UtahSox

Aside from the positional alignment argument… (Too many starting pitchers) I’m just not that confident in all the hype around our prospects. We’ve all seen this movie before — every year there’s a “next ________,” right up until they aren’t. Yeah, we hit big on RA19…. But the verdict is still totally out on Mayer, K. Campbell (remember what we all thought of him on April 15?? compared to now?), Tolle, Early, Witherspoon, Perales, Sandlin… the list goes on. High level MLB talent? absolutely — but none of it is guaranteed. And even if some of these guys do become real players, Ketel Marte gives you a massive, proven boost over the next 3 seasons. That’s the difference between potential down the road and actual production right now. If we’re serious about maximizing this current window, Marte moves the needle more than a handful of “maybes.”

The only reason I want Duran traded instead of Abreu is the ~$8M it saves. That’s it. And the fact we’re even talking about nickel-and-diming like this tells you everything — we’re fully in the “budget team” era now. It’s wild: ownership disappears, management goes silent, and then their media echo chamber tries to convince us they just “don’t have the money”. COME ON!! Red Sox fans aren’t begging the team to keep pace with the Yankees or Dodgers. Ownership has successfully lowered our expectations away from that. We’re literally just saying: don’t get outspent by the Mets, Phillies, AND Blue Jays. When your revenue is firmly top 3–4 in MLB, and 100m + more than Mets, Phils, and BJ’s………. RS fans expecting top-5 spending isn’t greedy — it’s basic. That’s the standard this franchise HAS, Red Sox fans are everywhere. There’s a reason that when the Sox roll into a visiting ballpark, it can feel like a home game — the brand is that powerful, that deep, that generational. A franchise with this reach, this history, and this revenue shouldn’t be acting like it’s scraping coins out of the couch cushions. The brand is elite — now it needs ownership to act like it once again. Spending up to the next tax threshold could literally be the difference between a nice season and a legit World Series run. And the front office knows exactly how much revenue a deep October run generates — it pays for itself ten times over. The last few years, whatever… we weren’t that close, so the penny-pinching didn’t sting as much. But this year? This year we’re actually close. This is the window where a real organization pushes in, not pulls back. If Sox fall short because they were afraid to cross tax line, that’s on JH — not the roster, not the coaches, not the Front office.

Did you watch the playoff series? 0 RBI’s ZERO out of 3 OF and 1b……. 3 hits out of 42 AB out of Rafaela, Abreu, Lowe, Romy and Duran just need some home run threats SOMEWHERE. Too hard to score striking out like we did, this offense needs a power boost.

One of Red Sox biggest advantages is that Mets plan to DH Soto eventually. Can Soto hang on 3-4 years out there in RF? I think Mets will push hard for PA on a 3-4 yr deal…. Offering a 5 to 6 year deal is our biggest positive. We have to get pete Alonso from my vantage point he just checks the most boxes.

Yikes….. Okamoto, Polanco, Story, Mayer, Anthony, Rafaela, Abreu, W/ Romy/ Yoshida @DH……. Bottom 10 offense with high strikeout rates here we come!

Outside of Bello our young arms are more part of the “win soon” category. K Marte to Brewers for Peralta / or K Marte to Royals for Ragans is more of a “win now”. Again I hope Olney is wrong, because he is a great fit in Boston. Just passing along what Olney said.

Per Olney DBacks are in “win now” not “win soon” if they are in win now, and want pitching in return I think Royals and Brewers have massive advantage on Marte.

Amen this is it………This is the clear answer, we keep trying to put the round peg in the square hole. Hopefully Breslow and JH are coming to same conclusion right now……. Even if you have to over pay for those 2 bats, keeps the momentum, and leadership (AB2), also addresses needs in SP and power… I’m ok even adding Witherspoon or 1 of the big 2 young arms to make it happen for Ryan, Alcantara, or Ragans.

