Alex Mayes

Most fans have nothing but kind things to say about his strength in advocating for mental health and him being so open about his struggles, myself included. He’s saved countless lives and should be applauded for that. But holding him accountable and being critical of his on-field performance is fair game for anyone.

How is holding him accountable for his garbage season myopic?

The Boston Red Sox have already made a blockbuster deal in advance of the trade deadline, acquiring Curtis Mead late on Saturday, July 25. Mead addresses the right-handed pop that the Red Sox have been looking for since the offseason, but there is still room on the roster to add even more power at the plate as the team looks to make a push for the AL East title through the end of the season. Which brings us to yet another Washington Nationals infielder: All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams. According to Section 10’s Jared Carrabis, just because the Red Sox have already acquired Mead it doesn’t mean that the team wouldn’t still pursue Abrams in a second deal with the Nationals. On the surface, this seems almost counterintuitive. Why wouldn’t the team just make one large deal for both players instead of doing two smaller transactions? That’s a question that only Craig Breslow and Paul Toboni could answer, but if there is still a path to land the type of talent that Abrams brings, then Breslow needs to do everything he can to get it done. Offensively, Abrams slots in as another left-handed hitter in a lineup that features quite a few lefties already, but his offensive firepower makes up for the redundancy. He’s slashing .295/.368/.570 with a .397 wOBA, 152 wRC+, and 3.9 fWAR. He’s slugged 27 home runs so far to go along with 19 stolen bases. There's really nothing you can do at the plate that the 25-year-old isn't doing well. Abrams isn’t an opposite-field type hitter, and for a left-handed slugger that could potentially be bad news at Fenway Park where deep right field is essentially a second center field. But this isn't a real concern with this particular player; overlay his home spray chart over Fenway, and he doesn’t lose a single home run blast to right field. He might lose one to center, but he ends up gaining four in left field, and possibly one additional one in right thanks to the Pesky Pole. Adding that kind of offense to this team would instantly catapult them into pennant contention in a weak American League. Before we drink too much of his Kool-Aid, though, there are two major roadblocks we have to acknowledge. First, he’s as close to a defensive liability as you can get. Abrams currently ranks in the first percentile in Outs Above Average with a mystifying -12. For reference, Marcelo Mayer posted a flat 0 OAA at short and Trevor Story was a -3 OAA before his injury. We’ve lambasted the latter's defensive woes fairly regularly, so inserting someone who is quadruply worse at short than Story may be a tough sell. There's nowhere else on the roster to really slot him at the moment (unless second base is open in the wake of Mead's wrist injury), and moving Abrams off short would open up a gaping hole up the middle. That, specifically, brings us to the second downside. Any deal that brings Abrams to Boston almost certainly involves top prospect, and likely future shortstop, Franklin Arias headed to Washington. With enough reps, it’s entirely likely that Mayer could take over short full time in the absence of Arias, but his offensive approach is going to need a lot of work once he’s healthy. It’s unlikely that Abrams would move positions this year, so Mayer would have the runway to get back into big-league shape, but the lockout is going to make things a bit more difficult for everyone next offseason. Both Mikey Romero and Kristian Campbell are sitting in Worcester and could be in the conversation next year, but neither is an ideal option either. For an Abrams trade to work, there has to be a plan for when he no longer can play shortstop as soon as 2027 (most scouts see his future at first base or a corner outfield spot, which are also logjammed at the moment). Abrams offers tantalizing offensive potential as a member of the Boston Red Sox. He’s young, under control through 2028, and would likely be a candidate for an extension fairly quickly after the new CBA is agreed upon to begin the 2027 season. There are major question marks surrounding his defensive abilities and the price required to get him from Washington to Boston, but this is the kind of hitter you double-dip for. View full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 4-2 Runs Scored Last Week: 25 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 24 Standings 3rd in AL East 6.5 GB First Place 2nd in AL Wild Card Transactions 07/21/26: Boston Red Sox recalled RHP Zack Kelly from Worcester Red Sox. 07/21/26: Boston Red Sox placed RHP Zack Kelly on the 60-day injured list. Right elbow inflammation. 