Alex Mayes

President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow has doubled down time and time again on the notion that, in the wake of the Rafael Devers trade, the Red Sox will be buyers at the trade deadline. While we discussed this on Episode 15 of The Talk Sox Podcast, the broader fanbase is fairly split on what the team should actually be doing as we begin July. The Sox have shown flashes of brilliance by having masterclasses hurled by starters Garrett Crochet, but then have had to watch Walker Buehler go out and walk anyone who steps up to the plate. They’ll erupt for 10 or more runs in multiple games over a week, then barely be able to put hits on the board in back-to-back games. It’s really hard to decide which lane the team is picking from the outside looking in. What isn’t up for debate, though, is that the Red Sox need more starting pitching. So, with that preamble out of the way, let's take a look at some of the wares other teams will have on the starting pitcher market. Edward Cabrera, RHP Cabrera wasn’t the starting pitcher from the Marlins that everyone was interested in when trade talks began, but he’s quietly having an excellent season. He’s appeared in 14 games with a 3.41 ERA, 75 strikeouts, and a 1.28 WHIP. He’s an off-speed first pitcher, so he would play well in Andrew Bailey’s pitching lab. His changeup works more like a power changeup, clocking in at 93.8 mph on average. He’s arbitration eligible in 2026 and isn’t a free agent until 2029, so he comes with a lot of control and would help anchor the middle of the rotation behind Crochet. The Marlins won’t trade him away for pennies on the dollar, so a package built around productive major league players with some MLB-ready prospects will likely be the starting point here. Nick Lodolo, LHP Lodolo, aside from being incredibly fun to say, has been a bright spot in the Reds’ starting rotation this season. He reminds me a lot of a left-handed Lucas Giolito, and their pitch mix is fairly similar as well. Lodolo currently has a 3.52 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 94.2 innings pitched. The Reds are still somewhat sniffing around the Wild Card race, but they are the third best team in their division at best and the National League is absolutely loaded with talent, so they likely won’t be pushing for a playoff spot this year. That could cause them to listen to offers on their rotation pieces not named Chase Burns and Hunter Greene. Lodolo is cheap and won’t reach free agency until 2028. Much like Cabrera above, it’s going to cost a lot to trade for him, but if the Red Sox are truly in buyer mode, a controllable left-handed pitcher to slot into the third rotation spot is worth the upfront cost. Mick Abel, RHP Maybe this is a pipe dream, but I truly believe the Red Sox have the capital to pull off a trade for the 2020 first-rounder. Abel has the makings of an absolute stud pitcher and would pair nicely with Garrett Crochet atop of the rotation. It would give the Red Sox arguably the best one-two punch in the American League this season. Abel currently has a 2-1 record with a 3.47 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 23 1/3 innings pitched. He’s going to be expensive, no doubt about it. The flip side here is that the Red Sox and the Phillies match up incredibly well at the moment. The Phillies need an upgrade in the outfield and the Red Sox have plenty of outfielders to pick from. Add to that the fact that Dave Dombrowski is running the show in the City of Brotherly Love, and you’ve got a path to a deal for Abel with the Red Sox likely having to flip a household name, or two, for the young pitcher. It’s a price worth paying though, especially if Breslow and the front office believe that Abel can reach his ceiling of a number one starter who would just happen to be second in the rotation for as long as Crochet is suiting up in Boston. Jared Jones, RHP I know, he’s injured, and so you think the Sox shouldn't give up any assets for him right now. Well, here he is anyway. Jones is the type of pitcher you’d trade for and let rehab because he’s just that good. His 2025 is completely lost due to an internal bracing procedure on his pitching elbow. Sound familiar? So, the Red Sox already understand how to best rehab him from a procedure that they are incredibly familiar with. No one actually expects the Pirates to pay Paul Skenes, but we absolutely don’t expect them to pay both Skenes AND Jones. That’s just not going to happen. Buying ‘low’ on Jones while he’s injured would give the Red