Nick

Call the 4077 MASH unit.

I really don't think so. Both Abreu and Anthony will have chance to DH. They seem to love Rafaela's defense in center field where he's thought of as 'elite'. Not really sure but if would ease the congestion if he does move there. Then we won't have to see Hamilton. Anthony/Duran/Abreu/Rafaela (2B) versus Duran/Rafaela/Anthony/Abreu (DH)/Hamilton (2B)?

I think Moon forgot that Abreu was coming off IL. So they sent Campbell down in lieu of Eaton?

Abreu

Was 1st month just luck? Clearly Mayer had better spring than Campbell. Mayer is far superior defensive player and Mayer also looks more comfortable at the plate. It's really hard to watch Campbell anymore. He can't get the ball airborne. He looks scared out in the field. 1% tile in defense? Well someone has to come last.

Putting on John Henry's hat. There was an article that mentioned Red Sox and the Orioles as two teams having good operational income on the baseball front. I was bit surprised by mentioning of the Orioles. So maybe that was the more of reason we decided to spend money last winter. I have no explanation for the Orioles new ownership being cheap. We gained about $3M for 2026 by trading Devers' contract with Crochet's new contract that starts in 2026. Buehler's $21M won't be coming back. Maybe we fill that internally, Pat Sandoval is already being paid $9M for 2026 (it's already baked in for 2026 tax payroll). Say Crochet, Bello, Dobbins, Kutter, Houck, Kyle Harrison, Fitts, Criswell and maybe Tolle and Early will materialize during 2026. Keeping Giolito may end up eating up all of savings from Buehler. Kutter and Houck may get a slight arbitration raises to combined $10M. The big ticket item will be replacing Chapman's $11M contract. I would love to see us sign him to a multiple year deal. So assuming Buehler, Giolito and Chapman all leave, that gives us about $30M to acquire a closer and/or another high level starter. Arbitration raises to Houck and Kutter will be covered by leftover from getting rid of Dever's contract, net of Crochet raise. Jordan Hicks from Giants will add $10M to our payroll for 2026. It's nothing if we don't sign a closer and go internally. It's possible we'll have Slaten, Whitlock, Weissert along with Houck and Kutter as possible back end relievers. This is the area I'll give Breslow much credit. He has given us many options. Do we go with another Buehler type signing for 2026 and then go all out for Boras client Tarik Skubal in 2026? That's what I would do. Downside is Detroit does have money to retain him.

Where do we put Houck, Kutter and more importantly the newly acquired Kyle Harrison from the Giants?

Ranking the Relievers based on recent outings? Need help here. It's getting crowded. Keepers (?) 1 Chapman (L) 2 Weissert 3 Whitlock 4 Wilson (L) 5 Bernardino (L) 6 Alcala (hard thrower, just got him in a trade, 2 yrs of team control) Will be Gone to AAA 7 Guerrero (too many walks) 8 Kelly Replacements (all on IL) 9 Hicks 10 Slaten 11 Hendriks Interesting times we live in.

For those 'surprised' at the TIMING of Devers' trade, consider this. Posey has stated the deal was in the works for a few weeks. Apparently the Padres, the Jays and the Braves were also interested. The Giants won with a combination of taking the entirety of Devers' contract along giving us 4 players. So no. The deal was not made the night before. Us having to go play Devers within a week of the trade is pure coincidence. Now you know. (For the why trade him now when things are looking up crowd.)

Sox are #2 in AL at the DH spot just behind the Yankees with an OPS of .879 (Devers obviously). The Athletics are in third with OPS of .754. So yes, OPS of say .790 from the DH spot would be great!

I like butter.

We take 2 out of 3 while getting outscored 9-5.....usually that's us and pound our chest: "We have an hell of offense."

Buehler is simply a placeholder. Maybe Giolito can give us 1 more year. He is good when its going for him. Maybe higher ceiling than Buehler at this stage in their respective careers. We are waiting for Bello to take a step forward. Dobbins look promising. Is it possible that Kyle H will join the starting rotation at some point? Than add the Detroit ace in 2027.

I am rooting against Cleveland.

We scored 2-4-2-2-0-3 runs the last 6 games and went 5-1. We have pitching. (lol) We're 7-4 when we score 3 runs, 5-4 when we score 4 runs, 4-4 when we score 5 runs. 18-5 when we score 6+ runs. Crochet 10-6, Buehler 7-5, Giolito 6-3, Dobbins 6-3, Bello 6-5, combined 35-22 when this five starts. That's +13 over .500. Yankees lead the Division with 12 games over .500. Maybe we're not as bad as we think.

Well if Bres can get a Crochet and a Bregman each year, I'm good.

He's just an average runner. He doesn't have arm. He just looks very tentative right now. I don't think he's athletic. So he's unathletic. I'm old school. Athleticism to me equates to track and field running events. In my sport, I look for quick feet, quick and high jumper, strong arm.

Campbell is not even a good outfielder. The guy is tagging up and he doesn't get back to get behind the ball so he can fire to 3B. He is really not athletic.

Who goes when Yoshida and Abreu returns? It's got to me Eaton and Hamilton, unless it's Campbell.

I'll take 3 runs.

Tarik Skubal will be a free agent AFTER 2026 season. He's making $10,150M this year. Lucky for us that his agent is Boras. That means Skubal will go FA route. Sox needs to gear up for him. Got to have him. Crochet, Skubal, Bello, and two cheap starters will go long ways in getting us to the World Series. (maybe Dobbins and Kyle Harrison?)

I will never bad mouth Devers for his performance. He's a very good baseball player. Maybe even a Hall of Fame worthy. But I'm not going to relitigate what happened here. It didn't do me any good to torment over Betts departure. My being negative toward Devers and Betts probably has more to do with concealing my hurt feelings. When my favorite team loses in NCAA tournament, for me the basketball season is over. That's how I deal with disappointments. Devers is over for me.

I'd hedge a bit. $20M on a one year deal is easier to deal with than $313M over 10 yrs, now 8 1/2 years left.

Great article. I feel the same way about our 4 rookies. They along with Crochet, Bello, Dobbins and Rafaela are our future. Maybe throw in recently acquire Kyle Harrison with 5 yrs of team control. You can go ahead and throw in Duran to the mix who is under team control for 4 years. Also look at our bullpen (although I agree that you can't make long term plans for any of them). We have hard throwers in Guerrero (6 years), Alcala (2 yrs). How about Slaten (5yrs)? Bernardino is also under team control for 5 yrs, same with Weissert. I'm just not heartbroken over Devers leaving. I have always wondered if Pittsburgh would have taken Devers, $15M per year, Duran, Crawford and say Campbell (not trading Mayer and Anthony) and couple of more minor leaguers for 5 years of Skenes. They are paying Mitch Keller $15M+ so Devers contract is affordable, subsidized.

I think we can improve at the catcher position. Especially if the DH spot opens up. Narvaez looks like a hitter to me at the plate. I would love for him to DH today.