07/22/26: Boston Red Sox recalled LHP Alec Gamboa from Worcester Red Sox. 07/23/26: Boston Red Sox optioned LHP Eduardo Rivera to Worcester Red Sox. 07/26/26: Boston Red Sox traded LHP Connelly Early to Washington Nationals for 3B Curtis Mead. 07/26/26: Boston Red Sox optioned LHP Alec Gamboa to Worcester Red Sox. 07/26/26: Boston Red Sox traded LHP Connelly Early to Washington Nationals for 3B Curtis Mead. 07/26/26: Boston Red Sox activated LHP Ranger Suarez from the 15-day injured list. Scores Game 99: BOS 6, BAL 5 Game 100: BOS 6, BAL 3 Game 101: BOS 1, BAL 5 Game 102: BOS 6, TOR 5 Game 103: BOS 0, TOR 6 Game 104: BOS 6, TOR 1 Series Breakdown/Highlights Orioles Series: The Red Sox looked to keep rolling at home, and see if they could break their single-season win streak record against the division rival O’s to open the week. Things started off well in game one, with Willson Contreras, Caleb Durbin, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela all contributing RBIs in the win. Durbin’s came on some eighth inning heroics after the O’s tied the game in the 7th inning. On the pitching side, Payton Tolle was fine for the most part, but he fell apart in the sixth inning. He tossed 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs, walked one, and struck out nine. Tyron Guerrero threw 1.1 innings, allowing one earned run, and struck out three. Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman both worked scoreless innings to close out the game. Game two was rescheduled for a Wednesday doubleheader. Duran was the offensive star of the game with his three RBIs. Rafaela contributed one RBI on a solo home run while Caleb Durbin drove in two. Rookie Jake Bennett tossed 5.2 innings of three-run baseball, walking none and striking out four. He wasn’t his typical dominant self, but he had more than enough to put the team in a position to win the game. Out of the bullpen Justin Slaten, Whitlock, and Chapman all worked clean appearances. This win was the 15th straight, tying the team’s longest streak in the history of the franchise. Game three was packed, the highest attendance at Fenway Park since 2017 according to the broadcast. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the O’s Kyle Bradish was in fine form on Wednesday night. For the Red Sox, opener Eduardo Rivera only tossed 0.2 innings while giving up four earned runs and that’s all she wrote. Brayan Bello came out of the pen to throw 5.1 innings, walking one and striking out five. He’s added some velocity to his pitch mix since being called back up and it makes you start to wonder if he’s going to be in the conversation for the starting rotation with Connelly Early now shipped out to Washington. Behind Bello, Ryan Watson and Alec Gamboa finished the game out in quiet fashion. Offensively, there was nothing to really get excited about. The lone RBI belonged to Masataka Yoshida. Everyone then turned their attention to the weekend series against the Blue Jays to see how the team would rebound after their first loss in quite some time. Blue Jays Series: In game one, Anthony Seigler was the star of the show in the Friday Fenway Greens. The rookie went four-for-five on the night, including a home run to open the contest. Rafaela contributed another home run and two RBIs on the night, while Andruw Monasterio and Romy Gonzalez also drove in one run each. Patrick Sandoval was shaky in the start, but worked his way out of a couple of jams early on. He ended up going 4.2 innings while striking out three and allowing no earned runs. Guerrero, Greg Weissert, Whitlock, and Chapman all came out of the pen in this one. Weissert reverted to his old self in this appearance, allowing three earned runs to let the Blue Jays back into the game, but the offense bailed him out again. Game two was nothing to write home about. Dylan Cease looked every bit of the Cy Young contender that he has been all season. He had his no-hitter broken up by Monasterio, but that was all the offense the Red Sox could muster. Shockingly, Sonny Gray was incredibly shaky. He allowed five earned runs over five innings, while only striking out three. Gamboa covered the final four innings, indicating that he would likely be the person sent down when Ranger Suarez was activated before game three. In game three, Suarez worked a quick game but was fantastic in his four innings. He struck out four and allowed no earned runs. Weissert, Guerrero, Slaten, and Ryan Watson finished out the game with only Watson allowing an earned run on the day. Offensively, newcomer Jahmai Jones shone off the bench with a two-RBI double, Duran contributed two RBIs himself, and Wilyer Abreu and Rafaela both knocked in a run to help give the team the win. It was a great way to respond after the loss in game two and sent the team on the West Coast trip with growing confidence. Website Highlights Red Sox and Nationals Trade Connelly Early and Curtis Mead in 1-for-1 Swap by Nick John 3 Players Most Responsible for Red Sox’s Historic WInning Streak by Cory Sparks Wilyer Abreu has Entered the Goldilocks Zone at the Plate by Maddie Landis Red Sox Trade Deadline Targets: Ryan Jeffers is the Upgrade Behind the Plate We’ve Been Waiting For by Alex Mayes Looking Ahead 07/27/26: Red Sox (Payton Tolle) @ Athletics (Jack Perkins): 9:40 PM EDT 07/28/26: Red Sox (Jake Bennett) @ Athletics (Gage Jump): 9:40 PM EDT 07/29/26: Red Sox (Patrick Sandoval) @ Athletics (Jacob Lopez): 9:40 PM EDT 07/30/26: Red Sox (Sonny Gray) @ Athletics (TBD): 9:40 PM EDT 07/31/26: Red Sox @ Dodgers: 10:10 PM EDT 08/01/26: Red Sox @ Dodgers: 9:10 PM EDT 08/02/26: Red Sox @ Dodgers: 7:20 PM EDT Sunday Night Baseball View full article

A quick programming note, there was a last-minute scheduling conflict that came up yesterday so recording has been pushed to today, 7/27. We'll kick the deadline to today at 5 pm CST if there are any other questions.