Sox a starter that won’t reach free agency until 2030, and they should be able to lock him into an extension well before he gets to that point. Zac Gallen, RHP The Arizona Diamondbacks hoped to be much better than they currently are in 2025. They are hovering around .500 and are in a division with two juggernauts in the Dodgers and Padres, plus the Giants are no slouch either. They’ve already lost their frontline starter with Corbin Burnes undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this year. Zac Gallen signed a one-year contract with Arizona for $13.5M before the 2025 season began and will be an unrestricted free agent. He’s been just okay this season, currently sitting with a 5.45 ERA over 18 games with 98 strikeouts and a 1.37 WHIP. He’s not a splashy addition, but is lightyears better than what Buehler has given the team. Plus, his track record — three top-10 Cy Young finishes — makes him an intriguing buy-low candidate if the Sox want to engage him in contract talks come free agency. Sandy Alcantara, RHP The falloff of Alcantara is something that needs to be studied. We’re nearly three seasons removed from his Cy Young award in 2022, with a lot of that lost time attributable to a Tommy John surgery that kept him sidelined for all of 2024. He’s currently sitting on a 6.98 ERA with 63 strikeouts and a 1.48 WHIP over 80 innings pitched. Had I made this at the beginning of the year, he would have been solidly the best option available, but he’s wildly under performed so far in 2025. His sinker and four-seam fastball are both still elite offerings and are clocking in over 97mph on average, but he’s having a lot of trouble getting outs and limiting runs. His barrel percent is the highest it’s been in his career at 9.7%. Could it be that he knows that he’s not long for Miami and is struggling with that? It’s possible, but his downward slide this year needs to be looked at before any deal is made to acquire him. He’s in the fourth year of a five-year/$56M extension with Miami so he’s under control through the 2026 season. The return for Alcantara is likely much lighter than it was during the offseason, so he could be worth a flier to see if Bailey and company can right the ship. Zach Eflin, RHP Another currently injured pitcher, Eflin is familiar with the AL East and should be able to contribute when he’s healthy again. Much like the teams listed above, the Orioles aren’t going to be sniffing around the playoffs this season and Eflin is on an expiring contract. He’s thrown 62 innings so far in 2025 to a tune of a 5.95 ERA and 42 strikeouts. He’s not going to light the world on fire, but if the Red Sox are sellers or straddling the buy/sell line as best they can, he’s a fringe addition that bolsters the back-end of the rotation. He likely wouldn’t be expensive, but there’s the question on if the O’s would want to trade within the division. Eflin could be interesting as a last-minute deal if the Sox do deal Walker Buehler to a team that’s willing to take a gamble there. Michael Soroka, RHP The Washington Nationals are a team that seem to be finding their footing, thanks in large part to the young core anchored by MacKenzie Gore and James Wood. Soroka has been in the league since 2018 and has been a fairly steady middle/back-end rotation piece for each team he’s played for. In 2025, he’s sitting on a 4.70 ERA in 59.1 innings pitched with 64 strikeouts. He’s not a flamethrower but you can survive as a location specialist with the type of pitch mix that he has. Like the others on this lower part of the list, he makes a lot of sense as an improvement over Walker Buehler and would likely push Richard Fitts for that No. 4 rotation spot should the Red Sox acquire him. He’s on a one-year, $9M deal, and the Nationals likely wouldn’t be looking for a ton in return for him. There are a ton of other names that make sense for the Red Sox, but a lot of them are playing for teams that are fairly firmly entrenched in the playoff race in their respective divisions. It may be possible to get a team to overpay with a starter who is currently on a playoff-bound team if a bidding war erupts for someone on the Red Sox’s roster, but most of those names will be brought back up again this offseason as they enter free agency. What do you think? Should the Red Sox swing big on the starting pitching market to help propel them to a playoff spot, or should they look to make fringe additions to keep them afloat in 2025 and be big spenders after the season concludes? Let us know in the comments! View full article

