Larry Cook

And what happens to Detroit in 2027 once the Mets sign skubal to a 650 million dollar contract after the 2026 season?? or do you try to get the best package for skubal now or at the July 2026 trade deadline????

Tolle, early, dobbins, Fitts, drohan, and uberstine all with time in Boston or Worcester. I guess last year proved we can never have enough depth when it comes to pitchers!

Bres-slow and Cora both mentioned improving the defensive play in 2026! We shall see how they plan to do that

Most writers say that bres-slow and Bailey value strike out % pitchers and the two names mentioned most frequently, Ryan and Greene have the same type strike out % as giolita had when we signed him.

We have more than enough talent we can trade for a quality number 2 rotation piece!!! crochet was a expensive acquisition. Well worth it though. but doing another trade like that for a young superstar starting pitcher is going to be difficult! Not to mention the cost of an extension!! I believe we should trade for a veteran starter on an expiring contract and use them to give Tolle, dobbins, Fitts, drohan, uberstine, Mullins, and especially Witherspoon time to improve command and control while tightening up the secondary pitches!! part 2 is to continue to trade excess pieces for young prospect pitching and waiting to see if it develops, farharko, Jose bello and Holobetz are excellent examples of this strategy!!!

We have some exciting arms coming up through the farm system. No idea if will make it to Boston, but I can say with 100 percent accuracy, they all have better stuff than Criswell

The athletic said he is a huge defensive improvement over story.

There are only two free agent pitchers that make sense for us. King and inia (short guy from Japan) King has amazing stuff, but is always injured. inia has amazing stuff, but is unproven.

The athletic said duran’s best fit is Philly!

Potential trade #1 - Duran and Sandlin to Philly for bohm (3B) and painter (Worcester starting pitcher) and ptbnl potential trade #2 - fitts, cutter, drohan and Hamilton to Atlanta for chris frail sale major free agent signing - naylor (1B) resigning - relief pitcher Wilson. ……………………………………………………………… rotation - crochet, sale, bello, Sandoval and early bullpen - Chapman, slaten, Whitlock, weissert, Wilson, Harrison, hicks and Bernardino (or wincowski) catcher - Wong and narveaz infield - bohm (3B), Mayer (SS), story (2B) naylor (1B) and romy and sogard as utility. outfield - Anthony (LF) rafeala (CF) abreau (RF) and Campbell as 4th outfielder DH - yoshida Worcester rotation - painter, tolle, dobbins (when healthy) Mullins and uberstine casas starts the year on the DL and then joins Worcester full time.

Is one of the Japanese team posting a pitcher, iaki? I may have spelled his name wrong.

I am excited about the pitching we have coming through the farm system! dobbins - is ready now. But coming off the acl injury, maybe he starts the year at Worcester and gets the command and control tightened back up after the layoff! early - really close to being ready. Had four decent pitches but no out pitch per se. Tolle - he needs time in Worcester. The fastball is elite! The secondary pitches are works in progress. Future closer? fitts - UCL injury waiting to happen! When he has velocity, he can get any major league hitters out! When velocity decreases he becomes very hit table. Bullpen guy to me, Mullins - none of his pitches make you say “wow” like Valera’s do, but he strikes out guys and he does not give up many runs! holobetz - when he has command and control, his stuff is good enough to get guys out. Needs to sharpen the secondaries! Talk about ending the year on an upward trajectory

Pass! Let someone else have him,

Arias, 2 Garcias and Gonzales is all we got as far as potential Boston bound bat prospects! Romero and gotknot would need to take a big leap to have any chance

I have to agree with you 100 percent. He cannot hit breaking balls or off speed stuff consistently

Is the bullpen an on option?

I did not see uberstine pitch much in 2025, but when I did, his fastball and secondaries looked okay, but some pitches wandered over the meaty part of the plate and he paid the price for it.

If the Korean short stop for Tampa opts out this year, we should sign him. Defensively , he is a huge upgrade over story and he allows story to move back to second base where he is less of a defensive menace. Mayer stays at 3B and then we just need a power bat at first if cassas starts the year at Worcester

Why? We have no problem keeping them. We have enough at bat opportunities for every outfielder currently on the roster. why are you presuming we need to trade any outfielder away?

So you are implying that bres-slow should, in theory, be able to trade an outfielder, to fill a major need area! Is that the only reason you think we need to trade an outfielder?? because reality says bres-slow traded for an ace, one of the best pitchers in the major league, last off season and did not sacrifice anybody off the the major league roster! also, what major need area could any of our outfielders be used to procure in a 1 for 1 trade???? The alternative is our trading block outfielder would just a be a piece in a trade package to fill a major need item, but are there better options than a current Boston outfielder in the trade package? Ie: wouldn’t Tolle or early be more enticing to a team, because all teams need pitching, than a current Boston outfielder? I think people perceive we have a surplus of Boston outfielders, but keeping them all is also a viable option!!

Do we really need to trade an outfielder? Anthony, rafeala, Duran, abreau in Boston. Garcia, Eaton and Campbell in Worcester. Maybe the outfield is too left handed hitting, but in theory the pieces fit fine as we are today!! plus if we trade/dfa yoshida, the DH spot opens up for additional at bats. (Fyi: Schrawber or Alonso could require a plan alteration, if they sign here) now, if we resign refsynder, that should be convincing evidence that bres-slow is trading one of our existing outfielders!

Red Sox signed a 31 year old catcher from the braves minor league system today to a minor league contract.

Ins’t what you said the definition of the word prospect?

Assuming no trades: Crochet #1 and bello #3 are locks for Boston’s opening day roster. if 100 percent healthy. We have to assume Sandoval #4 is a lock for Boston’s opening day roster. now comes the hard part. We have Crawford. Harrison. Fitts, dobbins, Criswell, Tolle, early, perales, uberstine and drohan to sort out! 1.) I assume dobbins starts the year on the 60 DL. 2.) is early our 5th starter? 3.) Harrison and Fitts seem like excellent bullpen arms similar to Whitlock. 4.) Worcester gets Tolle, perales, uberstine and drohan. Plus dobbins when dobbins knee heals. that leaves Crawford and criswell? - does a team in desperate need of pitching claim Criswell?? (Good luck to that team) - is Crawford the 5th starter and early gets sent to Worcester? who does bres-slow acquire for the all important #2 slot? Chris sale is my vote, if I had a vote! Atlanta needs cost controlled pitching and an outfielder and a shortstop!! Hmmmm!!!! sweet Georgia pie!!! will giolito get and accept a qualifying offer??? Does the medical condition of giolito’s elbow eliminate bres-slow from offering the qualifying offer?? Lots to unpack with the 2026 rotation, but I believe bres-slow has a plan A and a plan B which could be altered based on who opts in and out versus if giolito gets a qualifying offer!