard to hit fastball, good secondary stuff, terrible command/control as 24 yo in AA Mason White, SS - Does everything quickly. Swings super hard. Lots of mistakes, but 20 homer power who could stick at SS. Lot of work to do. John Holobetz, RHP - PTBNL in Priester trade. Good control, no out pitch. Could be decent reliever if he missed more bats with breaking stuff Christain Fouch, RHP - touches 100 mph, above average changeup. Could be a reliever now if he could get to average control. Nelly Taylor, OF - sneaky power, good runner. Hasn't hit anywhere and has not hit non-fastballs Tyler Samaniego, LHP - old for a prospect (27), 93-94, above avg slider. Never pitched above AA but has some possiblity as a lefty reliever Tyler Ubertsine, RHP - velocity getting better as he moved to AAA. Low arm slot, throws a bunch of pitches decently, swingman/reliever potential.

The Athletic Top 20 Sox prospects: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7027413/2026/02/09/boston-red-sox-2026-top-20-prospects-keith-law/ Intro: Top 10 1. Franklin Arias (12th in Top 100) 2. Payton Tolle (40th in Top 100) 3. Kyson Witherspoon (62nd in Top 100) 4. Connelly Early (64th in Top 100) 5. Justin Gonzalez, OF 6. Jake Bennett, LHP 7. Juan Valera, RHP 8. Marcus Phillips, RHP 9. Yoelin Cespedes, 2B 10. Anthony Eyanson, RHP

Red Sox 10th in the Athletic's Team Ranks From Law:

We'll see what happens. If Arias starts the season at Portland as a 20-year old, it definitely gives more heft to the lofty ranking.

The Athletic Top 100 Overall https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6985939/2026/01/26/top-mlb-prospects-2026-keith-law-konnor-griffin/?source=emp_shared_article 12. Franklin Arias 40. Payton Tolle 62. Kyson Witherspoon 64. Connelly Early

If Contreras' bat holds - it's a 3 win difference from the giant sucking sound the Sox had at 1B. They gave up a high end lottery ticket - but Fajardo is 18 and a pitcher and the range of outcomes there is too wide to get too hopped up about it.

At the Athletic,, Law liked the deal for both teams ... The Nationals are bad and need high ceiling - Perales fits the bill. Perales obviously coming off of injury. His control improved a lot - but while the walks went down, he hasn't exactly turned into Greg Maddux either. There is some reliever risk. Red Sox under Breslow have shown some ability to help pitchers improve stuff - and Bennett's frame could very well take that. The the command and stuff are good enough that he might end up making some starts for Boston this season.

Lackey was a bad deal on a WAR basis for sure. That said, the Tommy John of it all in the early going makes it a little harder to bash. And of course the team doesn't win the 2013 banner without him.

A co-ace or something like that is asking too much. But for the price, the deal was a no-brainer. Gray's peripherals were better than his results last year - but his results have been better in previous years, so I have some confidence that a bunch of it was noise.

Clarke is an interesting prospect - but we have a good number of them. It's a fair deal for a durable #2/#3 sort.

I think Bregman can still be a 2-3 win player at 3B at worst for the next couple of years. But getting somebody who can hit the ball real far is an imperative for sure.

For me, the Red Sox have a couple of needs 1. Another starter. Now, if there was an amenable way to bring back Giolito that is a good place to start. But another high floor #3 type or better is on the menu. Between Tolle, Early, Witherspoon and (less likely) Perales, there are some possibilities in 2026 - but need more certainty for sure. 2. Hit ball far. We are in a more homerun centric world than ever and this team needs more. Now, the team is not without power ... but this team not having that "hey, a 3-run homer could happen right now" threat makes its life harder compared to the very top of the league. I kind of feel like Mayer taking SS and moving Story to 2B would be the best option for the infield, but Mayer has to like be able to play and stuff. Bregman coming back is the best option for 3B - even on the wrong side of 30.

I would not bet on it. But college pitchers have moved fast across the bigs - and Witherspoon by most assessments was further along than Tolle was. Again, I am not expecting it - nor should the Sox plan for it - but he is the profile of the sort that has moved very quickly.

Overall the season was a success. The team was flawed and probably deserved its fate. When you lose your #2 starter and arguably your best hitter, the margin for error goes away. That said, it's 2025 - and you see how the league OBP has dropped 20 points from where it was when Boston broke the curse ... it's hard out there when you don't hit tons of homeruns. It sounds crude - but the Red Sox need to see the ball leave the yard more consistently. Over the season this was fine - but when you get to the playoffs, that sort of margin of error would have come in really handy. In particular, they need to solve the black hole at 1B and 2B ... maybe Campbell can take one of those positions. Casas? I need to see him not shattered into a thousand pieces first. Pitching-wise, things look promising. Crochet is unimpeachable. Bello wore down, but tracks to be a perfectly good #3 starter type at worst. The team could use another starter because of course they could. I'd definitely see if Giolito wanted to come back - his injury at the end of the season might have increased that possibility. Considering his velocity, Early was shockingly effective coming up at the end of the year. I am excited about him - maybe as lot a #2 starter or anything, but as a quality rotation arm. Tolle's range of outcomes is wider. While a team cannot plan for this - I would not be surprised is Kyson Weatherspoon cracks the rotation at some point later in 2026 - we see how college pitchers are being moved across the game.

The beauty of having Crochet is being able to marshall your resources for the other starters and have those super quick playoff hooks.

It took 21 years - but I guess the Red Sox would HAVE to lose a postseason game at a building named Yankee Stadium eventually.

walks on consecutive days?? Is Kevin Youkilis playing CF for us now?

Yeah - I'm worried. At the same time, Crochet did his job and gave Cora a chance to use a quick hook as necessary. I don't think Bello is going to see any more than 2 trips to the order.

Who says he doesn't have anything to learn in AAA? The book is not closed on him - at all - but basically what happened is that he hit adversity for the first time in his career. We will see how he bounces back. If it is next spring, it is what it is.