June was an interesting month for the Red Sox’s offense. The team rattled off series victory after series victory to start the month, then faltered as the month drew to a close following the team's decision to trade its best hitter. That being said, there were things on the offensive side of the ball that point toward a potential offensive uptick as we approach the dog days of summer. Who made the cut for offensive player of the month for June? Let’s find out. Honorable Mention: Marcelo Mayer While Mayer’s numbers weren’t completely stellar — he slashed .218/.279/.509 — he made impacts on offense that can’t be understated and has given us a glimpse into what his ceiling could be as he continues to find his footing in the majors. He hasn’t lit the world on fire yet, and he may not this season, but it’s so easy to see how impactful he can be on both sides of the ball. He rarely looks overmatched when he’s at the plate and he’s been able to barrel the ball exceptionally well (he posted a 16.2% barrel percentage to close the month). He blasted four home runs during the month of June, good for third on the team. The future looks bright with both Mayer and Roman Anthony coming into their own as pro baseball players. #3: Wilyer Abreu Abreu slashed .271/.275/.500 for the month of June. He ended the month in the most spectacular way possible with an inside-the-park home run followed by a grand slam. He seems to have settled into the season after his injury and is finally starting to get starts against left-handed pitchers, indicating that he’s made the shift from platoon player to starter. Giving him more looks against left-handers will only help to push his career forward, and he’s proving to be an intricate piece to the team’s offense. He was good for a 103 wRC+ in June and was second on the team in RBIs with 16. Wilyer is proving to be the steal of Chaim Bloom’s tenure in Boston once again, and they would be smart to keep him around for the long haul in the outfield. #2: Trevor Story I know, I’m just as shocked as you, but here we are. Trevor Story had an incredible June. He slashed .286/.327/.500 while hitting five home runs, 23 RBIs, and four stolen bases. He’s come through in clutch situations all month, be it multi-home run games or putting himself in scoring position early in innings. Story had showcased some offensive firepower earlier in the season but had gone on an awful cold spell throughout the month of May. Something seemed to click for him in June though, and he’s helped to lead the charge during the teams’ offensive outbursts. He’s still struggling with swinging at pitches low and away while not drawing enough walks and striking out more than he should. That being said, he’s coming through when it counts and for a team that's been struggling to find their offensive groove. Hard as it may be to believe in 2025, having Trevor Story could help propel the Red Sox to a Wild Card position. #1: Ceddanne Rafaela Ceddanne Rafaela turned in the best offensive month of his career in June. He slashed .283/.327/.543 with six home runs, 13 RBIs, and four stolen bases. He came through clutch on multiple occasions and seems to finally be stepping into his own as an offensive player. We had heard throughout spring training that he was more patient and should work more walks this season while not striking out as much. That hasn’t really been the case, but it seems like his offensive profile doesn’t need him to change much about his approach. Some minor tweaks, which he has been doing, have been enough to unlock the offensive player we hoped he could be. The swing and miss is always going to be part of his game, and it seems like Alex Cora has learned to live with it. What has improved, though, is his ability to take pitches that have no chance of sniffing the zone. He may not work a ton of walks, but getting into hitter’s counts helps to set him up for success. Rafaela has been an incredible defender since he came into the league and now his offense seems to be catching up with that. If that continues, we’re looking at a steal of a contract in center field. June may have marked a turning point for the Red Sox as they try to navigate the trade deadline to improve the team both this year and in the future. If these four players can keep playing the way they have been, there’s more than enough reason to be buyers at the deadline and show this team and the fanbase that the powers that be believe what they keep saying. Let’s hope that the July hitters of the month piece comes with as much surprising success as June’s. What do you think of our list? Any other Red Sox players you’d add? Let us know in the comments! View full article

