The Red Sox are in offseason mode after being bounced by the Yankees last week. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow met with reporters on Monday to discuss the upcoming winter (links via Tim Healey of The Boston Globe and Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). Like many baseball operations leaders, Breslow spoke mostly in generalities but provided a few hints to the front office’s plans.
Starting pitching should be a focus for a second straight offseason. The Sox pulled off the most impactful rotation move of last winter, trading four prospects for Garrett Crochet and signing him to a six-year extension just after Opening Day. Crochet was everything the team could have hoped for and should land a top two finish in Cy Young balloting.
“Every team gets better if you can bring in a starter or develop a starting pitcher who can pitch at Garrett Crochet’s level,” Breslow said. “We will be as aggressive as we can when trying to chase that down while also ensuring we are doing everything we can to develop our players internally.” Crochet can go toe to toe with any other pitcher in MLB during Game 1 of a playoff series, but the Sox are arguably lacking a true #2 starter.
Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito were their second and third best starters this past season. Bello turned in a career-best 3.35 ERA across 166 2/3 innings. He has a ground-ball heavy approach and posted personal lows in both strikeout rate (17.7%) and swinging strike percentage (8.6%). Bello overcame that to post a sub-3.00 ERA each month between June and August. The lack of whiffs seemed to catch up to him at the end of the season, as he allowed a 5.40 ERA with a 16:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his five starts in September. Bello surrendered two runs on four hits without escaping the third inning in his lone playoff start.
Giolito didn’t factor into the playoffs at all and might not be back in 2026. The veteran righty went down with a season-ending elbow injury during the waning days of the regular season. That came shortly after he’d reached the 140-inning vesting threshold to convert what had been a $14MM club option into a $19MM mutual provision.
Giolito was trending towards a three- or four-year deal had he finished the season healthy. The elbow issue clouds his future, but he recently told Chris Cotillo of MassLive there’s nothing structurally amiss with his UCL. He’ll probably decline his end of the mutual option and look for a multi-year deal, and if the elbow injury were more serious than initially expected, the Sox would have passed on their side of the option either way.
A few of remaining in-house options are injured or coming back from significant issues. Patrick Sandoval should be in the mix after spending this season rehabbing last summer’s UCL surgery. Kutter Crawford missed the whole year due to knee and wrist injuries, undergoing season-ending surgery for the latter in June.
Tanner Houck underwent Tommy John surgery in August; the Sox could non-tender him in lieu of a projected $3.95MM arbitration salary. Hunter Dobbins tore his ACL around the All-Star Break. He’s unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Dustin May will be a free agent and didn’t pitch well after being acquired as part of a bizarrely quiet trade deadline. Richard Fitts had an even 5.00 ERA over 11 appearances.
Internally, that’d place a lot of pressure on the Sox’s younger arms. Connelly Early and Payton Tolle each had breakout minor league seasons and were pressed into late-season MLB action. Early was very impressive over his first few starts; Tolle had a rockier first impression. Both have plus stuff from the left side and can compete for rotation spots in Spring Training, but they have a combined eight MLB starts (postseason included) between them. Kyle Harrison will be in the mix as well, yet the Sox kept him in Triple-A until they’d essentially run out of other healthy starting pitchers.
Framber Valdez, NPB righty Tatsuya Imai and Dylan Cease are among the top free agent starters available. Trade candidates include MacKenzie Gore, Joe Ryan, Pablo López and Sandy Alcantara. The Red Sox were linked to Ryan more frequently than any other team at the trade deadline. It’d be a surprise if they didn’t reengage with the Twins (though Minnesota will of course hear from plenty of teams about the talented right-hander).
Breslow also alluded to a couple goals on the position player side: adding power and improving the defense. The Sox ranked 15th in MLB with 186 home runs. Breslow noted that the longball can take on greater importance in the postseason, where it becomes more challenging to string together hits against higher-level pitching. He didn’t say the Sox were going to sell out for power bats, of course, but called the tougher October scoring environment a “consideration” when building the roster.
Free agency features a few sluggers. Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Eugenio Suárez are all hitting the market and have at least 40-homer potential (quite a bit more in Schwarber’s case). Japanese corner infielder Munetaka Murakami will be available via the posting system. He’s strikeout prone and not a great defender, but he has a 56-homer season in NPB under his belt. He drilled 22 homers and hit .273/.379/.663 over 56 games despite battling an oblique injury this year.
None of those players would provide any kind of defensive value. Boston led the majors with 116 errors. An outfield featuring Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu should be strong defensively. The infield wasn’t nearly as good.
Trevor Story’s range has declined sharply at shortstop. It doesn’t seem out of the question that the Sox could look to move him to second base in deference to Marcelo Mayer at some point (assuming Story doesn’t opt out of the remaining two years and $55MM on his deal). Kristian Campbell struggled on both sides of the ball as a rookie and doesn’t have a clear season-opening role despite signing an eight-year extension last spring.