The Boston Red Sox made a rare one-for-one trade with the Washington Nationals this weekend, swapping left-handed pitcher Connelly Early for infielder Curtis Mead. Our own @Nick JohnJohn provided great, quick coverage the night the trade went down, but now we need to get to know the newest infielder that will likely be calling Boston home through at least the 2030 season. Mead has come on in a big, big way for the Nationals this season after bouncing around a couple of different organizations. He signed as an international free agent with the Phillies in 2018, was subsequently traded to the Rays for Christopher Sanchez in 2019, was then included as part of a package deal to the White Sox for Adrian Houser in 2025, and finally was traded to the Nationals in March of this year for Boston Smith. It wouldn’t quite be fair to label him a journeyman, but his path to Boston has been a bit contrived. Thankfully for him, and hopefully for the Boston faithful, he seems to have found his footing with the Nats. Mead is currently slashing .254/.352/.500 with a .369 wOBA, a 134 wRC+, and a 1.5 fWAR. He’s slugged 17 home runs, has 48 RBIs, and six stolen bases. Impressively, his walk rate sits at 11.9%, good for the 82nd percentile. He doesn’t strike out a ton either, coming in at 19%, good for the 65th percentile. He doesn’t make the hardest of contact (his average exit velocity is only 88 mph) but he barrels balls at a 10.9% clip, which is in the 69th percentile. What likely made Craig Breslow comfortable with this trade is that Mead has the offensive profile that should absolutely mash at Fenway Park. Much like other Breslow trade targets, Mead has an enormous Pull-AIR% of 22.5%. This puts him in the top ten percent of the league in the stat and makes it obvious that the plan was always to add an additional righty who will take aim at the Green Monster. If we look at his home spray chart, it paints an impressive picture. While it’s not a perfect comparison to how he will do at Fenway, it gives us a pretty big indication that his profile is going to thrive calling Boston home for the next handful of years. The biggest knock against Mead is his defensive profile. He’s primarily a third baseman but has logged games at first, second, and DH this season as well. As we all know, Caleb Durbin has been playing Gold Glove caliber defense at third this season. He said that he would be open to moving to second base if the team acquired another third baseman, but the step down from Durbin to Mead is fairly significant. It’s hard to envision that Breslow would sacrifice one of the major pieces of his ‘pitching and defense’ model just to get Mead at the hot corner. For reference, Mead is currently posting a -9 Outs Above Average and a 77.1 mph arm strength. Those are good for the first and 41st percentiles, respectfully. For reference, Durbin grades out in the 86th percentile for OAA with three and the 28th for arm strength at 81.2 mph. Since it would be such a massive downgrade at third base, the plan is for Mead to play second base. This likely forces rookie Anthony Seigler to a bench role, but that’s realistically where he should be playing for this team when they are operating at full capacity. This trade could be one of few that may be considered a win for both teams. The Red Sox were able to trade from a place of strength with Early and acquired a hitter that profiles well at Fenway Park. The Nats need rotation help and have bats to spare. There's a huge risk in dealing Connelly Early, someone who was rumored to be involved in bigger trade packages, straight up for a hitter with a journeyman track record. But this is also the kind of trade designed to help Boston win now and in the future, which could prove prescient if Mead translates his profile to Fenway Park as we're hoping. View full article