Super appreciate the kind words. I look forward to writing them and interacting with everyone.

As of this writing now, the Boston Red Sox have a 40-43 record. That’s good for fourth in the AL East, where they are eight games out of first place and three games back of the final AL Wild Card position. During the press conference after the Rafael Devers trade, President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow confirmed the team was still planning to be buyers as the trade deadline approaches, and his opinion hasn’t changed, as he confirmed on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Thursday. Even though fans may not want to, it’s best to take him at his word. The flip side here is the team just got swept by the Angels and should this downward trend continue over the next few series, the team could ultimately decide to be sellers at the deadline instead. The good news here is that there are major league pieces that would command a great return to help put the team in a better position for 2026 and beyond. Let’s take a look at those ten names, their contract status, and what the team could hope to get back in return for them. Jarren Duran, OF Jarren Duran isn’t having the season anyone hoped he would, and I’ve already written about how a change of scenery would likely do him wonders. He’s currently slashing .254/.307/.404 and his contract has him signed for one-year/$3.85m with a club option for 2026. While Duran alone won’t land the Red Sox a controllable starter, packaging him with prospects not named Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer should get the Red Sox another front-line starter to slot in behind Garrett Crochet. Aroldis Chapman, LHP I’ve also already written a bit about how Aroldis Chapman would be a prime trade target for teams in the playoff hunt should the Red Sox decide to sell. He’s experiencing a career resurgence this year and has commanded large trade packages in the past. He’s one a one-year/$10.75M deal, so he would be relatively cheap for a team looking to bring him into the fold. He would likely get a mid to back-end starter in return. Wilyer Abreu, OF I’ve included Abreu here even though I don’t really see the Red Sox trading him now, even after they attempted to during the offseason. He’s slashing .252/.324/.465 and carries the pedigree of winning a Gold Glove in right field after his rookie season. He’s making $780K and isn’t eligible for arbitration until 2027. Like Duran above, he wouldn’t command a front-line starter on his own, but in a package with prospects we’d be looking at a similar, although possibly lesser, return in a mid-tier starter. Walker Buehler, RHP I’ll admit, it’s almost funny to include Buehler on this list since he’s been abysmal after returning from injury, but there will be a handful of teams interested in bringing him into the fold solely based on his previous championship experience and how he’s performed in the postseason. He’s on a one-year/$21.05M contract that will be more than halfway paid by the deadline. In a trade, he could be worth at least three buckets of balls, right? In all seriousness, a trade of Buehler wouldn’t net the Red Sox much more than a low-floor, high-ceiling prospect. Justin Wilson, LHP Wilson is quietly having a great season for the Red Sox. He’s been the second-most dependable left-handed pitcher in the bullpen behind Chapman. His contract is incredibly team-friendly at one-year/$2.25M. He would be able to be flipped pretty easily and would likely return a prospect somewhere just outside of the top-100 with some upside. Alex Bregman, 3B With the news that Bregman likely won’t return from his quad injury until after the All-Star break, I believe that the third baseman is the least likely person (on this list) to be moved this season. In fact, I just wrote about how the Red Sox should extend him since he’s open to it. Right now, Bregman is on a three-year/$120M contract with opt-outs after each season. Should the team make him available, there will be a line of teams wanting to acquire his services. That would drive his price up considerably and likely net the Red Sox some valuable major league-ready talent. Lucas Giolito, RHP Giolito has had a very up-and-down season so far, but he has put a string of three solid starts together as of this writing. He seems to be trusting his fastball again, and even though it’s not playing up like it used to, he’s seeing success. He’s in the last year of a two-year/$38.5M deal with a mutual option that turns into a club option if he pitches less than 140 innings this season. He wouldn’t command a huge return, likely some low-level prospects, but he would get the team some talent that would restock the farm system after the Big Three graduate. Rob Refsnyder, OF Rob Refsnyder, the lefty killer. He is performing well again this season and has been a solid contributor for the team. He’s moved into a platoon DH role after the Devers trade, but should move back to the fourth/fifth outfielder position once Masataka Yoshida is with the big league club. He’s on the last year of a two-year contract and will become a free agent once the season ends. He contemplated retirement before the 2025 season, so it’s possible he looks into it again. If the team did decide to trade Refsnyder, he wouldn’t command a huge return either. A playoff team would likely be interested in his services thanks to his southpaw-mashing abilities, though, and should multiple teams get involved, a high-ceiling prospect isn’t out of the question here. Romy Gonzalez, UTIL It’s crazy to think that Gonzalez went from being DFA’d by the White Sox to a possible trade candidate for a team in the postseason hunt. He’s performed quite well in a platoon at first base with Abraham Toro since the injury to Triston Casas. He’s slashing .294/.342/.471 on the season and, like Refsnyder above, could have multiple teams interested in bringing him into the fold to come off the bench against left-handed relievers late in games. A bidding war for his services would drive his price even higher than Refsnyder’s. Abraham Toro, UTIL This will sound similar to the Gonzalez section above since they are platoon partners, but Toro has looked great in that role at first base. He’s cooled off quite a bit in recent weeks, but there is still value here. Currently signed to a one-year/$801.1K deal, he’s extremely cheap and would be easy to flip for lower level prospects. Masataka Yoshida, OF/DH It’s no secret that the Red Sox have been chomping at the bit to trade Yoshida since Breslow took over as the President of Baseball Operations. So far, they’ve been unsuccessful. With reports coming that he will rejoin the team in July and be in a platoon DH role with Refsnyder, that could drum up a bit of interest in him. He’s in the third year of his five-year/$90M contract and the Red Sox will likely have to eat some of that money to get him traded. If they are willing to take on a significant portion of it, they could turn him into someone who could compete on the major league team this year. Still, if there is a Yoshida trade, I'd expect it to take place over the offseason once the Japanese slugger rehabilitates some of his value in the second half. David Hamilton, UTIL David Hamilton is currently starting at second base for the Boston Red Sox, for now. There’s not a ton of value here at all. He’s on a one-year/$780K contract and becomes arbitration eligible in 2027. Trading Hamilton really only takes away a pinch runner once Marcelo Mayer shifts to second base when Alex Bregman is healthy, and the team can afford to lose him. He won’t be the centerpiece of any deal that gets done. He more than likely will be an additional part added to help salaries and roster numbers match up, but as part of a larger deal, he could be moved for something significant. What do you think? Do you have other names you’d like to see the team shop if they go into sell mode? Comment below and let’s discuss! View full article

