moonslav59

Some melted, but trading Devers in June and watching Anthony and Abreu go on the IL didn't help, either. I agree. We need Alonso, Schwarber, Suarez or K Marte. Bregman & Hoskins is not enough. Bichette & O'Hearn the same. Polanco & Naylor may not be either.

Is the Sam Kennedy Trinity College smackdown talk andy better?

The $8.8M tax hit is a nice plus for Greene. His 2029 option is just $21M, but I get your point. I'd rather keep the extra players and just go Duran or Abreu for Lodolo. If BTV is correct, maybe we can force CIN to take Hicks with Duran (maybe include Wong for Trevino to help being down the cost to CIN.) I like Singer but the one year deals don't appeal to me. Would Cincy do Duran, Hicks, Wong & Crawford for Singer, Lodolo & Trevino

I Campbell and deLeon passed through waivers and were assigned to AAA. They could end up being some decent depth, and I'm glad we created some roster space. I don't envision a 40 man roster crunch, even with Houck needed one slot, but we might have a 26 man crunch due to several pitchers out of options: Hicks, Wink, Moran & Criswell

It's multi-leveled.

The window is now. We need to stop dicking around!

The absurdity is overwhelming.

We need to set out sites higher than Bregman, Bichette, Hoskins and Naylor. Bregman hasn't had a full season with an ISO above .195 since 2019 (.209.) Hoskins has a .204 ISO since 2022 (.195 since 2023 or 2024.) Naylor had a .168 ISO, this season and .213 in '24. (.188 '23-'25) Bichett has not had an ISO above .179 since .186 in '21. 2025 OPS+ (last 3 years) 129 Hoskins (114) 129 Bichette (114) 128 Naylor (125) 128 Bregman (121) ___________________ I think we need to go with one or two from.... 2025 ISO/3 year ISO (OPS+/ 3 yr OPS+) .323/.280 (150/135) Schwarber .252/.252 (144/128) Alosno .243/.223 (126/115 is a bit worrisome) Suarez .233/.236 (145/141) K Marte (tarde?) .229/.191 (134/114) Polanco

I don't see Duran's OBP as being high enough to lead off. I'd start with Anthony at #1. I share you view that we really don't have any currently controlled players that jump out as a solid #2, 3 or 4 batter. Duarn or Story are is okay as a #3. Abreu vs RHPs is fine as a #3 or #4. Ref, if he returns or Romy could be okay as a #3 or 4 vs LHPs, but in general, I agree we need a 2, 3 and 4 batter. That's not going to happen, but we can add two and flip Story/Abreu in the 3 slot, depending on who is the opposing pitcher. 1. L Anthony 2. R ______ 3. L Abreu/ R Story 4. R ______ 5. L Duarn/R Story 6. R Romy or Ref/ L Duran 7. L Mayer/ R Campbell 8. R Narvaez 9. R Rafaela

Yes, but Crochet influences 32 out of 162 games, while Anthony can apply his input on 150+ games. I do value Crochet more, but both are vital to any chance we have for 2026.

I agree with all this, and I would not be surprised if RA is under .850 in 2026. I think he hits .900 at some point, and I get your point about not relying an a 22 year old to have a great season, but he is the best we have, right now, on offense. We are in total agreement on the need to add a big bat. I'm in favor or adding two, with one being no worse than Bregman/Bichette types. I do not think adding Merrill Kelly, Hoskins and Gleyber Torres would be enough. I'm not sure a Duran & Crawford for Ryan trade plus Hoskins and Polanco would even be enough. Hoskins & Polanco is about a push on losing Bregman & Duran. We'd be putting all our eggs in the Anthony, Mayer, Casas (DH) basket. I'd be disappointed going into 2026 with those changes only.

I still like your team's chances, but you need a momentum changer.

