Maxbialystock

Thanks for the info.

Managers and even coaches are hired to be fired, but it's the CBO who goes after and signs the talent/arms. In 2018 Cora showed what he could do with talent--simply the best season in Sox history. When the Sox bombed in 2019, John Henry hired a bargain basement CBO to replace free spender (and successful) David Dombrowski. I think CBO Breslow is here to stay and I like his emphasis on pitching. Last season and postseason he let go of Devers and Bregman, which the known universe has emphatically stated was sheer idiocy. My view is that the Sox made the postseason mostly on the pitching. Just go look at the scores in those winning streaks and also look at how little Devers and Bregman contributed to them. At the same time, I don't think he has ignored the position players although I think he could use a good righty bat (which Bregman was). Anthony, Duran, Abreu, and Mayer are all lefty bats. So is Yoshida who's hitting well in the MBC this month.

We take everything too seriously and that's OK because we're fans. As one, I'm delighted to admit I completely underestimated the WBC, which which has MLB veterans scattered all over the planet--or so it seems. When I finally looked up the sites, I was dumbfounded at what they are doing. Genius!! And it doesn't look as though participation is screwing up spring training. Upcoming soon is the world championship of soccer/football which absolutely dwarfs anything MLB can put together, but that's OK. The point is to get your toe into the water. And last night I saw some of the gringos playing for the good old USA and they beat a very competitive Dominican Republic team to get into the championship round. What was that Walt Whitman quote at the end of Bull Durham? "I see great things in Baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us." I believe those "losses" were from the American Civil War, the bloodiest war in American history. Whitman was a volunteer nurse in Washington, DC. In some measure this WBC is helping to repair our losses.

Probably not relevant here, but I'm probably the only one who does not see Bregman's new team and $175M contract as a disaster for the Sox. First, I thought Breslow made a reasonable offer. Second, I'm also probably the only one here who does not believe Breslow was the windfall everyone claims he was last season. Anthony and especially the pitching were the difference makers and had that great 10 game winning streak in July. basically without Bregman or Devers. Once Anthony went on the IL on Sep 3, the Sox reverted back to a .500 team. Would I have preferred to keep Bregman? Sure I would, but not at his price. He's getting $35M/season through age 37, plus there is no guarantee there won't be future injuries. The one he had this season was a repeat and he never really came back from it. Do I wish Devers were back? Sure I do. I also think Breslow was heavy handed. However, the Sox were without Devers and with a subpar Bregman last season when they made a nice run--until Antony went on the IL. Now Mayer gets a shot at being the full time thirdbaseman. He has injury issues too, but healthy he could be pretty good. His .674 OPS was better than Bregman's when he returned from the IL. Plus Contreras and his .811 OPS will be nice at 1b. Oh, yeah. I forgot Bregman's stellar leadership qualities. They didn't help much in September after Anthony on the IL.

Not a Casas fan at all because of his injuries and weak defense, but he has a good bat and eye for balls and strikes. A healthy Casas, which I think is unlikely, is the best Sox option at 1b. Keep him.

That "pop fly" Duran dropped was in fact a line drive by Judge that went into his glove about a foot about the ground. That's why it wasn't called an error. In addition, I think his defense improved and he made at least a couple of great catches late in the season. I think durability should be a factor, which favors Duran and Story with 157 games and Rafaela with 156. Then comes a big drop to Narvaez, 118, who was a catcher and was in fact durable. After him Abreu, twice out with injuries plus his return showed he had not recovered, with 115, Bregman with 114, Gonzalez with 98. Then comes a stunner--Hamilton with 91 freaking games and a WAR of 1.1. His OPS was a dismal .590, but his fielding and baserunning were excellent. I do agree that Anthony is special and deserves the highest grade, A-, Despite playing in just 71 games, his WAR was the 6th best at 3.1 However, I would give Rafaela and his 4.8 WAR a B+ and Duran's 4.6 WAR a B. Abreu is a better hitter and fielder than Duran (but not nearly as good a baserunner), but he's got to stay off the IL to contribute. B-.

