moonslav59

If the Sox don't want to go long on their large deals, they may look for "show me" contracts like Bregman's 2025 signing or go for older players who won't get 4 or 5 years offered from any team. (Some may not get 3 years offered.) Here might be some: E Suarez 3B maybe 1B (34) May take $15M x 3. M Kelly SP (37) May take $15M x 2 Hoskins 1B (33) May take $12M x 3 (Josh Bell $7M x 2) In theory, we could sign all 3 and have an AAV that keeps us under the tax line. (Maybe sub Polanco at age 32 for Suarez or Hoskins.) Others: Ozuna DH (35) Realmuto C (35) M Rojas SS(37) Refsnyder OF/DH (35) N Martinez P (35) Bassitt P (37) Would this roster work, if we traded Rafaela, Garcia, Clarke and Sandlin (maybe need to sub in Arias) for Ryan? 1. L Anthony CF 2. R Suarez 3B 3. L Duran LF 4. R Hoskins 1B 5. L Abreu RF 6. R Story SS 7. L Yoshida DH/ R Romy DH 8. R Narvaez C 9. L Mayer 2B SP: Crochet, Ryan, Kelly, Bello, Sandoval RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Weissert, Bernardino, Fitts, Hicks, Winckowski

First Bowl Rankings released: 1. OSU 2. IN 3. TX A&M 4. AL 5. GA 6. Ole Miss 7. BYU 8. TX Tech 9. OR 10. ND 11. TX 12. OK ____________ UT, VA, LOU, VAN, GT, MIA, USC, IA, MI

Something happened. I'm guessing it's medical related.

I don't care hor slow his home run trot is, or how long it takes him to get to 1B on a BB. I do care about his awful defense, but I'd like to get him to DH somehow, someway, sometime.

I worry about that. I read reports that he is fine, but I've heard that before.

I totally get everything you are saying, but playing Mayer 140 games, by far the most in his career is not going to stunt his development. He will still get more PAs vs LHPs than in any season of his life. Yes, and on days off, he can bat in the cage vs LHPs 75% of the time.

9.8 in 2025? Toss that out. 2022-2025 BB% Sox leaders (400+ PAs) 13.7 Casas (5th in K%) 11.2 O'Neill (2nd in K%) 10.7 Refsnyder & Devers 10.3 Bregman 9.4 Abreu How about BB/K? 0.73 Bregman 0.51 Casas & Devers 0.49 Verdugo 0.48 Bogey 650+ PAs OBP: .364 Refsnyder (5th in SLG) .361 Devers (1st in SLG) .348 Casas (4th in SLG) .337 Masa (6th in SLG) .333 Duran (3rd in SLG)

Top ERA- Pitchers from 2023-2025 (450+ IP) Only Available or possibles listed: 1. Skubal 58 3. C Sanchez 70 6. Peralta 81 7. Valdez 81 13. S Gray 88 14. Lopez 88 15. Bibee 89 18. Ryan 92 20. Gallen 93 23. Bassitt 95 25. Keller & Gore 98 28. Singer 101 30. Cease 102 Go to 350 IP, and you add Sale 68, King 74, Greene 74, M Kelly 83, R Saurez 83, N Matinez 86, Quintanna 92, Lorenzen 97 xFIP 2.71 Skubal 3.00 C Sanchez 5. S Gray 3.19 7. Valdez 3.28 11. Lopez 3.41 17. R Suarez 3.62 18. Ryan 3.63 21. Cease 3.69 We could likely get Pablo Lopez for less return than Joe Ryan.

After missing most of May and June, Imanaga came back to start 17 games. He allowed more than 3 runs, twice- the two games you mentioned. To be fair, he did allow exactly 3 ERs in 8 of the 17 and many were in 5 IP, but still, hardly a melt down ending to 2025. Also, in more fairness, he never allowed less than 3 ERs in his last 6 starts (5.97 ERA and 6.51 FIP.)

I agreed it's not ideal. There are other factors involved, like... 1. His health and ability to play over 145 games (maybe even 100+) If we are going to sit him in 20 games, why not 20 out of the 40-45 times we'll face a lefty? 2. Assume he sits 25 out of the 45 games we face a lefty. He'd still break his record for most games played in a season, but it would be "ruining" his development, according to you. He'd still face 20 LH'd starters and countless LH'd RP'ers and probably get more PAs vs LHPs than ever before, if he makes it a full season healthy. 3. We have a guy named Romy, who kills lefties. I think Cora wants Masa as the FT DH, and if we bring Bregman back or sign another FT 3B and or 1Bman, then Romy has 0-1 slots to platoon at. I'm just suggesting he platoon some with Mayer. Romy should start 100% of games ve LHPs and even bat top 6. We need to put the best team on the field, and if slows Mayer's growth in batting vs LHPs by a smidgeon, so be it. he likely needs the rest, anyway.

You gotta look at how many times he takes ball 4, as well.