Suárez and Murakami could play third base, but they’d be defensive downgrades compared to Alex Bregman — who’ll almost certainly opt out in search of a six or seven-year deal. Schwarber and Alonso have even less positional flexibility. The Sox already have their glut of outfielders that’ll lead to more trade rumors involving Duran and Abreu. Masataka Yoshida is a bat-only player in left field or at DH. First baseman Triston Casas is coming off a major knee injury. Breslow dodged a question about the roles for any of those players, especially Casas. “I don’t think it makes a ton of sense on October 6 to say someone is or isn’t our first baseman. We’ll see how things play out,” he said (via Healey).
Who on earth is going to give Bregman a six or seven year deal ?? He ain’t no spring chicken anymore. Detroit perhaps, if they were desperate??
Ignorant. I agree and think he’ll return on a longer deal with more total guaranteed money. His age and last injury prevents more than a four year deal IMO. I also agree that Story needs to move to second after his September fielding horrors. We’ll have to wait and see on the power bat as until they actually do something, ownership’s recent past means us fans have zero reason to believe what is said.
Hopefully CB will have a conversation with Story about extending his contract with the understanding that he will be at 2B in 2026.
No one will. 32 year’s old, missed 48 games, and only averaged 133 games over the past 5 years. And I love what he added to the team, but even four years is a bit of a stretch.
Joe, that was my max but it depends on value. Some clubs might want the shorter term while others may prefer the fourth year to lower the AAV.
With every contract, there are always variables. If I were Breslow, I’d offer him the same deal he just got. $120M/3 heavily deferred, as a starter. And if necessary, add a 4th year team option with reasonable PA provisions.
A good GM (and agent) can take advantage of some flexibility. I like the type of contract Imanaga has where the option is multi-year, while Imanaga still retains a one-year option on his side.
I’m not sure 4 years at $120 million will get it done. At the same time, I feel that is more than the Sox should pay.
Who will offer more? The Yankees? I don’t see it. The Mets? I doubt it. Even big market clubs have limits and other priorities. Add in he seems to love it in Boston and I’m thinking negotiations either others primarily is to get Boston to pony up. Similar to last year with Soto. Everyone knew Cohen was offering the most but offers from the Yankees, Sox and Jays were needed to get the final number where it ended up. Difference here is Henry will walk away. Should be interesting….
Or maybe the Mets? The money factor doesn’t apply to Cohen.
His money is going into pitching Knuckkes.
67
I was thinking the same thing. Where did they get 6 or 7 years considering his age and recent injury history? I was all in on Bregman earlier on, but the price needs to be right at this point or they need to move on. Getting at least one high level starter should be the priority. Would love to see a power bat added and an excellent defensive infielder who can play multiple positions to serve as a utility player. Story had far too many errors for someone who is supposed to be one of our best defensive players. They need to improve the defense, being the worst defensive team in the majors is not going to win them a championship. They have a solid core, but have 3 or 4 key pieces that need to be added to take them to the next level.
Pete Alonso 1B.. Mayers SS or 3B—-Suarez ! Trade for Joe Ryan! 2B Polanco
He is young, but since Bello came up, I have had him pegged as a number 4 if the Red Sox are to be a legit championship team. I have no idea why they ever thought any of their guys were or would be and stick as 2’s and 3’s long-term. There is a clear need for a number 1b, and a marked upgrade at number 3. This team has been an accumulation of 4’s, 5’s, 6’s and rehab projects for half a decade.
Bello has a 4.02/4.30 ERA/FIP over the past three years, with 28.7 GS per. That is a good #3.
The lack of Ks is alarming, but GB pitchers are useful at the Fens.
Breslow lacks the guts to sign a top free agent or make the big trade for a true number 2 starter! Henry and company are pretty much telling him to do with what you got! It telescopes a set to put the finishing touches on a championship team! Besides there will be no baseball next year without a salary cap!
As a fan, that is the biggest fear I have. I am watching the Baltimore Orioles completely waste and throw away a period of time (for them a short window) that should have been marked by multiple division titles and deep playoff runs and I shudder to think of the Sox doing the same. Very few teams are this close, yet so very far away solely depending on which way management decides to go.
Thec’s
Breslow lacks the guts to sign a top free agent or make the big trade for a true number 2 starter!
=====================
Good sarcasm or bad trolling?
I’d think Crochet shows a willingness to swing a big trade. On the other hand the addition by subtraction of Devers was a big move as well.
This ain’t blooms Red Sox anymore where indecision and lowballing paralyzed the big league roaster management.
Heck, you could even lump the Sale move as a big swing (in that case miss, but, there was an argument for his reasoning at the time.)
Breslow already had the guts to trade for a No.1 starter.
He made a trade for a number one starter, but is afraid to trade for a number 2. Makes sense.
Seem to recall Beslow traded for a #1 starter, Crochet and signed Chapman, Bregman and Wilson and took a flyer on Buehler….. not a bad haul in most of the fans l talk to.
The Red Sox are in pretty good shape going into the off season but they definitely have work to do. The Sox are losing 3 LHP to free agency from their 2025 bullpen: Justin Wilson, Steven Matz and Liam Hendriks. Hendriks was a non-factor and will be allowed to walk, but I’d really like to see them re-sign both Matz & Wilson if possible. They can add another RHH reliever as well and the bullpen should be in great shape.