Also a good laydown. To me the big difference between 2024 and 2025 was Devers leaving 15 June 2025. The good news is I think Anthony shows even more promise than Devers did in his early years. Bregman could be a 2d good bat--he was for the first half of this season--if he can stay off the IL. And let's not forget that after May of 2024 Story's OPS's were .827 in June, .870 in July, .817 in August, and ,795 in September--plus in the Wild Card 3 games, his OPS was 1.000. For the middle of the order, I see Abreu, Yoshida, and Gonzalez, who I think are all capable of .800 OPS's. In the 3d wild card game, Yoshida had 2 of 5 Sox hits, and in the series his OPS was 1.143. In September it was .837. And for the bottom 3 I see Rafaela, Narvaez/Wong, and whoever plays 1b. If Casas stops going on the IL and meets his career .800 OPS, so much the better. Plus let's not forget Mayer, who can field and hit. If Bregman leaves, Mayer would be an excellent fit at 3b but not a top 3 hitter. if the Sox pick up a good bat this offseason, so much the better.

Good pitching is good pitching, righty or lefty. This season the Sox OPS's against lefties and righties were both around .744. Righty batters are usually better at hitting righty pitchers than lefty bats hitting lefty pitchers simply because most pitchers are righties. If you want to play everyday, you must hit righties. So Story, Rafaela, Bregman, and Narvaez, were almost as good against righties as lefties. Gonzalez was way better against lefties. None of the Sox lefty bats--Anthony, Abreu, Duran, Yoshida, Lowe, Mayer--hit lefties as well as righties. Except Casas, who in 11 at bats vs lefties had a 1.409 OPS. In 88 at bats vs righties it was .477. The other exception was Devers, whose OPS's vs righties and lefties were both over .900!!!! Also, as a DH he never missed a game. Given the above plus the Green Monster, I think the Sox should go for a good righty bat at almost any position. Were it not for his weak arm in the outfield, Aaron Judge would be a decent fit. 😄

Impressive laydown.

That makes sense to me. Devers was terrific as the DH, and his bat was missed in September after Anthony went on the IL. I think mvp 78 argues that the time to move Devers to 1b was after this season. However, that would have meant paying for 3 DH's--Ref, Yoshida, and Devers--whose total salary was (until Devers left) was around $50M. So it did make sense to move Devers to 1b when Casas went down and only Cora could have pulled that off.

As for next year, my first step was to look at the 8 teams that made it to the ALDS and NLDS. Why? Because this that 3 game series for the wild cards was as fair as it gets. See especially the Yankees, who would have lost a 1 game playoff--yet again--but finally won, barely, in 3 games. They were to me clearly better than the Sox. Of the 8 Division Series teams--Seattle, Detroit, Jays, Yankees, Brewers, Cubs, Phillies, and Dodgers--all 8 of them are ranked in the top 11 MLB teams in runs scored and team OPS. But only 3--Brewers, Phillies,and Cubs--are in the top 11 in team ERA. The outliers (below 11th) are the Mariners (13th), Yankees (14th), Tigers(16th), Dodgers(17th), and Jays (19th). Let me hasten to add that the Sox finished 5th in MLB in team ERA, 7th in runs scored, and 9th in team OPS, so they definitely earned the postseason. However, by the time Wild Card series rolled around, the Sox hitting and pitching had regressed significantly because of injuries and Bello running out of gas. So, if you bring back the 2025 team and they stay healthy, they should make the the postseason and possibly more. It's that simple. You/they can even persevere if Duran is traded and Giolito not re-signed. But I'm less sure they will thrive without Bregman, and I'll just bet Boras has already told the Sox that. Bregman offers a lot to the Sox--a good bat, a righty bat (which the Sox are short of), a good glove, and a good teammate. However, he turns 32 in March 2026 and missed 7 weeks this season from a recurrence of an earlier injury. Maybe the Sox can offer 4 x $40 = $160M, which to me is exhorbitant. Including this season, Bregman's career earnings are $168M. I would be astounded if another MLB team would offer Bregman $160M. I agree another starter like Joe Ryan would be nice, as would a good righty bat.

