Nick

Very True....what would help is for Anthony, Myer, Casas and Kutter all to get healthy. Get something out of someone like Sandoval and have another youngster emerge. I was sorry to see 'password' get traded. Maybe it's Early as a starter and Tolle as a back end reliever. It appears we have plethora of pitching prospects but we are pretty dried up as far as position players are concerned. Our #2, Franklin Frias, 22 is slated to arrive at majors mid-2027. Perhaps he's the replacement for Story in 2028. Casas will be a FA in 2029 so we still have time. Let's hope he's not the clone of my former favorite now playing in Japan.

This is what I would tell John Henry. We benefitted from Chrochet having a monster year at the monetary cost of $3.8M last year. But that amount moves up to $28.333M for next six years, a delta of $24.533M. Hopefully we'll get the year he had in 2026. Throw in Anthony's extension. It went from $2.65M in 2025 to $16.250M for 2026, a delta of $13.600M. What is true is this. 1. Buehler's $21.050M has been replaced by Gray's $21.000M for 2026. We have also replaced (in theory) Giolito's $19.250M with Oviedo's $1.700M, net gain of $17M. Maybe it's a pipe dream to think Oviedo will give us what Giolito gave in 2025. But we also inherited $10.258M with the addition of Jordan Hicks. That give us total net gain of say $7M. 2.Bregman's $31.677M has been replaced by Contreras' $21.250, net gain of $11M. 3. Devers' AAV of $29M is gone, net gain of $29M. Thus we gained approximately $47M in payroll before the raises to Crochet and Anthony totaling $38M, generating a net gain of $9M. Bottom line? It will cost us to above and beyond last year's CBA payoll to replace the bats of Bregman and Devers. We certainly can't get a comparable bat(s) for $9M. I'm not sure calling Henry cheap is 100% justified.

https://bosoxinjection.com/giants-gm-reminds-red-sox-why-they-never-should-have-traded-rafael-devers/partners/36534?fbclid=IwY2xjawOxVrVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEepxtZ5pkgVNh2kZvUQNc7uGF_QU2gm0ed0qpmldnFCqxRwETKS1dnAs0Xpi8_aem_P1wpBSDbDlGtYETpQCazTA I'm pretty sure Bres said one thing we needed was more power in our lineup. Who will get the blame this year if we fail to make the playoffs? He won't have Devers and his 36 home runs to kick around. I guess I'm back to pulling for Casas.

Should all of our minor leaguers go ahead and get Tommy John and get that out of the way?

Bennett is BIGGER. We seem to value SIZE with our potential starters. We also value RELEASE POINT, CLOSER TO THE PLATE THE BETTER. He's also LEFT HANDED. AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT MOST IMPORTANTLY HE WAS OUT ALL YEAR IN 2024 WITH TOMMY JOHN. THAT'S PROBABLY THE #1 REASON.

I am going to quit wishing for something that may never come. We'll need to continue to develop young talent and sign them early to an extension. That seems to be our modus operandi. I guess I should be more concerned with plethora of injuries.

Devers' Payroll savings myth, short term. No doubt we escaped from the long term deal. A ten year $313.5M deal is good to get out from. But in a near terms, specifically for 2026 and 2027, we inherited Jordan Hicks annual AAV of $10M, thus reducing Dever's salary savings to $19M. We did not shed $29M per annum for next two years. We're still saddled with Yoshida's $18M for next two years along with $23M for Trevor Story.

Winter Meetings a reminder that Red Sox don’t prioritize championships anymore

Henry does indeed needs to sell the team. Apparently he thinks his legacy is sealed with 4 World Series wins. That's NOT what we'll remember him for.......I'll always remember him as a cheap ass as things are going.

Are we better today than say beginning of September 2025? 1) Sonny Gray (32 GS/180 IP) > Giolito (26 GS/145 IP)? 3.6 WAR vs 2.0WAR 2)Crochet, can he repeat his 5.8 WAR? 3)Bello, can he improve on his 1.9 WAR (28GS, 166 IP)? 4)Devers, his 2.0 WAR at DH is gone 5)How to replace Bregman's 3.5 WAR (114 Games)? 6)Anthony surely will improve on his 2.7 WAR in 71 games. 7)Abreu had 2.4 WAR in 115 games, is he still a platoon guy? 8)Rafela had a 3.8 WAR pretty much on his defense alone. Will he be more productive offensively? 9) Can we replace approximately 50 games from starting pitchers no longer (or injured) with the team? IF including Anthony was a part of Skubal deal and guarantees 2 back to back world series rings, would you do it?

Exactly....Quit making gradiose promises. They are unnecessary and makes one look like a con man. Shouldn't an Ivy Leaguer do better? I can do it because I'm just an IU grad.