While the current part of the season has been incredibly trying for the Boston Red Sox, there’s still quite a bit to be excited about when you dive under the hood and explore their Statcast metrics. When we want to look at just how solid of a hitter each player is, one aspect we like to highlight is their barrel percentage. This tells us how often the player is squaring up the ball and making solid contact. If you were to assume which players are leading the charge in barrel percentage on this team, I’d venture to guess that the top four names actually on the list aren’t the first four that come to mind. Those four are: Romy Gonzalez at 14.3%, Roman Anthony at 13.3%, Wilyer Abreu at 13.2%, and Ceddanne Rafaela at 11.7%. Outside of Gonzalez, those are three core members of the Boston Red Sox who are all in their first year or two of MLB service time. That’s absolutely huge and should bode incredibly well for the future of the franchise. It’s no secret that Roman Anthony isn’t having the typical offensive success you’d expect for such a highly touted prospect. He’s currently slashing just .128/.293/.255 with just one home run on the team. Under the hood, though, there’s a ton to be excited about. He’s making loud contact, it’s just often right at someone on defense. He’s regularly hitting rockets over 90mph and he’s topped out at 112.3mph in the majors so far. When we add in his barrel percentage, we start to get a much clearer picture of just who he is as an offensive player. Anthony is the type of hitter who can square balls up with enough frequency to become an annual 30-plus home run threat. We’ve seen what he can do once he’s comfortable in Triple-A with his moonshots that made the rounds before he was called up. Now, he has to figure that out at the major league level, though his batted ball metrics suggest he's closer to that than you may expec.t Wilyer Abreu has seen his barrel percentage climb each season he has been with the big league club, from 9.4% in 2023, to 11.1% in 2024, to this season’s 13.2%. While Abreu doesn’t profile as a power-first hitter, his ability to get the bat in the zone and barrel balls up means that he’s tapping into a newer source of power in 2025. Just through June, he’s only hit two home runs behind his entire season total from 2024 (15 last season to 13 this season). He should soar past that number by the trade deadline. As Abreu continues to grow as an offensive player, expect that barrel percentage to climb higher and his power numbers should do the same. Ceddanne Rafaela clocks in at 11.7% on the season so far. Compared to last season, 7.5%, we’re seeing a player who is growing more and more confident in his swings and getting results at the plate. It’s no coincidence, then, that his hard hit percentage is the highest it has been in his short career at 44.9%. He’s having the best offensive season of his career. Pair that with the potential Platinum Glove defense he’s playing in center field, you have a player who is proving that his contract extension is going to be a steal over the life of it. His offensive uptick should help to lock him in as a focal point of the team for years to come. Romy Gonzalez is likely not a future building block of the team, but his production this season shouldn’t be ignored. He’s been thrust into a role that none of us expected as a key first baseman in a platoon to replace the injured Triston Casas, and he’s performed incredibly well in that role. He’s been clutch, and his ability to barrel balls against left-handed pitchers is unparalled on the team right now. Unless the team significantly upgrades the first base position at the trade deadline, then he should continue to produce as a southpaw masher for the rest of this season. Although the team on the field looks drastically different right now, it’s important to remember that the young core of this team is primed to break out and become very legitimate big league contributors. Some of those core members, specifically Roman Anthony, are slated to be superstars and have a ton of weight on their shoulders. The future outfield, in particular, seems to be set with Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu. It isn't as glamorous as a postseason berth, but continued development from their core players will mark the second half of this season as a resounding success in Boston. View full article

Absolutely. It’s a hope and a prayer for sure.

I had this same thought. Sit down with him, agree to terms, and trade him because he wants to win. Is. Then he opts out and comes back on a long term deal. I just don’t think the front office is savvy enough to actually pull it off. Maybe if they let Theo and only Theo handle the conversation.