Earlier this week, I profiled why Minnesota Twins backstop Ryan Jeffers is a prime trade target for the Boston Red Sox. He checks a lot of the boxes that the team needs behind the plate and on offense, but there are questions about the cost to acquire him and if the Twins would even be willing to part with him. He’s also an unrestricted free agent after next season, so Craig Breslow would have to heavily weigh the cost versus the possibility of extending Jeffers before he has a chance to reach free agency. Since that article was written though, the trade market for catchers has become arguably the hottest stove in MLB. ESPN’s Jeff Passan has listed three additional catchers as matches for the Red Sox. While Jeffers was at the top of my trade target list, I’d likely bump him down to number two or three on my tier rankings now that Shea Langeliers, Adley Rutschman, and Hunter Goodman’s names have surfaced. Instead of profiling each player with their own piece, I wanted to give a one-stop-shop location for the three names that are going to fly up fan’s trade boards in the next week and a half. #3: Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies We talked quite a bit about Goodman on the most recent episode of the Talk Sox Podcast and for good reason: he’s currently projected to perform better this season than he did during his breakout in 2025. He’s currently slashing .257/.326/.565 with a .375 wOBA, 124 wRC+, and a 2.4 fWAR. To go along with that, he’s already matched his 2025 home run total of 31 in just 94 games into this season. Typically, you have to take any hitter on the Rockies with a grain of salt, but not Goodman. In fact, his road splits are better than his home numbers. On the road, he’s slashing .282/.345/.619 with 18 home runs, a 32 K%, and an 8 BB%. At home, he’s slashing .231/.306/.509 with 13 home runs, a 32.6 K%, and an 8.8 BB%. Much like nearly every hitter connected to the Red Sox while Craig Breslow has been at the helm, Goodman has a staggering 30.6 Pull-Air% that would likely drive his home run totals to the moon if he were taking aim at the Green Monster for the remainder of this season. He’s also not an unrestricted free agent until 2030. With that much control, it’s understandable that Colorado is waiting to be blown away by an offer for Goodman. That’s the biggest knock against him right now; it’s going to take multiple top-10 prospects plus some MLB-caliber talent to pry the catcher out of the Mile High City. Along with that, there are a couple areas of his game that should give teams, but especially the Red Sox, pause for concern. As noted in his splits above, his strikeout percentage is out of this world, and not in a good way. Currently, Goodman is in the 5th overall percentile for K% at 32.3%. His BB% is slightly better, 8.4%, putting him in the 43rd percentile. The sky-high strikeout percentage also explains the bottom-of-the-barrel chase percentage at 40.4% and the even worse whiff percentage at 35..4%. On the defensive side of the baseball, he’s bottom of the league as well. He currently is in the 58th percentile in blocks above average at +1, the 45th percentile in caught stealing above average at zero, the 27th percentile in framing at -2, and the 58th percentile in pop time at 1.94 seconds. It’s a massive step backwards on the defensive side of the baseball compared to Carlos Narváez, but the pop in his bat is tantalizing. If the hitting program believes they can tinker with him enough to fix his swing-and-miss issues, then it may be worth ponying up the prospect capital to land Goodman at the deadline since he’s under control for so long. #2: Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles I like Rutschman a lot and typically hate seeing him at the plate in a series against the O’s. There are two big reasons I have him ranked number two here, though: He plays for a division rival, so a trade is going to be incredibly difficult to pull off, and he has an injury history that gives me a bit of pause for concern. He landed on the IL just before the most recent series against the Orioles with left wrist inflammation. That’s his third IL stint this year; he was placed on the IL in April with left ankle inflammation and again in June with a concussion. Due to the time spent on the injured list, his 2026 numbers aren’t spectacular. He’s slashing .251/.331/.433 with a .333 wOBA, 114 wRC+, and a 2.3 fWAR. That being said, he has all of the intangibles that the Red Sox are looking for if they decide to upgrade at the catching position. First, his Baseball Savant page gives us a look under the hood to a lot of the information that Craig Breslow is also likely looking at. He grades out in the 82nd percentile in xBA at .270, and his squared-up percentage is the 90th percentile at 32.3%. While all of that is impressive, Rutschman’s whiff, strikeout, and walk percentages are the offensive stats that Breslow is probably drooling over. His whiff percentage is sitting at 15.8%, good for the 92nd percentile, the strikeout percentage is in the 86th percentile at 14.1%, and his walk rate is 69th percentile at 10.6%. To go along with that, his Pull-Air percentage is at 19.3%, good for the top ten percent of hitters in the league. We all know Breslow loves to sign right-handed (or switch, in Rutschman’s case) hitters who can pull the ball in the air on a regular basis. Defensively, Rutschman goes stride for stride with Carlos Narvaez behind the dish. Rutschman is ranked in the 80th percentile in blocks above average, the 99th percentile in caught stealing above average, and the 97th percentile in framing. The lone knock defensively against him is his pop time comes in at 1.95 seconds, good for the 45th percentile. Rutschman is arguably the most all-around catcher potentially available on the trade market, but making a deal of this caliber within the division is going to be incredibly tough, and will likely command a massive overpay for the Orioles to even listen to an offer. Rutschman is a free agent in 2027, so he has an extra year of control over someone like Jeffers, but the price here may be too exorbitant to even consider. #1: Shea Langeliers, Athletics Langeliers is ranked number one because the Red Sox and A’s match up very well on a trade and his offensive profile is made to mash at Fenway Park. He’s battled injuries in his career, but not to the level of Rutschman above. With a capable backup in either Narvaez or Connor Wong, he can see some extended time at DH to help save his legs and hopefully prevent lower body injuries. He’s currently slashing .260/.330/.496 with a .355 wOBA, 125 wRC+, and a 2.7 fWAR. He’s slugged 23 home runs and has 51 RBIs. He also fits the ‘bat speed’ mold that Breslow and company have an affinity for, coming in at the 87th percentile with a 75.3 MPH average swing. His Pull-Air rate is at 21.7% but has been as high as 29.7% in his young career. He’s not a free agent until 2029 as well, so you can bet his price tag will be hefty as well. Like Goodman above though, Langeliers has some holes in his swing. He’s ranked in the 42nd percentile in BB% with an 8.3%, the 40th percentile in K% with a 23%, 36th percentile in chase% with a 31.9%, and the 30th percentile in whiff% with a 28.2%. You could almost copy the same statements that I wrote about Goodman here when it comes to these numbers. He’s going to strike out a lot, and he’s hardly going to walk, but the power is so tantalizing. Like Rutschman and Goodman, the odds of a mid-season trade for a star catcher like Langeliers are incredibly low. But if the front office is going to push their chips into the middle to acquire a bat at a position of need that can put the Red Sox on par with the American League's best, the A's backstop is the one to get. View full article