Sean McAdam: “If the Red Sox were looking for someone to slot in between ace Garrett Crochet and Gray, Oviedo isn’t it, though it’s conceivable he could soon grow into that sort of role. As I have said often, Mr. Breslow, QUIT LYING ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO. You promised #2 starter. QUIT LYING. ARE YOU DUMB TO THINK THE TWO STARTING ACQUISITIONS ARE #2 TYPE TODAY? PERHAPS OVIEDO WILL GROW INTO ONE, BUT HE IS NOT A #2 TODAY. DO YOU THINK THE SOX FANS ARE STUPID. YEAR AFTER YEAR, YOU AND YOUR CRONIES LIE TO US. HOW TO FIX IT? JUST SHUT UP. DON'T SAY THINGS YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY. DON'T OVER PROMISE US. I THINK YOU ARE AN HONORABLE PERSON BUT YOU SURE SCREW UP EVERY CHANCE WITH 1 WE'LL GET THE BEST PLAYERS 2 IT JUST DIDN'T WORK OUT. THAT'S BECOME YOUR TWO STEP. JUST SHUT UP WITH #2 CRAP.

I don't believe you're correct. Options not exercised will be added to current year, thus it will be $41M less $20M = $21M in 2026 and not $10.5M for two years (2026/2027).

Our infield still looks thin to me. I would think we can always find a decent backup catcher. Not at the top of my list.

$20M in return makes me feel better. If he can continue to throw strikes, I'm good with it. We've had too many acquisitions where the control left them. I love it that this happened early. I hate the waiting game. Go get Schwarber, and we'll be 60% done for the winter.

As an Indiana graduate, I'd love to have Schwarber. I'm little peeved that we haven't heard much about Sandoval.

$281M(Yankees) vs $196M (Sox)....can we close the gap? And the Yankees still want Bellinger.

Red Sox’ short postseason has Alex Cora wanting more: ‘Playing three games is not good enough’ And he wants the fans to do what?

So the Sox acquired another outfield/infielder who bats from left side? And dumped the remaining left handed reliever? Is it our goal to acquire tons of fringe players with speed? Don't we already have Eaton and Sogard?

My expectations for this winter is not very high. I keep hearing in my head why we weren't able to sign anyone we wanted....Bres is killing me inside my head. It's on a loop....."it just didn't work out for us....you know both sides have to agree....etc, etc, etc."

Ok, you got a point there.....

"Mayer’s injury history should be another concern if he replaces Bregman or Story. It’s fair to question whether the Sox can rely on him to be available for the majority of a 162-game season." What the hell is wrong with him? Does he have some type of physical disability? What? No toughness? Why do we keep talking about his injuries? Are they abnormal? Why would you think he won't be able to play 162 games? If that's the true belief, then get rid of him. I have never seen so much whining over a 24 year old prime in his life.

The Bad There was one sole thing that dampened Whitlock’s glorious season: If and when he went more than one inning, he usually had a harder time. This was unfortunately the most evident during the Wild Card series, when he was called on to pitch the most he had the entire season and wasn’t able to keep the Sox in a good spot to (try to) win. After getting tasked with pitching two innings for the first time in (what feels like) ages, and throwing more pitches in a relief outing than he ever has in his career, he couldn’t keep the game tied, gave up the go-ahead run on an RBI single, and nearly completely fell apart after that. I'm not convinced. His best year was his freshman year.

I am 50/50 on what Bres will do this fall. I just don't want to hear "we tried but the numbers didn't work....."Lets not forget all of his failings with starting pitchers", saved by Crochet get. 2023 Corey Kluber $10M 2024 Lucas Giolito $38.5M for one year's production 2024 Liam Hendricks $10M for nothing 2025 Walker Buehler $21.5M 2025 Yoshida $18M....he's really added a piece to our world series hopes.... JUST PAY WHATEVER IT TAKES TO ACQUIRE SKUBAL....QUIT BARGAIN HUNTING IN THE MASH UNIT Right now, we're not good enough to beat the Dodgers. Isn't that the point?

7. The best Red Sox player or prospect traded will be: COTILLO: Ceddanne Rafaela My hot take of the winter is that the Red Sox are going to find Duran’s value to be lower than they expect and Rafaela’s to be much higher than expected across the game. Therefore, headlining a trade package with Rafaela — most teams won’t balk at the six years and $48 million (plus a club option) he’s guaranteed — can’t be ruled out. Trading the Gold Glover is not Plan A for the Sox but would allow a (left-to-right) outfield of Anthony, Duran (who is better in center than left) and Abreu with someone like Schwarber getting a full load of DH at-bats. Can we just move away from 3 lefty hitting outfielders? I will not shed a tear over Duran leaving. You get to keep 2 Gold Glovers, young outfielders not named Anthony. Why is this so difficult?