Alex Mayes

Took 2 of 3 from STL. I was at that entire series and Friday wasn’t super fun with Dustin May shoving against us, but both the Saturday and Sunday games were a blast.

The Phillies are in a far worse situation than the Mets or Sox exactly because of the price and ages of their signed guys. That window is slamming such with each passing day.

That’s an idea. It’s possible for sure. I do know his “trusted circle” is incredibly small.

I think Henry is a pretty prideful guy but I don't think he believes he's the smartest person in the room, at least not any more.

It's more so that I believe Cora has the characteristics that are found in GMs who put together a winning team. I think Breslow's biggest fault is he believes he's the smartest man in the room and doesn't listen to other people because he thinks he knows better than they do. With Cora, I think he understands the human element of baseball and would surround himself with assistant GMs who support the team vision. That being said, there's a list of possible replacement candidates I'd like. Cora just happens to be on there.

We really appreciate the quality of questions you’ve been submitting. Makes for very fun conversations!

I also really wanted Soto. That offseason until he signed was one of the more fun ones in recent memory.

I remember when everyone was convinced Cohen would put together a billion dollar superteam juggernaut in his first couple of seasons.

I'm trying real hard to find some sort of solace in this season.

If you were to tell most baseball fans back in March that the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets were in a very similar situation as the season heads into July, the majority of them would have assumed that both teams were competing for the top Wild Card spot at worst in their respective leagues. Instead, we have two bottom-of-the-barrel teams who have fired their managers and have a fanbase calling for the dismissal of their General Managers/President of Baseball Operations. Alex Cora was fired on April 26 and exactly two short months later, the Mets followed suit and dismissed Carlos Mendoza. While the Red Sox and Mets are in very similar places — the former enters July with a 36-46 overall record and the latter owns a 35-49 overall record — the biggest difference is how they approached roster construction heading into the 2026 season and the money they have tied up in veteran players. Obviously, roster construction doesn’t sit at the feet of either Alex Cora or Carlos Mendoza, so now that the managers are gone, fans have turned their ire at the front office. Craig Breslow has built a pitching powerhouse in Boston that has been backed up by capable defense around the infield thanks to additions of Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin. David Stearns also preached “run prevention” as he looked to construct the 2026 Mets, but things haven’t gone well for them in that department. According to FanGraphs, the Mets currently have a 2026 projected payroll of $365 million. Superstar Juan Soto is under contract through 2039 for an average annual value of $51 million a season, Francisco Lindor is signed through 2031 for an AAV of $31.9 million, and recently acquired Marcus Semien through 2028 at an AAV of $24 million. In addition to that, they have Bo Bichette under contract for an AAV of $42 million. He’s not included in the main grouping because he technically can opt out of his three-year contract after this season, but with the way he’s currently playing, that’s far from a guarantee. The Mets have six arbitration-eligible players and seven who are not yet eligible for arbitration. If we look at those same style of numbers for the Red Sox, it paints a drastically different picture. The Red Sox have an estimated 2026 payroll of $197 million according to Fangraphs. Their four highest AAVs are owed to Garrett Crochet ($28.3 million per season through 2031), Ranger Suarez ($26 million per season through 2030 with a mutual option for 2031), Trevor Story ($23.3 million per season through 2027 with a club option for 2028), and Willson Contreras ($21.25 million per season through 2027 with a club option for 2028). They also have Sonny Gray still currently on the books at technically $41 million AAV for 2026 with a mutual option for 2027, but the Cardinals paid $21 million of his salary in the trade that sent him to Boston. The other long-term commitments the Red Sox have are for Roman Anthony through 2033 with a club option for 2034, Kristian Campbell through 2032 with club options for both 2033 and 2034, and Ceddanne Rafaela through 2031 with a club option for 2032, The Red Sox have seven arbitration-eligible players and nine players who are not yet eligible for arbitration. While Craig Breslow has made some missteps in his time with the Red Sox, and could very well be on his way out of town at the conclusion of the season, he’s handed out contract extensions to young players that should mostly impact the future of the organization in a positive way. The biggest potential exception to that could be Brayan Bello’s contract that keeps him in Boston through 2029 with a club option for 2030. The biggest negative on that contract is that his salary grows exceptionally starting in 2028, doubling his 2027 paycheck. Otherwise, Breslow has developed the best pitching pipeline the Red Sox have seen in ages. Both rookies Payton Tolle and Connelly Early have had breakout seasons in 2026 while Jake Bennett has pitched well for both the WooSox and the Red Sox when needed. The biggest knock against the chief baseball officer is that he hasn’t been able to navigate the infamous outfield logjam, though that's a dead horse we won't beat right now. Most importantly, Red Sox fans are demanding and expect playoff berths year in and year out. Breslow has delivered one trip to the Wild Card round during his tenure and that may not be enough for Fenway Sports Group to justify hanging onto him for the remainder of his contract. Returning to Stearns, he has handed out some incredibly large contracts that haven’t aged incredibly well or have potential to hamstring the franchise in just a few seasons. They have substantial money coming off the books from now through 2029 but their treatment of All-Star Pete Alonso likely won’t be forgotten by the other homegrown players still on their roster and the free agents in the coming years. We’ve talked this much about the Mets and their issues and haven’t even begun to address their pitching woes. Both Kodai Senga and Devin Williams look like money thrown down the drain, and their highly touted group of young pitching prospects, outside of Nolan McLean, have taken significant steps back this season. The biggest question of all, though, knowing that we're barreling toward what will likely be an extended lockout come Dec. 1: Do either FSG or Steve Cohen feel that navigating a totally different economic landscape with someone new at the helm is worth the risk? They are the only ones that can truly answer that question, but the landscape of baseball will be completely different once we get back into action in 2027. Going with the known over the unknown is likely the safest move when evaluating your front office needs for the next season. That could mean that both Stearns and Breslow remain in place for at least an additional year. While both organizations have big messes to clean up, at least Breslow is working with a much cleaner slate than his New York counterpart. View full article

