5GoldGlovesOF,75

This is a prediction, since we're on the verge of doldrum's just another word for nothing left to lose. (maybe it should be on the Realistic 2026 thread...) Under heavy advice by Theo Epstein, John Henry will make an offer to Tampa to buy out Kevin Cash's contract so he can sign the richest contract ever rewarded to a big league manager. Remember, Theo set the precedent a decade ago when he stole Joe Maddon from the Rays to manage his curse-busting Cubs. Don't worry, Cora fans -- AC will be at the presser smiling, after getting bumped up into the front office.

In the handful of Spring Training games Mayer played second base, he was by far better than any human Boston has put out there since. If Bregman returns completely healed (like no one over 30 ever does from any injury), then the Red Sox should have their best infield of the season... as long as they settle on an average actual 1B who knows when not to go for grounders to his right, and which direction to hold his glove when handling throws above and below the belt... (that would be down and up -- something the Sox should be used to by now)

Never said they weren't. I'm all for bringing them up and getting them experience now, while it doesn't matter. But since you're in one of your stats-citing moods to refute posts, McLain posted 3.6 WAR in '23 at age 23 and finished 5th in ROY voting -- all in basically half a season (89 games, .290 BA, .864 OPS). He missed all of last year from shoulder surgery.

You forgot the guys at the very bottom: the organizational analysts who built this system-wide swing-and-miss juggernaut -- when they weren't shushing Hall of Famers from trying to answer a current hitter's question.

I'm not saying the Big Three won't be All-Star caliber big leaguers someday, but there is something to be said regarding the patience needed for most prospects drafted out of high school like Mayer and Anthony, or one year of college like Campbell. Players who spend four seasons at D1 schools almost always began pro careers more polished with more high level experience than prep players. A good example of this is Reds shortstop Matt McLain, the 5th shortstop chosen in the 2021 draft, after high schoolers Mayer, Jordan Lawler, Brady House and Kahlil Watson. McLain gained four years experience at UCLA and is already a solid major leaguer. The others are still learning. Before Fred Lynn won AL MVP as a rookie in 1975, Red Sox fans barely heard of him -- except for a potent cup of coffee the previous September. All the hype (minus modern multi-media oversaturation, obviously) was on Jim Rice, the longball legend who never lifted a weight. But Lynn spent four years in a great baseball program at USC, while Rice was drafted out of high school. Rice made the Hall of Fame for his bat, but Lynn was always a better all-around ballplayer.

Look deeply at the roster and the line-up since 2021 before you start throwing around the word "talent." No one can say for sure, but Cora may have achieved .500 teams with .300 collections of replacement players.

Chase 0.9 WAR has 55 hits in the majors. KC -0.9 WAR has 51. Maybe Brez offered Campbell for Crochet, but the White Sox insisted on Meidroth...

Not really Trivial: What did Luis Arraez, Marcus Semien, Nick Kurtz, Ronny Mauricio, Ian Happ, Otto Lopez, Mike Tauchman, Lenyn Sosa, and Kyle TEEL have in common yesterday? A: Each had as many hits -- 3 -- as the Boston Red Sox did. (note: two Yankees -- Grisham and Dominguez -- had 4 hits each).

Maybe the real reason clubs are preaching hit the ball in the air is that Manfred sent out secret memos to all teams telling them the balls are juiced again. Somehow, Boston also didn't its shipment of juiced bats, because Red Sox pop-ups are staying in the ballpark all year. And shame on the coaching staff for not properly preparing the defense to catch pop-ups. How could Cora allow Duran to skip so many pop-up practices?

But every MLB season, two guys get trophies for AL and NL Rookie of the Year. Two others get recognized by some publications as Rookie Pitchers of the Year. The Sporting News and Baseball Digest used to name entire nines in each league to their All Rookie Team of the Year... every year!

I'm not even considering it because I'm sure ownership isn't. If anything, Breslow is their hero right now for shedding Raffy's contract.

I'm ready for The Password. Why not? If you believe in the Big Three, remember Garcia led all Red Sox minor leaguers in home runs last year. And he's doing it again this season. He's currently tied with Anthony, who hit 11 in 212 at bats for Worcester. Garcia has 8 so far in WOO, but in only 110 ABs. Roman had a .914 OPS in 2025 Triple A; Garcia has a .993 OPS so far. The Password swings righty and is a good outfielder. Maybe he'll come up and catch MLB whiff disease, like a lot of new guys. As we've seen this year, not every rookie immediately catches fire. But as history shows, not all promoted prospects are all wet, either. This is the Year of the Red Sox Rookies. No reason to stop now. As soon as Breslow trades an outfielder -- which better happen in the next month -- let's see what Joe Stinson can do. Put it this way: on a team going nowhere, it's better than trading any promising young pitching for some old, half-washed power bat, just to get through another half season of mediocrity.