Starting pitching is a very important position for them to address, but they will be getting 3 starters back from injury this year in Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford and their best, young prospect in Luis Perales. All 3 of these players can be impact arms for the team but they are all #3, #4 or #5 starters (Perales has a #2 ceiling but hasn’t pitched in the majors yet due to his arm surgery in 2024). The Sox really need to address the #2 position in their rotation since they don’t have one. I’d be very happy if they sign a, Dylan Cease, Ranger Suárez or even a Zac Gallen to fill this spot. While they will cost more, it would eliminate the need for the Sox to give up more prospects for trading for a Joe Ryan, Gore or Alcantara., all of whom will be very expensive, prospect wise. Then they could sign another depth starter such as Efflin, Bieber or a Merrill Kelly type. With two new additions and lots of young arms already in the system, the Sox rotation would be in great shape!
The offense is the most challenging area to address this offseason. If Bregman opts out, they should do what they can (within reason) to bring him back long term. They also need to address their lack of power in the lineup. Here are the areas of concern (after the biggest in Bregman):
1) Tristan Casas (1B) – Do they trust Casas to be a productive full time starter if he is healthy? He really struggled this year before getting hurt so they could give up on him for a Pete Alonso type of replacement. Casas could be a spot starter/DH/bench piece in this case.
2) OF Excess (Duran vs. Abreu). The Sox have too many OFs and need to move on from one, especially if “The Password” (Garcia). Is ready for the majors. They most likely need to trade one of these players. Perhaps this OFer can be packaged with another prospect or two for a #2 starter. I wouldn’t mind them trading Abreu to San Diego for one year of Michal King and then work out an extension with King during the season.
3) 2B & SS – If Story chooses to stay in Boston, then they should have enough quality players to cover both these positions in Story, Mayer & Campbell, but can they count on Mayer & Story to stay healthy all year and count on Campbell to rebound from a poor debut season? If not, they will need to add here.
4) Catcher – Narvaez was an amazing addition in 2025 but can they count on similar and/or increased production from him in 2026? Is Wong reliable enough with his bat to be the #2 catcher or do they need to go out and acquire a solid catcher who could potentially start if Narvaez takes a step backwards?
5) DH – While this where they could add power to the lineup in free agency (Schwarber, Suarez, Naylor, etc..) they have an $54M problem there in Yoshida. ($18M x 3 years left). The Red Sox need to trade Yoshida this offseason but to do so, they’ll need to eat 50-70% of his contract to find a taker. This may end up being very hard to do.
There are a lot of things to address in this list but I trust Breslow to make the right moves so long as ownership green lights the increased payroll needed to address all of these issues. If f they do not then it will be another year of betting on retreads and hurt players from 2025 to rebound in Boston. With the right moves, Boston can be true contenders next year, that’s if they have a 2026 season with a lockout looming this offseason.
I do not see any of the returning pitchers as anything other than depth or bottom rotations option (if healthy at all). A good management wouldn’t either. As I mentioned above, if the Red Sox see any of their current pitchers below Crochet as 2’s and 3’s this upcoming season they may have a wild card contender, but will have zero chance of winning a ring. They simply are not good enough or deep enough with talent offensively or pitching wise to be a real threat to the elite teams. I don’t even think it was all that close between them and the two teams within the division that were better. I just think the teams behind us got that much worse.
Fyi. Yoshida only has 2 years left on his deal he is signed through 2027. So 18mil x 2 not 3 . Thats a big difference
Yoshi with a 109 OPS+ is the least of our problems.
18.6MM/Year for a career 109 OPS+ (93 last season), minimal power, and literally no defensive skills.
That’s not good value. His roster spot is better given to say Garcia, Eaton, Sogard, etc. Those guys have much more upside on the roster.
Sox need to eat whatever to free up the roster spot.
Here is why that will not happen: The Red Sox posting fee was $15+ million; Yoshida got a $3 million signing bonus; The Red Sox owe him $36.2 million through 2027; He is a DH-only, LH hitter with no power; His value on the open market would not exceed $5 million, which means the Red Sox would probably be eating at least $26 million over two years.
Joemo, he has been injured but in September and October showed his value on a team that misses pitches and strikes out too much. With Anthony coming back, I’d look to trade Duran this off season as he still has great value and can be used for real pitching when added with others (or traded for young talent that can then be moved with others). Have an OF of Anthony, Rafaela and Abreu with Yoshida as DH. Then trade Duran as mentioned along with Casas and minor league talent for pitching and sign Alonso realizing he leaves a lot to be desired on the field. Such works for me if both Story and Bregman remain.
Dotty – No lockout this offseason, the CBA expires after next season.
Framber Valdez? I get a chuckle out of that. You’d have Devers to the 4th power if they signed him.
Let – Agreed, Framber is a headcase. I’d rather trade for Peralta.
Sox fans, you watched Bregman all season. The stats say he trailed off the second half. What’s the eyeball say? Would you sign him longer term?
Mike – He trailed off starting May 8th. I would not give him more than 4 years
Totally agree Fever. Four years max. I still see Story staying and if Mayer can show he’s healthy, moving Story to second. That leaves first base. I’m hoping Campbell rehabilitates his value so he can be moved. He’s not the answer for Boston regardless of his bat because he hasn’t shown he can play any position well. I’m not going to speculate on who but this club needs a righty masher for first. Then trade Casas as a lower risk but high ceiling player. It could backfire but the team needs a righty bopper and even if boyh Bergman and Story return, neither is that.
dewey – I was very happy to hear Breslow realizes the importance of power hitters in the postseason. I’ve always said, in the postseason you’re facing many of the best pitchers in the game who don’t make many mistake pitches. It’s important to have sluggers in the lineup who can capitalize when the pitchers do make mistakes.
