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Having Houck, Crawford and Oviedo all miss the entire season probably hurt more, especially since only Houck was expected to miss that much time (as far as I know). Losing Crochet after 6 games also hurt that depth. If you think about it, Crochet, Houck, Crawford and Oviedo is 4/5 of a pretty good rotation on their own. The Sox did have plenty of starter depth when those trades were made. They’ve just burned through most (all?) of it…

I think you’re thinking of Daniel Bard. Papelbon pitched 9.2 IP that month with a 3.72 ERA (not great for a closer but really only 4 ER), a 7.5 K/BB and even notched two saves. Bard was utterly horrific….

Whether or not that’s true, it will certainly be the story if they go out early again. I do think it’s easier to push that button if they are rested and healthy than if they’re banged up and burned out. The bottom line is the postseason will see 12 teams enter and 11 of them are going to end on a loss. And then the best way to be that final team is to be as close as possible to full strength…

I think they’re on a bit of cruise control right now. The plan looks like “pace yourself, stay healthy.” They’d rather let Jedixson Paez start and lose badly than pile IP on Sonny Gray, for example. Yes, their record might suffer. Does it matter? They’re 5 behind the Yankees and 8.5 behind Toronto with only 22 games left. And they have to pass the Yankees for it to matter. From the other way, they’re 4.5 games ahead of Cleveland for dropping down a slot and 6 ahead of Texas and Baltimore for missing the postseason entirely. So change is unlikely in 22 games. Sure the Sox could have a 2011-style collapse. Obviously it’s happened before. We had one in 2011, coincidentally. Sonce sub-.500 Texas and Baltimore can’t string together big streaks, and NY and Tampa far away, the most likely change if any happens is Cleveland passes Boston. And then the Sox travel to Houston instead of Yankee Stadium. Not sure that’s necessarily the worst outcome either. Now I don’t think they’re tanking. But I do think they would rather lose a few inconsequential games in the standings over burning out their staff chasing the Yankees in a futile jockey for position…

I think there’s a bit of cruise control happening. With 22 games left. the Sox are 4 back from NY and 8.5 behind Tampa. Even if they catch NY, they really need to pass them for it to matter. They’re 4.5 ahead of Cleveland in the last wild card and 6 ahead of Baltimore and Texas for missing the postseason entirely.

Distance isn’t always geographic…

Exactly.

His 1.51 ERA hasn’t gotten him called up to a team with no pitching? Orioles are probably doing exactly what Boston would be doing with him - waiting until the dust clears…

No they wouldn’t have. Neither is on the 40 man roster. Witherspoon has a 4.78 ERA in Baltimore’s AA affiliate and is walking over 4 hitters per 9. He was doing the same thing in Portland, which is not dominating. Eyanson has been better but he wasn’t going to get called up for a single rotation-saving start and then left on the 40 man roster in the wake of a pending lockout. Baltimore hasn’t added him yet, either. Parz is Rule 5 eligible and basically fighting for a future roster spot. The Sox gave him his first chance. Since he lacks Eyanson’s overall profile and ceiling, I don’t think the Sox care if he loses development time in a lockout…

And his teammates used to get in shape running laps around him. Usually two laps was enough…

Pablo also ate Hanley Ramirez. So he wasn’t all bad…

Dominant with Baltimore? They’re nowhere near Baltimore; they’re in AA. Paez was good in the minors, too…

Bedeviling?

Gasper vs RHP. Sogard vs LHP, with Monasterio taking over 2b. Seigler, Romy, and Eaton aren’t even on the team right now… Next question…

Gasper is having a good stretch, but his place on the 2027 Red Sox might not be as secure as you think it is.(Although as he has an option for 2027, he’s probably not getting waived, either.). His career OPS+ of 89 has him more in line with Mickey Klutts (85) than Mickey Tettleton (122)..

I see Arias to SS, Story to 2b, Mead to DH, Anthony to LF, Duran to … another team. And then ppl complaining that Breslow didn’t get the DH they wanted and his job should be on the line…

Or go over foul poles…

Stop. There’s like 8 Mets’ fans in NY, presumably the same 8 misguided souls that also root for the Jets. You have a better chance of finding a narwhal in your medicine cabinet than running into a Mets’ fan in NY. It’s like those White Sox “fans”…

The only one to replace him will be Arias. Barring injury, of course…

I believe it does not. But Gasper’s can still be recalled in the event of injury…

I’d like to see reseeding each round as well. Or just seed teams solely based on record and actually acknowledge that a team finishing second with 95 wins is actually a better team than a division winner with 88 wins by virtue of not only having a better record but also a tougher schedule to attain it.,.

They might have tried, but clearly couldn’t find a deal to adequately replace Duran, a 29yo outfielder worth some 12 WAR over the two previous seasons. Do you think they tried to move Duran simply to get rid of him or because they felt they had an abundance of good outfielders and decided he was the one that was most expendable but could also bring back the best return? It would appear they were ok bringing him back and playing him. And how much effort went into getting a 2b that could hit once they acquired Durbin? I am not so sure Mayer was Plsn B or C as a starter…

The Sox scored 4.86 runs per game with Devers and then “plummeted” to 4.84 without him. They had a good offense even after dealing him. So again - where were all these missing bats supposed to play?

Fans wanted more bats, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that got ignored. He did add Contreras and Durbin, and they were replacing Abraham Toro and Nate Lowe at 1b and Bregman. Going into the season, they had what looked like a decent lineup with: C: Narvaez 1b: Contreras 2b: Mayer 3b: Durbin SS: Story LF: Duran CF: Rafaela RF: Abreu DH: Anthony Where are all these other bats expected to play? Maybe catcher and 2b? I don’t blame Breslow for not upgrading those positions. Narvaez’ value wasn’t coming from his bat, anyway. And they weren’t going to bench Duran or Anthony, and couldn’t trade Duran for what they wanted for him. Which 2b option out there was supposed to be the “missing bat”? And was he enough of an upgrade that the Sox should block their best prospects? (Should they likewise block Arias this offseason?) Not to mention, getting a full season from Anthony plus improvements from Abreu (yes!) and Mayer (didn’t happen) should have at a minimum kept the seventh best offense in MLB at the status quo. Don’t forget they ranked 7 last year, not 25. The offense wasn’t horrible last year. Unless you judge the entire 165 game season solely by those last 3 playoff games. And the big reason many wanted to go for it now was the Sox had a young, controlled ace in Crochet. Well, so far this year Crochet has been a non-factor, to be kind, yet the Sox have the third best record in the AL. If we knew Anthony would get injured, Duran would disappear, Mayer would be a non-factor, Narvaez would take numerous steps backwards, Durbin would bat like a pitcher for the first two plus months, Story would struggle and miss time with an injury, sure, I suppose they ignored the possibility that two thirds of the lineup would disappear in April, May and most of June. But they didn’t know that, did they?

Breslow didn’t ignore any needs. He just made solutions you clearly didn’t like despite the fact that many have worked out.