One guy beat Boston by hitting two home runs. The Red Sox don't have a home run hitter anymore. And don't cite the Giants that won three titles without power -- few clubs ever have starting rotations with Bumgarner, Lincecum, Cain and Zito. Apparently, Boston's coaches can't do this, but will someone here please tell Hamilton that on a sacrifice bunt, you square early, and stop the pitch -- you don't poke at it and run, like trying to beat it out for a hit. If you can't put one down, at least strike out instead of hitting into a double play...

That's where the disappointments of this decade have carried over. Everyone acknowledged the acquisitions that would lead to improvement -- and most of them have played like All-Stars: Chapman, Crochet and Bregman. Unfortunately, the Big Three rookies have been less Lynn and Rice, and more snips and snails and puppy dog tails. Somehow, Boston leads the league in errors again without Raffy playing a single inning in the field. There's still time, obviously. But before the season, if fans were told the Sox would be 40-40 at the end of June after just losing Devers forever, the outlook would have to be more on the gloomy side.

Fans who use stats to make a point often miss that which cannot be calculated. Not every batter who reaches base on an error or advances on an error scores. But every extra out a defense gives up puts more stress on their pitchers. And higher pitch counts always either expedite a pitching change or expedite the chances a more tired pitcher will make a mistake and get clobbered for it... which will eventually tax more arms in relief. Yes, Es can kill a pitching staff -- and that includes miscues by guys on the mound like Bernardino, who has more errors in 15 less games than Chase Meidroth.

Don't Trust Anyone Over 30 (Sixties poster from my youth). This is why Breslow and Bailey -- MLB pitchers in a past life -- shouldn't even think about trading Tolle or Clarke or Harrison for some swing-and-miss past-his-prime first baseman... as was suggested in some clickbait "article" (I think it was Tolle for Hoskins -- wanna see some real uproar here?).

As much as you'd like to separate defense from pitching, they are directly connected. Both are on the side trying to prevent the opposition from scoring. Unless you have a pitching staff full of Nolan Ryans striking everybody out, the fielders have to touch the ball a lot. Teams that build around pitching are smart enough to put just as much emphasis on having a tight D. This year in Boston will be remembered as the season the Red Sox traded Devers, but that scandal is what masks what the media should really address: in 2025 the Sox lead the majors in errors -- without Raffy playing a single inning on defense. Sox fans often ask how Tampa always wins. Good pitching, good manager, but look at that batting order... Let's get right to it: Boston has 69 Es. Tampa has 37.

Has he seen his crappy minor league fielding percentage???!!!!???!!!???! And I'm talking at third base... in 48.1 innings, Mayer's % is .933! He made an error in Portland! Even Raffy was higher at the hot corner, with a career .944 -- in the big leagues! And he only led the league in Es for all seven straight full seasons of his MLB life. The Sox are doomed with Clank Mayer flashing his leather like Swiss cheese.

Just cut out the scam, Sam Your words are just spam, man No need for more flim flam Why don't you all scram... ... and set ourselves free

Dusty puts together good play lists of Seventies Rock on pay radio (for those not flippant through the channels).

I Noah Song. "50 Ways to Leave Your Loafer" "Dont gimme no mora, Cora" "No need to be Prez, Brez" "I wanna be gone, John" "Just tap the keg, Breg!" (... and set yourself free...")

Totally agree. Mayer doesn't profile as one of those slick-fielding banjo hitters, either. He's a big guy with obvious pop, currently listed as 6-3, 188 at age 22. I can see Mayer's ceiling maybe like a Matt Chapman: Gold Glover, with relatively high K numbers, but an OPS always hovering around .800. Chapman is listed at 6-1, 225. His annual average through nine seasons is 6 bWAR... I'll take a decade of that.

Second base in Boston isn't just a struggle; it's fricking haunted. The ghost's name is Dustin Poltergeist, and he's been disrupting defense and causing chaos at 2B since demonic Machado spikes ruined the Red Sox. How else to explain the Sox utter futility for half a decade at the position closest to the first baseman, where the shortest, easiest throws can assist in what should mostly be automatic force-outs? The Bosox don't need an exorcist to play second, but just someone with enough fortitude not to be possessed by evil spirits. At this point, we'll even take a stubborn agnostic...

I can't find the actual statistics on bb-ref or fangraphs, so let's poll the board: For anyone who has ever played or watched Little League... what percentage of the best players would you say played shortstop -- when they weren't pitching or catching? 1. 75% 2. 85% 3. 95% 4. kajillion

How many pints did you drink today before the Red Sox started looking good?