And looking back at past Sox championship teams, they all had at least one bigtime homerun hitter. Now that Raffy is gone, the Sox don’t have that unless Casas returns to 2023 form.
Maybe Abreu can pop 30 one year, but his career second half numbers haven’t been nearly as good as his first half numbers therefore we probably can’t count on him in the postseason.
We are all expecting Roman to hit with more power in the future, but until that happens we can’t assume it will.
Fever, I see Abreu’s real value in right at Fenway like Trot Nixon was although this kid is even better. If you’re not going to get the home runs from the OF or at third, you better get them at first.
FPG
I cannot remember a team with so many questions and concerns. Every player is either a potential trade or free agent or coming back from injury. I think Narvaez is the only position player to be a lock to return to his primary position last year,and he is having surgery. The whole infield is a question mark. One of the outfielders will get traded,which one?. .
The starting pitching staff has Crochet & Bello and ?????? The pen Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten.
So many questions
I need answers
You can’t handle the
When Raffy whas *here* the Sox lacked the big HR hitter.
People seem to forget that Raffy flirted around 30hr power for a season. He’s NEVER been a “masher” the way Judge or Scwarber is. Raffy would hit mid 20s one season, maybe 33 the next, then the following season be back in the 20s.
To me that speaks of roughly 30hr power, and, depending on luck you get a couple more or a couple less.
And that’s all Raffy has ever been, plus a lead glove.
If you’re going to take low speed on the basepaths, and lower end defense, my masher is a guy with 45-55hr power.
GSF
How many of those guys are there? Ohtanis, Judge, Schwarber. Raleigh this year,and Suarez. 30+ homeruns is still alot.Alomso is a big time slugger.
GaSox – Nobody in their right mind would compare Raffy to Judge. LOL!
Raffy over the past 3 seasons has been comparable to Schwarber though with a 132 RC+ compared to Kyle’s 135.
Raffy is on pace for 500+ HR, that’s a slugger in every sense of the word. And we all know how clutch Raffy was, going back to his homerun off Chapman’s 103 MPH fastball which was the hardest pitch hit for a homerun since the Statcast era began in 2008. And Devers had just made his MLB debut the prior month.
Nobody would bring speed or defense into the conversation, but Devers actually trumps Schwarber for both ;O)
Cdchi – Alonso definitely counts as a slugger, he’s got 40 hr power (again varying to the +/-) where as Devers is more a 30hr guy.
But, as i said elsewhere, Alonso is also ready to transition to DH and be a backup 1B when needs dictate.
Personally, I’m a bit more old school with my reaction to the inflated power numbers that come from selling out and taking lots of Ks. If you’re going to strike out around 1/4 of the time, you better either have a near .300 batting average and 30hr power, or, 40+ hrs power and a .260ish batting average.
All these guys with 24, 28% strikeout rates batting .230 or .250 and only hitting around 30hrs… doesn’t really do it for me unless the rest of the lineup is amazing.
This offseason id say your power is likely trying to secure either schwarber or Alonso, who should both be available. *BUT* the elephant in the room is youd be moving yoshida and is 2/36 remaining to make room.
Fever – Raffy will be 29 next year and is sitting on 235 HRs. He averages around 30 per year to this point in his career. He’d need to remain equally as productive for 9 more fully healthy seasons, and no lockout, to squeak over the 500HR threshold barely.
Im not sold that he makes it there. The fact he only averages 30 a season, and, given his…umm…. conditioning…. and the fact he’s already having issues with his body showing early warning signs… unless he turns it up two notches and starts dropping 40+ bombs a year I’m not sure he gets there.
He’s got about 8 full seasons of playing time under his belt, if you combine his partial rookie year with the pandemic shorted one. Again, roughly 8 years, roughly 240hrs, that’s again showing 30hr power. And you wonder how his feet, knees, and shoulders will react with age.
It will be interesting to see, but, as of now, I’m not sold he reaches 500.
GaSox – It’s very cool you did your calculations exactly the same as I … great minds ;o)
I totally agree, he’s a 30-HR a year guy who would need to average that for 9 more years. And health will certainly be a factor.
My only disagreement, weight and conditioning can’t be blamed for injuries all the time. Obviously they weren’t factors in Marcelo, Roman, Casas etc injuries and those guys were wicked young.
Oh, I’m with you Fever, not all injuries are the result of weight and conditioning.
However – bigger boys tend to have different troubles as they age with the body breaking down from the increased wear and tear of their weight.
Papi was a big guy when he played. And his feet and knees bothered him so much he retired despite putting up amazing numbers. Devers has had shoulder issues already, and, I (skinny guy) have enough injuries in my past to know they *always* bug you from time to time despite being “healed”…. it’ll be interesting to see what happens for devers long term.
