5GoldGlovesOF,75

At least after the purge of old fools we're seeing more impact of Driveline on the offense. It's not easy to consistently hit weak pop-ups and infield tappers and go 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position,

I said less than 87 wins -- not 67!

Duran proves the new adage that bad hitting sustains bad pitching.

Weissert with men on base -- Tracy trying to get fired, too?

Gotta give you credit -- no one puts as much time and effort arguing against other posters' opinions and points of views on a forum where people just wanna talk Sox. I enjoy offering takes that others may not have considered, and reading takes that I have not considered, while trying to look at all sides of issues and topics of discussion that we are discussing. When I suggest the way players think I am not necessarily stating only MLB players (especially today's big leaguers) -- but generalizations from experience about baseball players at levels beyond Little League and high school. I am blessed to have been able to play in competitive hardball leagues for half a century and I also coached for 15 of those. I played and coached with and against guys who were major leaguers and others who went on to become major leaguers. Spent long bus rides with fellow players and coaches to games, ate soggy Blimpies, and talked ball... flew cross country to play in national tournaments, spent nights in hotels, restaurants, bars, and talked ball. Sorry if I offended you with what seem like assumptions about the thoughts of baseball players that I've known all my life.

The owners and President Sham love statements like this to justify not paying market value for position player talent. And of course these Red Sox are so bad that it's almost too late for any one bat to save them. But a superstar can't hurt, and affects the opposition just by his presence. Managers and pitching coaches and pitchers and catchers and defenses all feel more pressure to get batters out if they know an All-Star slugger or hot masher is on double deck or triple deck or even quadruple deck. This year Boston has nobody that foes fear or even respect (except Contreras if you plunk him in the wrong spot). Why was Anthony such a threat in the WBC, where he hit clutch homers off MLB pitchers? Answer: because he was surrounded by threats on Team USA. The Yankees' batting average is identical to the Sox, but NY has one guy no one can stop thinking about. Houston won yesterday even though Alvarez went 0-for-5... but everyone was always wary about his spot coming up, and maybe not as concerned about others who wound up doing damage.

Without holes in them. H per AB with RISP for Red Sox in 2026 Losses; 2-14, 0-7, 1-3, 0-2, 1-7, 0-5, 5-11, 3-12, 1-6, 0-4, 0-6, 1-5, 0-7, 1-8, 0-1, 1-8, 0-3, 1-8, 1-8, 3-11 Shirley, other teams have similar failure in the clutch in games they lost, but in 16 of 20 Ls Boston has either one or zero hits with runners in scoring position. In those 16 games they are 8-for-80 with RISP -- or in basically half their games this season, the Red Sox' batting average with RISP is .100. Boston's overall team batting average of .235 is actually tied for 8th in the league with two first-place teams in the Yankees and Guardians, plus the Angels. Considering how utterly futile the bats have been when it matters, that must mean the Red Sox get a lot of hits when nobody cares (or when viewers get a snack, use the bathroom, or switch to Netflix).

Something that can't be measured: the effect one more bat can have on the pitches other hitters get to see. Obviously, it would have to be an All-Star bat, even a very scary bat -- one that not only extends innings, but stresses starting pitchers, forcing them to strain elbows and shoulders and increase pitch counts, and ultimately throw more from the stretch, eventually taxing and burning out bullpens earlier. And ideally, create better opportunities for teammates to feast on mistake pitches batting in front of or behind this one more bat.

Worst team in 94 years. So not only the worst Red Sox team in my son's lifetime, and my lifetime... but in my parents' lifetime.

For a pennant winner, that bullpen was pretty bad -- the top five relievers in games pitched had ERAs hovering at 4 or worse (and as we know, that doesn't account for inherited runs allowed). Schiraldi getting called up at the end of the summer basically saved the season, and he was good in the LCS... but as we know, burned out in the WS. But you're right, Crawford was a postseason hero and the only Red Sox besides Hurst to win a World Series game. His scariest moment came in the bottom of the 9th in LCS Game 5 vs. the Angels with the pennant-winning run on 3rd, one out, and clean-up batter Doug DeCinces up. He popped up to right and the run didn't score. After the game, which Boston won, 7-6 in extras, California Manager Gene Mauch said, "I have nowhere to sleep tonight. I bet my house DeCinces would get that run home."

Bregman wasn't voted to the 2025 AL All-Star team by the fans. He was selected by his peers as a reserve for the first half of his one year as a Red Sox. His defense was ok, but barely above Replacement Player level. He stole one base on the season. For what other reason could players around the league base their votes? He had a .921 OPS in the 1st half, then injury affected his offense in the 2nd half, when he slipped to .727. Overall, the Sox lost a third baseman with an .821 OPS. Devers was .921 in his last stint as a Red Sox. Refsnyder was .838. Lowe was .790. All left, and only one newcomer has approached those numbers. Breslow -- who I praised today for his 2025 offseason acquisitions -- left this year's roster incomplete. And we all knew it before this woeful season even began. No one can say otherwise.