If that it, or even adding a Hoskins over Lowe addition plus bringing Matz back, I'd still say a resounding YES! We will likely not win a ring in 2026 running back the same team. We'd be putting all our hopes in less injuries and major steps up by the younger players. While that is not an outlandish plan, teams that fail to improve over the winter are not usually viewed as major contenders. We were about the 10th best team in MLB. One could argue 8th best due to a tougher schedule, and maybe higher, if you averaged out all the teams' injuries, but several teams above us had major injuries, too. The Yanks were missing their ace all year, and teams like the Astros, who we barely topped were missing a large chunk of their rotation all year long. We need to improve- maybe not by as much as I'm advocating, but I can't see how anyone would see us as a top 4-5 contender running back the same team minus Buehler & Lowe plus just Hoskins. Is adding Hoskins enough, assuming Bregman, Gio, Matz and Ref return? I'd call that complacent, too.

If we agree on the idea that we will not likely turnover more than 3-4 positions with 3B, 1B and SP being just about automatic turn-overs due to Bregman & Gio opting out and Lowe's arb cost being too high, but how do you rank out highest need areas? I'm pretty sure you have Rafaela higher on the list than I do, but here is mine: 1. 3B (Mayer can play 2B with Romy/DHam/Sogard as capable depth) T2. SP2 (Preferably a borderline #1) T2. 1B (Casas would be great depth and had options remaining. Romy/Campbell is better extended depth than we knew we had going into 2025.) 4. 2B (With Mayer and Story's health in question, we could use a solid middle IF'er type.) If we miss out on a big bat at 3B or 1B, maybe a trade for someone like K Marte of a J polanco signing could make up for the non plus. I really do not see the other positions as high need, but I'd rank them like this: 5. Back-up Catcher 6. LH'd RP'er 7. Infield depth With RHBs Garcia & Campbell as OF depth and Duran & garcia capable of playing CF well enough, I don't see CF as a need area at all. I know you disagree, but I think you'd be fine with our OF, if we fixed the first 3-4 slots on my priority list.

I'm pretty sure MVP and everyone else is firmly in the camp against complacency. We need Crochet and Anthony plus more. Much more, but not at 7 other positions. We need 3, maybe 4 high quality players. That seems like a lot, but really, it doesn't have to be. We are losing Bregman, Gio and Buehler's contracts. We have an extra high-quality OF'er to headline a trade package. Sure, we have some big extensions kicking in a few small arb raises to add on, but there should be $40-50M to spend plus one major trade. That should be enough for 3 major additions. If we don't add 2-3, we'll know JH is fine with complacency.

Yes, I know you did not say there was harm in talking. I'm fine with Mayer at SS, but with his injury history, we need a solid plan B option, even if it means sliding Story back to SS and having a real good back-up at 2B/3B to step in and not kill the team like DHam and Toro almost did.

I agree, but just because Crochet is so great, it doesn't mean Anthony gets any worse. Of course, some of RA's value is based on speculation, but just about everyone agrees he's the real deal. 300 PAs may have been deceptive, but if people can write off Campbell on even less PAs, then why not think Anthony can top .860 in 2026? I'm not just saying this because we need him to do so, and I am not a homer on every Sox player's 2026 outlook. (See my Duran is in decline point I've since retracted.) Every team in MLB would have Anthony high on their list of 2026 projections.

Between Anthony and Crochet (23-9 in his starts,) this team would be out of the conversation for 2026. We need both. We also need Chapman to come close to his 2025 numbers and a couple or more pre-prime players to kick it up a notch. I'm fine with Drew's feelings on not planning on 22-26 year olds improving, but the fact is, even with 2 big bat additions and a solid SP'er, we will probably need a few to make jumps, anyway. These young players that Sox are counting on are not Henry Owens, Bobby Dalbec, Ryan Lavarnway and Jay Groome. These are guys recognized at the national level plus some who have already shown they can produce at the ML level, at least in some key areas. Anthony is just 21. If he never gives us more than .860, he'd still be a major plus. Why shouldn't we expect even better? Mayer and Garcia are just 22 and largely unproven, but both make the national rankings. Campbell is 23 and showed some serious limitations in '25, but this kid has some real promise left in him. Rafaela is 24 and Casas 25. That's 6 guys at 25 and younger, and we don't need but 3-4 of them to get better. We don't need all 6. Then, we have another 3-4 players entering or in their peak prime years: Abreu, Duran, Narvaez and Romy. Our post prime players are not way past prime: Story 32, Yoshida 31 and Wong 29. Only Story is viewed as a FT'er, anyway. So, we have Story plus 3-4 youngsters and 3-4 prime players making it about 7-9. Add two high quality big bats, and we have a nice 9 with a solid bench.