But 500? Im skeptical he gets there. He’d need another free agent deal to get enough playing time, and, those contracts are hard to come by for late 30s one dimensional players it seems. And as he ages, I’m not sure the power he’s had in his late 20s will be there in his late 30s.. you never know though
GaSox – I think Papi had some help, but let’s not go down that road ;O)
Yeah as you know I don’t do predictions, it’s impossible to predict how Raffy will age. But if a ho-hum guy like Nelson Cruz can be a productive DH into his 40’s and accumulate 464 homeruns, then Raffy should be able to reach 500.
But honestly I’m ambivalent about it, I’m more focused on finding someone to replace that power. I saw your post on Kyle, as much as I love the guy I don’t think there’s any possibility the Sox have an interest in a fulltime DH again. Even if Yoshida gets traded tomorrow, they will not replace him with a fulltime DH. They value fielding ability too much (not necessarily good fielding, just being able to play the field).
Fever – never underestimate Henry’s love for a perceived bargain, that’s what I always say.
Sometimes it’s not cheap in absolute terms – cite to bregman – but when deferals drop 40 to 30 on your taxation, and 20 on your actual current outlay, and you’re buying only the prime year, it’s a relative bargain.
The Corners project is being looked at as a charge card / piggy bank with these deferrals most likely. I never bothered to dig deep though…. who will own the corners? The red Sox? FSG as a whole? Henry and senior brass privately? I haven’t looked so if anyone knows off the top of their heads that would be some cool info.
As for the ‘help’…. I dont think it was anything more than what anyone else does or did, that’s my personal feeling. Not a mcguire/sosa/Ramirez type deal.
But if you get some serious output at a relative bargain from a dh-only guy…. I could see them doing it. I mean, had Casas not gotten hurt again, Raffy was pigeon holed to be dh-only for the balance of his contract until an emergency happened. That should signal a willingness to sign a guy in that capacity…
GaSox – Just like Mother’s Day for Vlad Sr’s kids, ownership of Fenway Corners is complicated.
From my own personal experience real estate typically is owned by a real estate only entity for tax purposes, and that is indeed the case with Fenway Corners ….. Fenway Sports Group Real Estate owns it along with the D’Angelo Family (owners of the team store) and WS Development. That’s because $1.6B is too much for even FSGRE to cover.
BTW – Did you see Kennedy say the project is on hold now because of high interest rates and construction costs. I really don’t get that, doesn’t it all usually get locked in before a construction project begins? Seems weird, like there is probably an ulterior motive.
Yeah I don’t know man ….. Papi was best buds with ARod, Sosa, Manny, etc ….. but he was the only one who stayed clean?
The problem with fulltime DH’s is if they stop hitting, they have zero value. At least with a guy like Rafaela when he’s not hitting, he’s contributing with his glove.
I think Cora prefers using the DH to load up on RHB when facing a LHP etc etc.
Fever, devil is always in the details. On paper I suspect each phase of corners to get its own LLC, maybe even each building. Those in turn owned by a parent shell corporation, followed in turn by some entity(ies) controlled by the true owners. But as you say, the question is who ultimately the revenue flows to. And that could run anywhere from henry/brass, to FSG, to the Ballclub. Hard to say, but, in impacts how much of the profits are theoretically accessible by the ball club.
I’d guess its a mix of FSG and senior brass all holding their own stakes, meaning, the red Sox themselves are likely to see minimal access to the profits.
I still think a pure DH on a sensible contract works fine. Give the hitter security like what they *finally* did with papi at the end, to get around his own feelings of being disrespected by one year deals.
Have a shorter term base contract. Then make a vesting option at a market salary set up so the player never plays as a lame duck, every year a new option sits to be unlocked. Gives the player a deal that lasts as long as they produce, keeps unlocking a new option year that itself contains a chance of unlocking yet another year for as long as the player is healthy, productive, and interested in playing.
CDC – Great movie reference, I love Nicholson! One of my favorite movies of his involves the Red Sox, can you guess which one?
I always believed Carl Everett would have benefited greatly from Anger Management. He was the angriest Red Sox player I can remember, except maybe Izzy Alcantara …. do you remember what he did? I bet you do!
FPG
Amazing you mention Alcantara. I just had to look up the date , because me and a couple of friends were sitting in the bleachers that day
7/23/2000 Pedro strikeouts out 15 White Sox and Israel ‘Izzy’ scores the only run. But that pales in comparison to the Bruce Lee style side kick he gave some minor league catcher. Lol. Carl Everett was a real good hitter.( Mussina) Reading this , along with the unfortunate news about Mike Greenwell passing has brought back a ton of memories.
FPG
Memory Lane ,one more time
My only visit to Yankee Stadium 9/11(2005
. baseball -reference. courtesy of
Yankees 1 -Red Sox 0
J.Giambi hit a 1st inning homerun
Wakefield strikeouts out 12
Randy Johnson allows only 1 hit in 7 innings
M. Rivera gets the save
A co worker who had a partial season ticket plan brought me. We sat up the 1stbase line , surrounded by Yankees fans and me in my Red Sox hat. Everyone knew my friend as they all had the same season tickets . They gave me a lot of crap for the Sox cap,but gave my friend more for bringing a Sox fan to Yankee Stadium. Lol. All in fun …
FPG
How would you like to be a Philly fan right now ??.. What a terrible way to end a season. Philly was my pick to win the WS. Tough day to be a Philadelphia fan. Philly eliminated in playoffs. The Eagles get curb-stomped by the Giants and just for good measure the Flyers lose also.