The consensus around Abreu at the end of last year was that he had to hit left handed pitching to take the next step. As maybe the biggest Abreu fan on this website, no one expected him to be a bigger star than Anthony. He had/still has the potential to be a star in his own right but he never carried the expectations Anthony has carried. You had national publications predicting a top three MVP finish for Anthony this year. I agree Antony was miscast as a leadoff hitter.

I want a press conference where Henry and Cora are sitting on stage smoke cigars together.

I agree with you 100%. I said when they inked Cora to the extension that they purpose of that was to get his timeline to match up with Breslow's so when they moved on from Bres at the end of his contract, Cora could slide into that position. if they knew Cora would accept the position today, I think Breslow would be gone already. I think it's telling Cora is still interacting with Sox things on social media and has been seen out with members of FSG since his firing. He still owns his house in Boston as well. Anecdotal, but something to pay attention to.

You're right, no one was certain it would begin in year two but Breslow put a roster together with him as the main offensive weapon heading into his year two season. I'm a huge Anthony fan and expect him to be a star so I think that we're on the same page, but he had a lot of pressure put on him when Breslow failed to acquire another bat to pair with him and Contreras.

I acknowledged I misspoke, but the point remains pretty much the same. If he was worth 9 bWAR at the deadline and you could have gotten a front line starter PLUS a top four prospect, you should have done it. Passan is the most trusted voice in the sport for a reason.

At the time it was absolutely something to worry about. Now though, I think it's still a pretty attractive job to people. I also think the fact that you now have Henry out in public frequently, making sure to be seen is a huge indicator that things are changing within FSG again. I believe Ortiz when he says he's talked with John and John is worried about what's going on. Papi is employed by the team and he wouldn't have said it, and then doubled down on it, without knowing John is okay with that getting out. That was followed by Olney echoing the same thing. Then you have Kennedy who is ever the optimist, essentially saying, 'yeah, things are bad here and we are going to have to do some real searching for what the correct path forward is.' That's telling to me. Your point about the Dodgers and Padres is accurate. They attract the talent and, at least with the Dodgers, that talent gets them to the World Series year after year. I think the reason Boston isn't attracting the talent right now is mainly Breslow. Every agent knows that he's following a very limited scope of algorithms to make his decisions so if their guy doesn't fit into those systems, they don't even engage. Once you have a POBO/GM who understands the value of analytics along with the human intangibles, things begin to correct themselves.

I actually think that's now overblown. Yes, the team struggled to get applicants and Breslow wasn't their first choice, but it seems that Alex Cora's presence as the manager may have been one of the driving factors in that. I don't have any first hand accounts of that but the fact that Cora essentially got Bloom fired and was well known to be in Henry's ear was likely a deterrent to anyone who would have applied. You saw the same pattern with Breslow this year before Cora was fired. He was taking veiled shots in the media and hadn't yet moved on to getting shirts made that had quotes from Breslow on them like he did Bloom, but it was probably coming. Breslow is an intelligent man, saw what was starting to happen, likely talked to Bloom because they are friends, and instead went to Henry and co first. I've said since the day he was fired that when Breslow is let go, Cora is likely leading the pack to replace him as POBO/GM/whatever the title is. In hindsight, they should have just promoted Toboni to the position instead of refusing to give him the GM title under Breslow and losing him to the Nats.

Great way to put that.

From Jeff Passan in December: The buzz: The Red Sox are valuing Duran more like the seven-win player of 2024 than his 4-win version in 2025. Either way, his addition can instantaneously make a team better, and Boston can hold out for a big return because the Red Sox don't have to deal him. At some point, though, the Red Sox will have to move Duran or Wilyer Abreu. Keeping full-time-quality players for less than full-time roles rarely works out well. So not at the deadline, during the offseason. My mistake for attributing it to the deadline.

We agree there. That was one of my biggest complaints with the offseason. They looked at a 21 year old and said, “you are the backbone of this team.” It was incredibly shortsighted and out far too much pressure on him to perform.

Once again, the league adjusts to rookies. This isn’t something new. He didn’t have time to adjust back before the injury. He was starting to, but then was shut down.

An oblique strain and a torn tendon are injuries that take time to heal. Maybe the team’s focus on insanely quick bat speed could be more to blame than the player.

@mvp 78the episode is live! Thanks again!

A fair deal is Dylan Cease, the top pitching target of Breslow in the offseason, and Salas, That deal was on the table and Craig said no. That's on him. I'm aware that a 7 WAR player is rare, but that's the confirmed value that was placed on him at the deadline last year. If other GMs saw him on a 3.5 WAR LF but Craig didn't, that's a huge issue. It's further proof he can't read the trade market and values.