I'm not sure a single poster feels this winter has no urgency. We may see the extent of it at various levels, I think most of us feel at minimum we need a big bat (RHB) and a solid SP'er, plus some depth signings. Some of us, myself included, feel we need 2 big bats and more than just a solid SP'er. I'm pulling for a #1/2 type, like maybe Ryan, Greene, Lodolo types. A few of us might want even more, but with JH's budget limits likely and maybe one big trade as asking for a lot, I think the limit is adding 2-3 high quality players. I won't be surprised if it's just 1 plus some decent secondary players. Hell, zero won't surprise me, with JH forcing Brez to add 3-5 good but not great players. We can argue all day about Anthony, Abreu, Duran, Story, Casas and others, but the fact is we simply have to count on them as starters (including Rafaela & Narvaez.) We aren't replacing more than 1-2 current players and also replacing Bregman, Lowe, Refsnyder, Gio, Buehler and Wilson. Right now, Anthony is our best bet at being a major offensive boost. We can hope Story, Abreu and others stay about even. Maybe Abreu plays more and hits 30+ dingers. We can hope Casas returns to .800+ batting. We can hope Mayer, Campbell or others make a big jump, but I'm with Drew on the need to add two big bats. At minimum, one could be at the Bregman/Bichette/Hoskins/Naylor level, but that might not even be enough. The other(s) need to be at the Alonso, Suarez, Schwarber, K Marte level. Then, we need a solid and dependable SP'er- no more Buehlers, Sandovals and Klubers. Does anyone here think just running back the same team makes us a top 4-5 contender? (Assuming Bregman, Story, Ref, Matz and Gio return.)

Bregman is a FA just like anyone else who is, although we can negotiate up until the date all FAs can be. I'm going on the assumption Story is back, but if not, we'll just add one more high need to the list that I see as being 3 deep, as of now. Yes, we can wait to talk, but there is no harm in starting now.

We got lucky Nate had a bit of an uptick.

How about this for a winter plan? Sign Suarez (1B & back-up 3B) M Kelly & Matz Trade: Duran & Crawford for Joe Ryan Trade: Campbell, Tolle & Sandlin for K Marte (I'd try to avoid giving up Tolle by offering Dobbins & Fiits/Harrison/Clarke, but...) 1. L Anthony LF 2. S K Marte 2B 3. L Abreu RF 4. R Suarez 1B 5. L Yoshida/ R Romy DH 6. R Story SS 7. L Mayer 3B 8. R Narvaez C 9. R Rafaela CF Bench: Wong, Romy/Yoshida, Sogard, Garcia SP: Crochet, Ryan, Kelly, Bello, Early (Dobbins/Harrison/Fitts/Criswell/Perales/Holobetz/Uberstine) RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Weissert, Bernardino, Matz, Wink, Hicks (Moran, Kelly, Guerrero, I Campbell/Mullins, Song, Drohan, Hoppe)

I still think we should have moved Devers to 1B the minute Breggie signed. (Casas to DH.) I'm not sure it works out any better, but the second position move ask seemed to trigger the last straw for Devers.

Had he gotten Lowe earlier and then traded for a real bat at the deadline, mayb e we go farther, but with the Anthony injury coming afterwards, I doubt we reach the promise land even if we added Suarez, Naylor of whoever on O. We also needed a SP'ers, so I don't throw much blame at Brez for not going overly nutty after the Devers trade. I do think he needs to be bold, this winter, or I will be throwing blame at him and or JH.

Maybe "decline" is a bit premature, and maybe the memories of Jake are overriding my logic. An age 29 season (2026) should not signal decline. It is often enough a player's best season. I just got a sense that he was not the same batter he was from 2023-2024, and for some reason, he stopped trying to steal bases as much. (Tired? Injured?) You are right, I should not read the last 3 seasons' OPS+ of 121>132>114 as a sign of decline, but it could be.