Connor Wong is having the worst season of his career, by a lot. He’s an offensive blackhole and he lost his starting spot after fracturing his pinky on a catcher’s interference call early in the season. He’s been usurped by a rookie who likely will make the All-Star team and should be in the running for the AL Rookie of the Year award. Things couldn’t have possibly gone worse for Wong this season, who was looking to rebound from a down second half in 2024. He adapted his catching approach to become a better defensive catcher, upgrading both his framing abilities and his ability to throw out runners on stolen base attempts. And, in both respects, he has improved — he’s in the 72nd percentile in caught stealing above average and the 75th percentile in framing. Both of those numbers are drastic improvements from last season where he was in the 66th percentile for caught stealing above average and the ninth percentile for framing. What’s concerning, though, his his almost historical offensive downturn. So far in 2025, Wong is slashing .157/.259/.157. He currently only has one RBI on the season and that didn’t happen until June 23. His strikeout total doubles his walk total (18 Ks to nine walks), a 20 wRC+, and -0.1 WAR. He has been given 81 plate appearances this year, rewarding the Red Sox with just 11 singles. That’s it. No doubles, no triples, no home runs. Eleven singles. When he’s in the lineup, he’s an automatic out more than anyone else in the lineup. He’s tied for first on the team for grounding into double plays with five. The player he’s tied with is his rookie replacement Carlos Narvaez, but you should be able to excuse some of that for a rookie. Wong has been in the league since 2021. He should understand how to play big league ball at this point. Since he’s at less than 100 plate appearances, he’s not a qualified hitter on the team, but if you look at his Baseball Savant MLB Percentile Rankings, they tell a terrible story. He’s ice cold in every offensive facet of the game, except walks. He’s chasing over 30% of the time, rarely barreling balls, and his average exit velocity means hardly anything gets out of the infield. His at-bats are hard to watch, but it’s harder to watch his reactions after he makes an out. He has been seen slamming his helmet and looking more and more frustrated with each out. That’s understandable. While he’s never lit the league on fire, he’s been an okay offensive catcher who needed to grow on the defensive side of the ball to stake his claim to the starting position. He’s finally figured things out on defense, but his offense has taken a huge hit. That begs the question, what should the Red Sox do with the backup catcher position? There’s a few options on the table to rectify the situation. The first, and easiest, is to keep Wong rostered and cross your fingers that he figures it out at some point this season. Though it's the easiest, this is the worst option on the table. He's simply not going to be the "catcher of the future", and his profile has too many holes on both sides of the ball to fix with just more repetitions. The next option would be to send Wong to Triple-A Worcester to get starting reps behind the dish in hopes that fixes his offensive issues. The issue here is there is no other catcher on the 40-man roster at the moment, so the Red Sox would either have to add someone like Blake Sabol back to the 40-man and call him up, which is far from ideal, or trade for a backup catcher. Which brings us to option number three, and the option I think the Red Sox are looking the most at. It makes the most sense for the Red Sox to trade for a veteran catcher that can slot into the back up role and then designate Wong for assignment. The Red Sox were interested in bringing in Sean Murphy in a deal for Rafael Devers, and they should revisit that conversation for Murphy straight up. The Braves are dealing with injuries that are likely going to keep them out of contention in the National League this season, and Murphy is an aging catcher who is beginning his own offensive downturn. That being said, he’s still a catcher who could split time with Narvaez behind the dish and you’d be confident he could contribute in some way, especially as a mentor to the rookie backstop. If the goal for the Red Sox is to make a postseason push, bringing in a veteran like Murphy is the clear path forward. Wong isn’t going to fix his problems this year and likely won’t be on the roster come 2026 at this rate. Narvaez has been incredible this season, but he’s going to become worn out as the season drags on. While this shouldn’t impact his defensive abilities, it would mean his offense would take a huge hit. Bringing in a veteran like Murphy to platoon the catcher role a bit makes perfect sense. The Red Sox could follow the plan the Mariners are currently using for Cal Raleigh. When he needs a break from catching, he’s slotted in at DH. Narvaez could do the same on the days that Murphy — or really, any veteran catcher on the market — is behind the dish. It’s unfortunate that Wong's development has come to this, especially considering the trade that brought him to Boston, but we’re here and it’s time to upgrade his position. It won’t be difficult — not many backup catchers are playing worse baseball than Wong is — so any deal to bring in a strong glove and even semi-competent bat would be a net positive. If the front office truly believes that they can compete this year, a trade for someone like Murphy or a catcher of a similar ilk would go a long way toward proving that. View full article

The second quad injury worries me as well, I just didn't highlight that here. We talked about that on the episode of the podcast right after he was injured. Them pushing his return date back to likely after the All-Star break is a bit telling too.

The linked tweet is literally Chris Cotillo from inside the clubhouse talking about how Bregman was working with Marcelo and Roman. You know, mentoring them. The other names you mentioned were not in the piece because they are not part of the future core of this team.