We're back with a new episode of the Talk Sox Podcast this Sunday, July 26th! Post your questions below and we'll kick off the episode with them! We'll put the deadline for questions on 7/26 at 3 PM CST.

Since you listen to the podcast, you probably know that I do PA work for my local high school team. The biggest reason I love doing that is because it's just pure baseball. I don't have to look at stats, trends, or anything else that I don't want to. I just get to watch baseball and enjoy it. It's the same reason I go to games of teams I don't follow, I just want to enjoy baseball.

Rendon is why I gave the qualifier, haha. The sole reason I'd maybe put Bryant in front of him is because Rendon's first year with the Angels, it was 2020 but still, he was a productive player. Bryant hasn't been productive in Colorado at all.

The Bryant deal may be the worst contract in the history of the sport, all things considered. If not, it's likely top three.

I really think the Bryant deal has changed the way Colorado approaches every single move they make. They were never a trade heavy team before that but now it seems like they are terrified to make any significant moves because they were snakebitten so badly by a deal for a player that may never suit up again.

I'm not convinced we lose Gray honestly. I think he may be open to reworking that deal for an additional guaranteed two years with the way he seems to be enjoying being in Boston.

They haven't spent a ton of time in the rotation together, somewhere about 4 weeks in total before Early hit the IL. Once Early is back Tracy is going to have to be creative in rotation spots because throwing them back to back is likely going to mean one of them suddenly starts to get hit harder because their profiles are so similar. To be clear I really like both of them and think the Bennett trade was an incredible move by Craig, but teams are going to want MLB arms this deadline and, to me, Bennett has both the higher floor and ceiling than Early so I'd prefer to keep him around. I'd trade Eyanson for either Langeliers or Rutschman right now, just not for Goodman or Jeffers.

If one of them were right handed, I’d agree. But they are too similar to exist in the same rotation in my opinion.

I'm not overly concerned with Early's elbow right now, but I'm also not the GM of a baseball team haha. I think they'd pivot to Bennett before they offered Eyanson and you'd have to imagine that Colorado likes Bennett quite a bit.

Agreed on their demands. The bottom of the offensive part of his Savant page terrifies me though. I'd be happy with him, but there's a lot of swing and miss with very little walks in his approach.

From the Sox standpoint, Eyanson likely has a higher ceiling than either Early or Bennett and will likely be in the rotation next year at this rate. The reports from the A's and Rockies specifically say they are looking for major league a major league ready arm in return for either Langeliers and Goodman. That being said, I'd part with Eyanson for Langeliers but the holes in Goodman's swing worry me enough that I'd likely go Early, Witherspoon, Narvi as the central package with an additional bat if need be.

I actually said that the Red Sox may have fleeced the Brewers in the Durbin trade. I was eating my words for awhile but Harrison has fallen back to earth last I checked.

My gut says Eyanson is likely untouchable because he's being given the Tolle treatment. I also think Eyanson will be more ready for the MLB later this season than Tolle was when he was called up last year. Everyone else you've listed should be on the table. I'd lean trading Mayer before Arias but Arias is going to have way more value right now.

Absolutely, but I think Early or Bennett has to be included in any deal for a big name bat this year. Likely Witherspoon as well.