CDC – I’m usually good about remembering games, but I don’t remember that one.
2005 was such a letdown season as the pitching staff was completely revamped and it sucked!
Schilling was injured and awful.
Pedro went to the Mets
Lowe went to the Dodgers
Arroyo was awful
Foulke, Embree, Gonzalez, Halama and Mantei were all awful.
And the team’s three big acquisitions, Wade Miller and Matt Clement and David Wells were all awful.
Wake, Timlin, Myers and Pap were their only good pitchers.
CDC – I remember you saying Philly a few weeks ago.
Some players simply choke under the postseason pressure, the kid definitely did.
That’s why I never count out teams with past postseason success, they don’t choke under the pressure.
Have you noticed the two preseason WS favorites, Dodgers and Tigers, followed similar paths?
Both started the season very strong, then slumped badly, but right now look like they will be meeting in the WS. I would love to see Toronto vs Milwaukee though.
GaSox – I think Cora likes using the DH for players who need a day off from the field, or are nursing minor injuries. Also for platoon situations, like if Alonso and Casas are sharing first base duties.
I absolutely agree the Red Sox will not be reporting revenue or profits from Fenway Corners. Why would they want revenue from Fenway Corners included with their revenue sharing?
FPG
Not to sure about the Tigers being WS favorites heading into the season. I’m going to look that up. Harper , , zero RBI in the series. He had been a fairly good performer in the postseason. R Sasaki has been lights out in his new role. What a weapon. . Thought ::: Harper ,Trout, and Judge ,3 of the best from this past decade — 0 WS titles.. Vladdy might just be earning that monster contract.
Also ,, did not realize,Cody Bellinger could opt out and become a free agent, any thoughts on him as an option for the Sox??
CDC – Okay my bad, it wasn’t preseason I saw Detroit’s odds …. it was early in the regular season, when I was making my wagers. LOL
freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2025/07/16/detro…
Detroit Tigers have second-best World Series odds, according to Vegas
Christian Romo
Detroit Free Press
According to BetMGM, the Tigers have the second-best World Series odds at +650. That’s a huge improvement from the team’s opening odds at +4000, which put them in the bottom-half of MLB teams before the season started.
Those are also the best odds among American League teams, with the Yankees sitting at No. 3 in MLB at +750. The only team with better odds than the Tigers are the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers (+220).
FPG
Skubal , who would you rather have in an elimination game.. ?? Tigers are – 120 favorite (ESPN) Should be great theatre…
Thoughts on Bellinger?? Just seen he is going to opt out ..
CDC – I wouldn’t go after Belli. He’s had just one really good year since 2019. I know he had a decent season this year.
I’d ride Duran/Abreu/Roman for a couple more years, higher upside at a bargain price.
Infield and pitching is where the money should be spent on upgrades.
He was strong coming off of his injury but tailed off after a few weeks. It wasn’t may onward like you say
Tang – You think a .220 BA and .719 OPS was strong?
Because that’s what his numbers are from May 8 thru the date of injury on May 23.
As you know I’m pretty darn accurate when it comes to stats, because I have to be.
I said after injury. He was strong for another stretch of time and you ignored it
Tang – You forgot what you wrote, so go re-read it. You wrote he didn’t tail off from May onward, which was wrong.
From May 8th on he batted .245 with a .723 OPS.
The Red Sox were a better team without Bregman, winning at a .583 clip.
With him? Just a .530 winning percentage.
You are reading it too literally. You said he was bad after May. I was saying he was good after his injury for a stretch.
We have a ton of work to do this off-season. This team is more unsettled right now than it was a year ago. We need to figure out seven positional players as the only two with certainty are Narvaez at catcher and Anthony as an outfielder.
Pitching it’s Crochet, Bello, Whitlock and Chapman. The other 9 spots are up for grabs.
Yes we have some nice young players emerging but all are still question marks. Is Triston a 35 HR guy or the LH version of Bobby Dalbec? Can Mayer be an every day guy, hit LH pitching and stay healthy? Can Tolle develop another major league pitch to become a starter or is he a 7th inning bullpen guy?
We completely blew it on Campbell and promoted him way too soon, gave him a big contract and then buried him in the minors all season using Sogard and Eaton instead. He will be on our trade board this winter.
CB
K Campbell, his fall from consensus top 5 MLB prospect, rookie of the month,and big time contract to what he is considered now is startling. Can he hit MLB pitching,can he play any defensive position adequately? His meteoric rise during one year in the minors should be a cautionary tale for all prospects,GMs,and fans. So dynamic that 1st month. Very unorthodox , unique swing , maybe should have been a sign. Hopefully he can regain some form and become a top flight ballplayer.
CDC – When you say meteoric rise during one year in the minors, I think you have to look at Tolle as well.
He was DRAFTED just last year, and they throw him into a playoff chase a year later? Seriously? He had just 18 starts in the minors!!
Sure the increase in velo made him successful in those 18 games, but as we all saw MLB hitters are a lot better at facing flamethrowers than minor league hitters. I really hope he doesn’t become another Joba, that’s who he reminds me of.