As always, neat info. 😃

Not much hitting. In fact, just one good hitter, Anthony. He could be a .900 OPs hitter. The rest are lucky if they get .800 OPS. Virtually no real HR power. Pitching looks fine, maybe even better than this year. Joe Ryan's WAR is 11th best of MLB pitchers, which is pretty darn good. However, he faded in August and especially September (ERA 6.75). On the other hand, his salary this year was $3M.

Both good points. We know Devers was excellent as the DH, OPS .905, and not missing a single game. My suspicion is that Cora was fine with that arrangement. As you say, the time to move him to 1b was after this season, not during it. I agree with Old Red that Devers bat would have been useful to the Sox, especially in Sept and the postseason. Breslow now says one thing he needs to get this offseason is a good bat. That said, it's also clear that Yoshida and Ref were both used primarily as DH's this season because Cora already had 3 good outfielders in Duran, Rafaela, and Abreu and then added a fourth, Anthony. If you are Breslow, it's intolerable to be paying three guys to DH. So, when Casas was injured, he made a big deal about moving Devers to 1b. Devers reacted badly, but he was right that he had been jacked around from 3b to DH to 1b in just 3 months. Plus this tidbit. Devers value to the Sox is basically his WAR for each season. In 9 seasons with the Sox his highest WAR for a season was 4.4 in 2022. In just 73 games as a DH for the Sox this year, his WAR was 2.3. Had he sustained that for the remaining 89 games, his WAR for the season--as solely a DH--would have been his best ever. And don't forget that WAR subtracts points for DH's because they contribute nothing to the defense. And another tidbit. Like everyone else, I could not praise Bregman enough as the new gold glove 3d baseman, a righty bat (think green monster) with a career OPS of .846. Plus he was a positive influence in the dugout and the locker room. Worth every bit of $40M--sign him up for 3 more years. His WAR this year was 3.5, which almost makes Devers $35M--for a WAR of maybe 4.7--look almost like a bargain. I hasten to add that the real strength of the Sox this season was the pitching, with or without Bregman or Devers or Anthony or whoever.

Duran's was the only catchable that wasn't caught, and the official scorer called it a single. As for Eaton's not scoring from 2b on Yoshida's single, it was an infield single and Eaton was just rounding 3b when the throw arrived at 1b where it could easily have been caught. If it had, Eaton was a dead man if he tried for home plate. The Sox 3b coach had his eyes on that throw and signaled stop when he saw the throw was bouncing to 1b and therefore catchable. That said, I agree game 2 was winnable. On the other hand, you have to like how the Sox actually made it to the postseason. Their clinching game was against Detroit, who beat Cleveland in the wild car and yesterday beat Seattle in game 1 of the ALDS. Harrison, the Giants reject, started that game,

Completely agree. My suspicion is that the OP is simply trying to provoke because his arguments are shallow. Point 1. The Yankees should have been heavily favored to win Game 2. Bello was starting against the best lineup in MLB. Rodon with his 4.6 WAR, 18-9 record, and 3.09 ERA was going against a throw-together Sox lineup. Thus did the Yankees score 2 runs in the first freaking inning against Bello, who lasted 2.1 IP, after which Cora used 6 relievers with Slaten giving up a 3d run in the 5th inning. However, the Sox tied the game in the 6th inning at 3-3. Point 2. Whitlock came came in for the 7th, it was one inning earlier than usual, but not unreasonable. He was throwing on 5 days rest and should have been good for 2 IP. His ERA in September was 0.0 in 8 appearances. Point 3. Whitlock got 5 outs, including the first two (Rice and Stanton) batters in the bottom of in the 8th, on 23 pitches. So of course Cora wanted him to finish the 8th. Then came the first real glitch--walking Chisholm on 7 pitches, pitch count now 30. Point 4. The next Yankee batter "singled" and drove Chisholm all the way home from 1b. score now 4-3, which is how the game ended. So the real issue is whether Tolle or Whitlock should have pitched to Wells, a lefty bat. It turns out lefty hitters have a .938 OPS against Tolle, who came into the game with an ERA of 7.06. So, who's a better choice against Wells, Whitlock with 30 pitches and a 0.0 ERA in September, or rookie Tolle? Point 5. After Wells single, Whitlock gave up a single to Volpe and a walk to McMahon, but nobody scored before Tolle came in for the last out. He threw 7 straight fast balls, all about 97 mph. The 7th was right down the middle, but Grisham grounded out, Sogard to Lowe. Point 6. Game 1, which the Sox won, 3-1. In that game Crochet, who was fantastic, threw 117 pitches, the most in his career ,and made it through 7.2 innings, when Chapman took over. How many other times this season did Cora ask Chapman to get 4 outs? Once. Moreover, he left Chapman in there in the 9th with the bases loaded and no one out. I believe Cora managed game 1 that way so that he could use the rest of his bullpen in game 2 to fill in for those innings Bello was unlikely to pitch. If necessary the could do the same in game 3. However, the Sox never scored any runs in game 3, so Sox pitching was irrelevant.