Third-hand? That must be the one that arranged seashells into 8647 -- which old Red Sox fans recognize immediately as an homage to team Hall of Famer Bruce Hurst. In '86 the lefty ace starter wore number 47 when he was about to be named World Series MVP -- until his staff mates blew Game 6. He even outpitched Cy Young MVP Roger Clemens! But McNamara should've started Oil Can in Game 7 and let him go as long as he could, then brought in Hurst to finish... thus, eliminating the temptation to hand the ball to anyone in the bullpen whose eyes were frozen in the headlights of infamy. Again.

Bregman, because the team is not as good without him. There's evidence the entire offense is not the same this year because of the huge hole Breslow left in the batting order -- which all of us worried about all winter long, especially after AB signed with the Cubs. No one can measure the positive effects Bregman had on both the young and veteran hitters in Boston, but we know plenty of them extolled the virtues of Alex's feedback in the cages and reviewing videos. Contreras is good, but most of us knew without a doubt the Sox needed two All-Star bats to improve. Is this even debatable? Suarez, who I wanted the Sox to sign, was added after the Gray acquisition -- when the rotation was already looking loaded with depth. Sure, anyone can use hindsight and point to injuries to three starters and setbacks to a few more supposedly returning -- just like lamenting losing Vaughn Grissom because he's hot now... so far (but not Hammy).

I acknowledge it's just hard for some to accept qualitative data that they can't graph or measure with numbers. And I have nothing against Durbin, an obvious target for other fans who can't appreciate his contributions because his body may not fit the perfect Aryan. But flashback a year: do you think it was luck that the three All-Stars Breslow acquired in the '25 offseason all made the All-Star team again last summer?

Right, Anthony has had no issues this year being served curveballs in the dirt every at bat because there's no reason to throw him a pitch he can actually reach with K-king Story directly behind him in the batting order instead of Bregman. And there's no logic to consider factors that new players have to adjust to when they change teams like new pitchers, new ballparks, new umpires, new time zones, menus, language, groupies -- all that matters are stats.

Again, over and over with the stats of a bygone Sox player toiling elsewhere. And once again, we have no idea how that same player this year would be performing -- better or worse -- if he remained in the heart of the order in Boston. In Fenway Park. In the AL East... ... or how guys like Anthony would be faring if he wasn't billed as THE face, arms and legs of the franchise, but instead had with the same protection in the line-up and same veteran presence in the batting cages of the guy whose locker he was stationed next to in the clubhouse last season. Or if that guy would be traded or DFAed by now for standing up for Fatse.

Now we know where they reassigned Tek: charter pilot.

My post was solely about position players -- guys who play every day for six months, not once a week. But Brez says he's glad you drank the Coolaid and pivoted to his pivot. And now you get to hope Sox starting pitchers throw shutouts every night... ... or at least don't leave the mound with runners on base and Weissert taking the ball.

... because once he's rich for life and no longer "hungry," he'll win annual Cy Youngs and the Sox won't have to pay him market value! But if he tanks, we'll just eat all the money and raise prices on tickets, concessions and parking. Money for nothing, chicks for free.

Red Sox fans knew better. But he should be ready mid-season -- no, next year -- when he'll be better than anyone we could trade for at the deadline. Lied Sam Kennedy, over and over and over again.

Tek was writing Haikus: A catcher receives Breslow thinks his change-up's good He has no fastball

I could care less about that if a player is a current fit on the front end. At least you know with a guy like Bregman, your investment is for more than just a bat and glove. And by now, Red Sox fans should know better: will any savings lead them to offer or acquire a longterm contract for another free agent All-Star position player? They never replaced Mookie or Xander or Raffy with new star performers whose production approached theirs when in Boston (please don't bore me with that trio's stats since, because it has nothing to do with this statement). Instead, the Sox have the worst offense in the majors. Forget about if this is their worst team in half a century; how about that this is the worst Red Sox team to watch for pure entertainment value. Some posters use examples of past failures in Boston loaded with batting champs and home run hitters, but those clubs were at least fun to watch. Most were contenders, and if they weren't, they were interesting.

Ok, you did a lot of work on this list, so your penance is up for saying anything posters complain about regarding this current front office is stupid. My sardonic Bailey post wasn't meant to be disparaging to him, of course, but to those who want to fire any coaches for something any player does later, when he no longer works with them. As if anyone can control anyone. Hammy's a better bunter -- why, because he practiced and made himself one, or because his new coach suggested he hold the bat at a 45 degree ascending angle instead of that fireable Old School Boston guy who wanted it parallel to the ground -- like we were taught in the Sychodelic Sixties and Schlitzaholic Seventies.

Bulking up from throwing Louisville javelins.

But don't light a cigar like Henry, or the head might catch on fire!