And I hope Early can also avoid the pitfalls of being rushed to the majors, although he has twice the minor league experience as Tolle.
FPG
Quality pitching is so thin in todays game. Skenes was in the majors as a 21 year old. Miserowski of the Brewers. Examples all over MLB. If you show the ability to get hitters out ,you will be promoted,no matter what age or when you got drafted. It’s the evolution of the modern pitcher. For better or worse.
Connelly Early is pitcher he going to be at least a mid rotational starter he’s been underrated his entire time in the minor leagues. He’s a five pitch pitcher with a plus changeup, showed immense improvement on his curveball which might be plus as well, his slider is slider and cutter are at least average pitches and his fastball velocity and shape are average. He’s also still got fastball projection and he’s improved every season in pro ball. He’s a tireless worker who remained in Fort Myers to work on his strength, conditioning and fastball velocity. My guess he comes back even better next season he’s an achiever. He’s also a rare high strikeout/swing and miss guy and a ground ball pitcher.
Payton Tolle has a special fastball if it’s up in the strike zone like most of the year it’s really hard to hit. He was tiring by the end of the season imo and was not up in the top 1/4 of the zone. I don’t care how hard you throw it when a fastball is down its hittable. He will be in Fort Myers working on his secondaries this winter all he has to do is get just an average changeup to go with an average slider and possibly develop that sweeper to go with that plus plus fastball and he’s easily a mid rotation slider. I think we see him for good by mid season next year. I also believe he’s going to be a monster a true tor arm but we will see.
The old adage you can never have enough pitching holds here as well which is why I would love to see Breslow go out and sign another pitcher to pair with Crochet. I’m not sure who that is but a power throwing righty like Cease seems like a good choice.
Luis Perales pitched in AFL game yesterday only pitched an inning and a third naturally had control had control problems but also hit 101 allowed one hit and struck out two and walked three he gave up no runs. His stuff is filthy he should get a good run in the AFL and be ready to start in AAA next season maybe we see him and his big arm by the end of the season next year in Boston.
CDC – There’s a huge difference between minor leaguers and MLB, many a pitcher has been ruined by being rushed up to the majors.
Let’s hope Tolle doesn’t become Joba.
I think it comes down to mental makeup Early and Tolle are both strong have already shown they can handle adversity I wouldn’t worry about either of them. I would be concerned about Tolle a little bit if he comes into spring training and hasn’t shown improvements on his secondaries over the winter but I doubt that happens. These are kids with good heads on their shoulders and very high work ethic especially Early.
I think the midges and Crown Royal got to Joba.
cdc – Nice references, made me smile!
I had forgotten about the midges.
So let me ask you a question, please be honest …. if the Sox didn’t have the need for starting pitching in September, or if they were already eliminated from contention, do you think either Tolle or Early would have been promoted?
That’s the difference with Skenes and others, he wasn’t promoted by the Pirates out of desperation …. he was promoted because he was ready.
FPG
I say probably not. But I don’t know for sure. Tolle was viewed as more ready but I think Early proved to be more polished. 22- – 23 yrs old players with big time college and minor league resumes can and will succeed. Would an additional off-season and spring training help them in there development? Possibly. Some would argue getting them MLB experience would be beneficial. I certainly don’t think it hurt either one of these guys.
CDC – As it turned out, Tolle pitching didn’t hurt the team …. they still made the postseason. But it was a questionable decision and hopefully it doesn’t impact him longterm.
Craig – It’s not just KC’s promotion and contract, it’s also Cora having him play all over the place ….. 2B, CF, LF, and then forcing him to learn first base too.
On top of that Cora had KC batting cleanup, I mean talk about putting the weight of the world on the kid’s shoulders. It was horrific panic decisions made by the manager because of a lack of planning and a lot of bad decisions. It was totally preventable.
That’s part of the problem with rushing *any* player through the levels.
To be a successful MLBer you need two things: 1) the tools, and 2) the ability to respond to adjustments made against you.
When you rush the levels, you dont encounter teams/players getting a book on you and changing how they attack you. You’re not forced into making those adjustments. And theres a ton more pressure at the MLB level to get used to needing to do it than the minors, even if you dont lose regular playing time due to the slump.
That’s the risk/problem with graduating a player based on his tools too quickly. And I think you saw it firsthand with KC – he finally was forced to adjust because the teams figured him out and it was new to him, he wasnt ready.
Can happen just as easily with arms as position players.
GaSox – Great post, I’ve often said the exact same thing.
Cora certainly didn’t help the kid, but he volunteered to play 1b.
Tang – FWIW Cora contradicted that. When that BS rumor about “Raffy being mad at KC for volunteering” surfaced, Cora said it wasn’t true because he himself asked KC to learn first base.
If Cora was lying, KC didn’t dispute it.
Yeah, Cora certainly has always been an upstanding human that wouldn’t lie. I’m kidding, but maybe not.
Fever, theres several reasons you’d never know, maybe not until some decades later tell-all book comes out.
1) a guy with cora’s personality, if you’re a young guy just starting in an organization at the top level you dont draw the heat on yourself by calling them out.