Enough caterwauling about the wild card series at Yankees Stadium. This was a terrific season with plenty of ups and downs and the Sox finally returning to the postseason by beating the Tigers, who just made it to the ALDS and are 1-0 vs the Mariners. When the Sox began that wild card series, we already knew the lineup was suspect. We also knew or suspected we had 1 good starter left, Crochet. The Yankees meanwhile have the best lineup in MLB and three good starters. Nevertheless, the Sox won game 1 with a great start by Crochet and a clutch single by Yoshida and almost won game 2 despite a rotten start by Bello and Duran not catching that liner by Judge which yet again popped out of his glove. I am not panicky about next year because Crochet, Bello, Dobbins, Early, Crawford, Fitts, and Harrison are all returning in addition Chapman, Whitlock, et al in the bullpen. Another good starter this winter would be dandy. When the lineup is healthy, I see a pretty good array of hitters and fielders in Bregman, Story, Gonzalez/Mayer, Yoshida, Abreu, Anthony, Casas, Narvaez, Rafaela, Duran, et al. If Breslow thinks as I do that Casas will again be injury prone, a good hitting first baseman would be a good acquisition. Lurking in the background are Campbell and Garcia. Plus Wong is a good backup catcher.

You're probably right about Campbell, but how hard can 1b be? I ask because, pending any trades, the outfield looks pretty full.

I'm sure all those comments are valid and on target, but the simple fact--ABOVE ALL OTHERS IN SIGNIFICANCE--is that Schlittler went 8 IP giving up 0 runs. 1 or 2 runs would have been plenty. I do not consider last night's game "brutal." It was in fact overdue because the Sox, with just one good starter, Crochet, vs the Yankees 3 good starters and the best lineup in MLB were always a long shot. Despite that, Crochet was amazing in game 1 and the Sox got those 2 crucial runs off Yoshida's single which followed Sogard stretching a single into a double putting runners on 2d and 3d. Wednesday night the Sox had a shot despite Bello's miserable start (2.1IP and 2 ER) and going again against a pretty good Yankees starter. If Duran catches that Judge liner, which popped out of his glove (yet again) in the 5th, the score stays a 2-2 with the Sox scoring 1 more run and the Yankees as well.

Too true.

This "horse crap" made it to the postseason despite significant injuries. And with Crochet on the mound they won game 1 two night ago. With Bello lasting just 2.1 lousy innings, they had a chance to win last night. Tonight Schlittler has dominated the Sox weak hitting.

Agree. He simply wasn't ready. Bregman also didn't have a rehab before returning, but he hit well for his first month back.

Good job, Slaten!

What point? The Sox have a crappy lineup and one good starter (although I liked Early's effort tonight) against the best hitting team in MLB with 3 good starters. To get to the postseason the Sox had to beat the Tigers (who are going to the ALDS) in their final series of the season. It was that close.

Game is over. Finally, a fly ball Abreu can catch. 4 runs on a very weak double, a walk, and a whole bunch of singles. Early deserved better. He was certainly let down by his teammates who have been exposed in front of a pretty big TV audience. Viewers from wherever have to be wondering how the heck the Sox got to the postseason with this motley crew.