On Tuesday, June 24, the Boston Globe reported that Alex Bregman is open to discussing a contract extension as the first opt-out of his current contract draws near. That’s huge news considering he was the marquee free agent addition going into the 2025 season. There has been speculation ever since his contract was announced that he would opt out if he had the season that many thought he would have in Boston. He’s still on the shelf with a quad injury, but he was exceeding expectations before he landed on the injured list. As of his last at-bat, he was slashing .299/.385/.553 with 11 home runs and a .938 OPS. He’s viewed as a leader both on the field and in the clubhouse and plays an excellent third base. Bregman offers everything you could want in a teammate, and it’s obvious that he’s well liked by his peers and coaches. On Thursday morning, President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow went on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show and had this to say regarding the news of a possible extension. “The specifics of the conversations and the timing of the conversations will remain internal,” Breslow said. “But what I’m very comfortable saying is Alex has been everything we could have asked for both on the field — unfortunately, he’s obviously been hurt and hasn’t been able to impact games on the field — but also in the clubhouse from a leadership standpoint. Not just in the way he’s helped younger players and our staff, but in the ways that he’s helped me and many of us in the front office. And so right now, while we’re focused on doing everything we can to get him back on the field as quickly as possible, when the right time comes to have those conversations, I'm very, very confident that we will." That sounds like the team is interested in keeping Bregman around for quite a while. While that shouldn’t come as a surprise with the success that Bregman has had in Boston, it’s refreshing to hear that the person in charge of making these decisions is looking forward to having extension talks with the Gold Glove third baseman. After the much-discussed trade of Rafael Devers, the front office has more than enough money on hand to offer Bregman an extension that he won’t be able to so no to. They’d be foolish to let him walk in the offseason, and the best path forward includes him calling Fenway Park home forever. The Red Sox should extend Alex Bregman and keep him in Boston until he retires. Bregman’s swing was made for Fenway. He peppers the Green Monster with hard hit balls and sends them both screaming over the wall and into the gaps. Even on the road, he’s an electric hitter that can carry an offense on a down day. Defensively, he’s had a few miscues during his time in Boston so far, but he was settling in when his injury occurred. He has five errors on the season, but he’s already turned 14 double plays. He’s sure-footed on defense and makes heads up plays more often than not. That’s huge, and keeping him on the left side of the infield with Marcelo Mayer for the next few seasons would do nothing but push Mayer to be the best baseball player he could be. We all know that Bregman is getting older, so his bat and glove won’t play at an elite level for the rest of his career, but that’s okay. As Bregman ages, his leadership becomes his main contribution to the team. If you’ve been on social media after games, you’ll see reports of him working with Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony in the clubhouse. He’s visible on the top step of the dugout during every game, often discussing with teammates and coaches about what is happening on the field. He has the championship pedigree to be taken seriously by anyone who hears him speak, but he’s also approachable enough that when the rookies are struggling, they feel comfortable going to him for help. As the Red Sox graduate more rookies from the farm system. Bregman is going to be one of the first people on the team that these players flock to so they can learn exactly what it takes to be a big leaguer, specifically one in Boston. Since Alex Bregman is willing to listen to extension offers from the Red Sox, the front office needs to work quickly to get him secured to a long-term deal that allows him to finish his career here in Boston. He has the profile that is made for this ballpark and his leadership skills cannot be replaced easily. The young core has already started to go to him for advice, and the entire fanbase already views him as a leader. Keeping him around until the end of his career — and making him an institution Boston — is the right call for a front office that needs a win right now. View full article

The only thing I’ll respond to here is your first point. They haven’t lost every game Duran hasn’t be the lead off hitter. In fact, they swept the Yankees while he wasn’t leading off.

This is my stance as well. I’ve never once “bashed” Duran. In fact, I’ve talked at length on the podcast about how much I actually like him and how he was kind enough to have a brief conversation with me last season when the Sox were in STL. That being said, I want the team to improve and I’d rather have an outfield or Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu because their collective ceiling is higher. If Davy D is willing to overpay for Duran, send him packing because it makes the team better in the long run. Duran also doesn’t have the arm to play right field or a stable centerfield at home games.

I think Philly makes a lot of sense for him too. Maybe even the Braves if they think they have an outside shot at making the wild card this season.

I think that’s where we’re at with Duran. It seems pretty obvious last year was an outlier and this is his actual ceiling. If teams want to pay for him, send him on.

Last week, The Athletic published a list of the top 30 trade candidates ahead of the trade deadline. The Boston Red Sox were well represented with Jarren Duran sitting in the first overall spot, Wilyer Abreu at seventh, Aroldis Chapman at 17 (as the first reliever on the list), and Walker Buehler at 19. While there are merits to trade each of these players, Duran sitting atop that list is telling, and the Red Sox need to capitalize on his position. It’s no secret to fans and to teams around the league that Jarren Duran is failing to live up to the hype he built during his incredible 2024 season. He’s currently slashing .257/.309/.406 with 15 stolen bases and five home runs. He’s been demoted from full-time leadoff hitter to only leading off against right-handed pitchers, sliding down to fifth or six in the lineup against lefties. Out of all qualified hitters on the roster, Duran has the lowest wOBA against left-handed pitchers at .251. His wRC+? Also the lowest on the team among qualified hitters at 51. In short, he’s a liability at the plate when he faces a southpaw. If he’s on the roster, he would be better served as a late-inning replacement when the opposition has hopefully gone to a right-handed reliever. Where the Red Sox could really stand to rid themselves on Duran, though, is on defense. As of this writing, Duran is good for one defensive run saved, -4 outs above average, and -5.4 defense runs above average. We talked about this on the latest episode of The Talk Sox Podcast, but it’s almost unfathomable how he’s gone from a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder in 2024 to the biggest defensive liability on the major league roster. Currently, Duran has five errors on the season, and you don’t have to look further than the Giants series to find errors that directly resulted in losses for the Red Sox. It would be one thing if his errors came on balls that were challenging to catch, but they often look like errors you’d see if you were watching a high school game. We’re beginning to see glimpses of the Jarren Duran who couldn’t make routine plays from yesteryear. That doesn’t bode well for the overall success of the team. While his replacement in left field won’t be up for any Gold Gloves this year, there’s room for improvement on both sides of the ball. On top of everything else, moving Duran opens the door for Roman Anthony to shift to left field, which is the position he needs to be playing for the big league club. Anthony looks impressive at the plate, despite a batting average below the Mendoza line. He seems primed to break out at any point with the amount of hard contact he’s making. He looks too slow to play an effective right field in Boston, though. He’s a rookie, so I’m willing to give him a large runway to get his feet under him at the big league level, but he’s going to be most impactful in left field. He roamed right field for the WooSox, but right field there features a wall modeled after the Green Monster. It makes the most sense for the team to package Duran in a trade to upgrade the starting rotation and let Roman Anthony shift across the outfield for the position he will be playing for years to come. I’ve long held the notion that the Red Sox don’t envision Jarren Duran as a building block of the future. They missed the prime chance to capitalize on his value by not trading him during the offseason, but they need to make up for that as we approach the deadline. You could argue that maybe Wilyer Abreu should be dealt instead, given his theoretical higher trade value. In reality, you want a huge arm in right field, and Duran doesn’t have one while Abreu does, plus Abreu is younger and has a higher ceiling than Duran, even if he hasn’t completely put all the pieces together like Duran did last year. And that's the point. Jarren Duran likely will never sniff the season he had in 2024 again. He shouldn't be long for Boston based on the extension he agreed to — that $8 million club option should be a no-brainer for another team — so it’s time to cut rank with him and give him a chance to shine in a different market. View full article