Where did I come close to saying I'm giving up on him? In one breath, you say he's hardly had any ABs vs lefties, and that's because there are only about 30% of them, and in the next breath act like he'll be ruined, if we sit him in half of those 30% of the games as I suggested they might try (not MUST DO.) That's 15% of his games- maybe. I actually agree they will not start him off as a platoon, despite the fact that they already essentially did in 2025. (He started 86% of his games in 2025 vs a RH'd starter.) He missed 3 games at the end of June (2 vs R and 1 V L, but they sat him only vs lefties in the other games he missed. (He did not start the first game with the Sox vs a RHP, as it was the first game of a double header vs 2 RHPs.) It's more uncommon to a rookie play 158 games a season than one who is not played in every game possible and be strategically sat vs pitchers that the manager thinks he may struggle against- like a L-R situation. Again, I doubt the straight platoon him out of the gate, but I do think Cora may rest him vs lefties more than someone like Duran, Since we have a guy who has done great vs lefties and also plays 2B and 3B, I think it's possible Romy starts haf the games when we face a lefty taking Mayer's spot and the other half at 1B or 2B/3B/DH, here and there. Romy would give the team a better chance at winning. Cora ended up playing Romy vs RHPs and seems to like him. I'm sure he likes mayer, too and wants him to play FT. I do, too. I'd like to see Abrey play FT, as well, but I was fine with Ref playing instead. The two choices aren't play Mayer 155+ games or trade him. He likely won't make 145, even if they hand him a FT position. Wanna bet on a 145 game over/under?

Bt he's struggled mightily vs LHPs all through the minors. You don't just ignore that, when you want to win NOW!

I think it would be insane to start off a rookie RHB in a strict platoon- like Campbell or Garcia. Of course, it's not an ideal way to help a rookie keep growing, but we have game to win. I could see them having Mayer sit vs half the LHP Starts, which is maybe once every 9 games. Also, Romy is so damn good vs RHPs, that he could force their plan A (play Mayer FT) into a plan B pretty quickly and convincingly.

Merloni only mentioned high swing and miss on balls in the K zone as something the Sox valued highly. Of course missing the K zone matters and must to Brez as well. I hope they pass on Cease. As I said, Cease and desist!

I wish they'd platoon Duran over Abreu, but they won't. It seems Cora values Duran, even at .600 v LHPs more than I do. I do think they might platoon an awful batter vs LHPs. They started Abreu & Duran as a platoons. It's not something new.

While I agree he will not start as a platoon, I'm not sure it's a certainty. Since he would bat vs all RHPs, that's usually 65-70% of all games, so it would still be like playing a full season at AAA to start just games vs RH's SP'ers. Plus, he could come in as a PH'er or defensive replacement for Romy or whoever to get playing time in games he does not start. It's not such a growth stunter to platoon vs RHPs only.

I get that, and maybe Merloni is not in tune with the full Sox thinking. Yes, they like swing and miss in K zone rates, but they also value being in the K zone more often than Cease is. (I'm not for signing Cease. I am for trading for Ryan, within reason.)

Agreed. If they haven't platooned Duran since 2022, they won't start now, despite his worsening splits. I won't be surprised if they stop patooning Abreu, and not just because they want to keep his D in the game FT. He's getting better at hitting lefties. Romy is a tough cookie. It's hard to know if 2025 was an outlier season, but he hit righties pretty well. There just may not be a FT job slotted for him, since Mayer will likely be given a chance to show he can play FT. He may end up playing FT, if we have an injury at 1B, 2B or 3B.

I'd keep Wink over Guerrero, but with Wink, Criswell and Moran out of options, maybe Wink gets the pink slip.

Bregman is a FA. I'm for replacing him with Bregman or a slight upgrade (more on O than D, maybe.) I'm asking for 2 big bats and one is to replace Bregman. That's not an "overhaul." I don't see Hoskins as a major upgrade over what Lowe gave us in 2025. He'll be better than Lowe in '26, but we lost with a .790 Lowe. I'd like 3, but I've agreed to give a Mayer/Romy platoon the 2B or 3B slot. Ideally, even without Alonso or Schwarber, going with Suarez at 3B, Polanco at 2B and Hoskins or Bell at 1B would be fine with me. That is an overhaul, but 3B kinda has to be anyway. Adding Suarez and Hoskins would be a slight improvement on paper, especially on offense, but IMO, we need a bigger upgrade to increase our chances at being a top 4-5 team and not repeat as a top 9-12 team.

Ideally, he plays FT, but knowing what we know about his struggles vs LHPs on the farm, we need to maximize our chances at winning and Romy vs LHPs gives us much better odds.

No doubt our SP'ers had excessive injuries, but then again the whole league has spiked at that position, too. I'm not sure we had more injuries among everyday players than the norm, and that is one reason I question this whole argument that we'll be better because "Anthony, Mayer & Casas should be healthier in 2025." Other teams lost more than that, and part of the reason Anthony and mayer's total 2025 PAs were so low was out of late promotions and not injuries. The Casas injury was no surprise. The weeks missed by Bregman, Abreu, Narvaez and Ref were not all that long or out of the norm. The Masa injury should not really count, as it seems he could have DH'd earlier, had Devers not been clogging that slot up. Story played more than anyone expected. Duran, Rafaela and others stayed healthy. The Wong injury actually helped us find out Narvaez is better.

What do you think of Merloni's point about the Sox loving high swing and miss rates in the K zone by Ryan and Cease?

Exactly. Mayer will end up facing a few LHPs as they come in relief, and if he shows he can hit them, we can always have Romy start platooning with Masa at DH or whoever we have at 1B (assuming he's a LHB.)