Per spotrac we are still on hook for 7.5m in 2034 of devers deal. I think I’m mourning just how perfect he would have been in this lineup with healthy RA19, and healthy AB2. I guess the deal is incomplete until we see if JH actually replaces his bat with 2 High end bats like a Schwarber/P. Alonso + AB2/Bo Bichette…... As of now though it’s a bad deal for us. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/18493/rafael-devers

Lowe I agree… Marte contract is freaking great, when you compare it to what’s out there on open market in free agency. And again if you believe the window is open we are looking in the next 24-36 months WAR is great. The homerun thing I’m not sure about. I know he rakes LHP. Which helps vs Yankees, not so much vs BlueJays. Also hits more HR’s from right side… Doesn’t that play in Fenway? Donovan IMO is much more than platoon bat. And gives us real defensive versatility. I’d love him if accompanied by 2 high end bats. Not as the second guy.

If that’s true, and I’m not saying it isn’t….. we absolutely got corked trading Devers. Hicks, (boat anchor) Harrison, what turned into Dustin May. bad bad

Had a totally out of right field thought….. trade Rafaela, Harrison, and Sandoval for Marte. (Even deal) Sign Bader to a 4yr 68m deal (+17 aav ) Trade Abreu and Yoshida for a piece of cheese (-22aav) sign Pete Alonso 4yr 128m (32aav) lineup with RA19, JD16, Bader, Marte, Alonso, and Story would be awesome. and still have room to trade for legit SP2.

Some on this website love their defense, and bats be damned……. Rafaela is a sub 300 obp % guy, Marte is a 375 OBP%. Marte hits more home runs, strikes out less, better batting average. You make that trade 100 out of 100 times unless you’re just playing for the future.

Vehemently agree to disagree

This sounds like my nightmare opening day lineup. No bregman, no Alonso, Okamoto at 1st and Mayer at 3rd with Romy at 2b?? I’ll be so freaking bummed out if that’s our lineup.

Much bigger fan of Alcantara. He will be year2 post TJ’s as well.

I had somehow had forgotten about Cease….. I think with Rodon and Fried they will slowly bring Cole along ready hammer down in September/ October.

We’re clearly seeing the logjam now, and it explains why we moved on from Fitts — he either wasn’t going to fit on the 40-man, or someone very similar to him wasn’t going to make it. My concern is this: if Crochet misses any real time in 2026, our rotation instantly becomes the Honda Civic of MLB rotations. That’s why we have to add another true top-end starter. When you compare our rotation to the Yankees’: • Crochet is the best, in my opinion • very closely followed by Cole and Fried • then there’s a big drop to Rodón • another drop to Schlittler, Gray, and Bello • and another drop to all of our young depth arms And when you compare our rotation to the Blue Jays’: • Crochet is still the best, in my opinion • but after him there’s a noticeable drop-off • Toronto has several arms in that next tier — Gausman, YeaSavage, and Bieber (Year 2 post–TJ) • all of whom would currently slot ahead of our next group All of this just reinforces how badly we need one more frontline starter if we want to compete with the top teams.

Because as much as we as fans just want to win, AB2 wants to get paid….. then win. In that order. Honestly ifAB2 signs with Detroit, I hope Skubal doesn’t resign, unless Skubal ends up in AL East.

Autocorrect….. but I’m pretty sure you knew that.

This is literally a best case scenario…. But this is what the World Series Red Sox rosters looked like.

Not necessarily. But if results with young guys aren’t there, need to be quick to pivot.

Doesn’t need to play shortstop, actually won’t play SS. Add in defensively looks a lot better at 2b or 3b. 30m a year is what it’s gonna take to land any of the top 8 bats. In 4 years 30m for a solid hitter will look like a deal. So we just have to do whatever it takes to land 1 of these 4: Marte, Alonso, Schwarber, Tucker 1 of these 4 : Bregman, Bichette, Bellinger, Polanco.

I think if Meyer+ Harrison+ Garcia gets it done……. do it tomorrow.

I’m on record saying Pete is the perfect fit…. But he’s also a perfect fit on a few teams. So assuming his agent plays games, I do think Bichette really could be the guy, look at his stats at Fenway. I love how he doesn’t strike out. I know his concerns at SS are range, not arm strength. Easily could be our 3b. Pairing him with Marte would be a very strong pairing and give Casas a chance to figure it out at 1st, if not you could go get willson Contreras or Yandy Diaz later in season.