Noah Song has always been a “what if” prospect in the Red Sox's farm system. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 draft, a spot that was deemed a steal for Boston, as Song had the numbers and pedigree to be taken in the first round that year. He only slipped so far because he graduated from the Naval Academy, and there was concern that he wouldn’t be able to have a waiver granted that would allow him to postpone his military career so he could play baseball. Those fears were confirmed after he appeared in seven games for the Lowell Spinners, where he dazzled with a 29.2% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate, and a 1.06 ERA. After that, he reported to basic training and pilot school, where he kept up a throwing program but obviously couldn’t be as dedicated to baseball as he'd like to have been. Song was eligible to come back to the team in 2023, where he was promptly selected by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft. The stipulation of that selection is that Song had to stick on the major league roster for the Phillies to remain in their system. He didn’t. He was returned to Boston in August 2023. In March 2024, Song underwent Tommy John surgery, putting him on the shelf for the next year. Then, somewhat out of the blue (to those of us not actively following him), Song was activated to begin a rehab assignment with the Florida Complex League in May of this year. He made one appearance in the FCL, going two innings while striking out four and giving up no runs. He was then promoted to the Salem Red Sox, where he tossed four innings over three games, still holding a blemish-free ERA and striking out six. From there, he was promoted again to the Greenville Drive, where he went an 1 1/3 innings one game while striking out one and still not allowing a run. He now has been called up to Double-A Portland, where he continues to shine. He’s appeared in four games so far with a 1.13 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 25.8% strikeout rate, and a 6.5% walk rate. If we average his entire stint in the minor league so far, we have a 0.59 ERA, 2.82 FIP, 33.3% strikeout rate, and a 7% walk rate. Suddenly, Noah Song seems like he’s back in top shape and could contribute at the major league level this season. The Red Sox’s bullpen is currently ranked sixth in the MLB in ERA (3.31), second in FIP (3.37), and tenth in innings pitched with 290.2. They are in good shape right now and have been a surprising bright spot on the season, but it’s no secret that they are overworked since the starting rotation hit an almost month-long skid in May that found the pen tossing more innings than anyone would consider optimal. During that stretch in May, the bullpen pitched the second most innings in the league (111 1/3) and they managed to keep their combined ERA to just a 3.23 figure. That’s incredibly impressive. Should the rotation begin to falter again, though, reinforcements will be needed. Justin Slaten has no timetable for when he will return to pitching, Kutter Crawford's most recent set back likely puts his entire season in question, Jordan Hicks remains on the IL (though he is close to returning and making his debut with the big league club), and Liam Hendriks is progressing in his recovery but was less than reliable when he was with the team. Song is in a better place than all of these players, except for maybe Hicks, who will likely factor into the back of the bullpen once he does make his way to the big league club. Song still features a four-pitch mix; a fastball that can run anywhere from 93 to 98, a slider, curveball, and a changeup. He’s not the flamethrower he was coming out of the Naval Academy when he could top out at 99, but he seems to be building up his velocity throughout his stint in the minor leagues, and if he can sit in the mid-90s with his fastball consistently, then he should work as an excellent depth addition to the middle of the bullpen. In a system that is getting better about building pitching depth but still lacks some with upside at the upper levels of the system, Noah Song could be a breath of fresh air now that he’s finally fully committed to baseball and past his injuries. View full article