2) Cora could’ve lied to take the attention and heat off KC, who saw it as an out from an overly drama filled early season and was grateful for the offramp.
3) I mean think about it. Regardless of whether its true, whats to be gained by fighting over that detail? It’s not worth it.
4) If you had volunteered, the people in the org who matter already knew it. No need to create more of a mediation dust storm. In fact, if you creat drama asserting you volunteered you turn from a team player to a me guy, from a solution to a problem.
GaSox – Yes Cora lies a lot, but if anything he would lie to make his current player look good …. he wouldn’t lie to protect a former player that he helped get rid of.
And even if KC did volunteer (which both him and management said he didn’t), why would that be a bad thing? Come on man, you’re implying Raffy was trying to sabotage the team by pressuring teammates to refuse to learn first base? That’s really over the top.
The Red Sox have a long, long history of smearing star players after they’ve left. While Raffy has a long, long history of being a model player behavior-wise.
I know it doesn’t matter, but here’s the proof (one of many articles).
sports.yahoo.com/article/kristian-campbell-other-r…
“That was false,” Campbell said. “First off, Raffy never came to me. I never had a problem with it. We were always cool. He’s an extremely great player, extremely great person. He’s a very kind person and a good teammate.”
“Second, I would say I’ve never went to the Red Sox to play first base,” Campbell said. “They came to me and asked me if I could play first base, because we didn’t have one at the time, that’s when Casas went down.”
Players can handle playing more than one position. More garbage from FPG.
“We need starting pitching.” Thanks Craig. We needed that 2 PBOs ago. Nice of you to join the discussion finally
As has almost every team in BB.
Breslow is not going to tell his competition his exact plans.
OK, but if his “competition” can’t figure out on their own what Boston needs, and how badly Boston needs it, they should probably have another job.
I would like to pat myself on the back for first proposing dumping Casas in 2022. Back when he was a “top prospect” it would have netted an MLB caliber starting pitcher. Ten points for Troy’s iPad.
Troy – But what did your EarPods propose in 2022?
The book isn’t closed yet. What if he comes back healthy in spring and has a monster year at DH? Then I’d say you’re wrong.
I kind of like the idea of moving Bregman to 2B and adding Mayer as the SS. Questionable on the injury side, but that’s a good IF. And it leaves Campbell in AAA a while longer. He’s not there yet.
Joe, assuming both return, why weaken third when Story showed his first year in Boston he can play a great second? It also saves on his arm.
ROTFLMAO!!!
Because I’m still ADD after all these years. That should’ve been Story to 2nd. Bregman is still a wildcard, but if we had Story, Mayer & Bregman at three slots, we’d finally have a high-quality defensive team.
JB
I think moving Story to 2ndbase might be a better option ,if he has trouble making the throws from Short. Mayer ( health permitting) to short. Retain Bregman for 3rdbase.
I think Story’s primary defensive issue is his lack of range, which is only marginally (if at all) resolved by a move to 2B. And is he able, at this point in his career. to learn/acquire the flexibility to turn a double play as a second baseman? For now I would keep Story at SS and give Campbell/Mayer/Grissom (OK, maybe not Grissom) the mission of winning the full-time 2B job in ST, and then sticking with that one guy, at 2B exclusively, the entire year.
Imai is an interesting arm and wonder if the Sox could actually get him since they struck out on Yamamoto and Imanaga
6-7 years? Rotflmao
I think I remember reports saying Bregman was looking for a $200M deal going into last off-season. Based off that, would it take a 5/$160M deal to get it done? I think 5 years is way too long, but if that’s the number he’s chasing, any team will need to stretch it out for AAV reasons.
Bres has his work cut out for him this off season. Their defense needs to be addressed first and foremost. However that works out will be interesting. Mayer playing every day will solve some of it, but can he play every day?
There aren’t any obvious answers in FA although I can see them being aggressive to go after either King/Cease. The dilemma at 1B is the biggest concern. Alonso is the hot match-up name, but the last thing they need is another sieve on the infield.
Go Jays!!
swan – According to Cora, the team defense is one of the best in MLB!
Also forgot to mention when I was dragging craig earlier: The Brewers’ Starter today for their potential clinching playoff game was traded from Boston for a Draft Pick and a MiLB bum. Great job, craig
Breslow guided the Red Sox to the playoff despite significant injuries. Great job, Craig!
Don’t forget the name of the kid they drafted with the pick the Red Sox got from the Brewers… Marcus Phillips. And let’s not automatically assume that Yophery Rodriguez is a “MiLB bum”.
At the end of the day, we turned a failing/ed prospect into two decent prospect. Priester was given a limited opportunity to show his stuff, but had a 4.50 in the pros and a 5.40 in the minors.
It was our pleasure to usher in the Red Sox off-season.
The Blue Jays are about to return the favor on the Red Sox behalf.
Indeed, take solace from another team’s accomplishments to replace the failures of your own.
See you in 2026.
Anytime my second favorite team (any team playing the Yankees that day) wins, humanity wins.
Yeah you had to settle for sloppy seconds
We got to screw your sox straight up and it felt good..
Hey, enjoy the fact you squeaked by barely surviving a team that was decimated by injuries missing half its rotation and about 40% of its position players.
Season series showed what the teams could do when both near full strength.
matter of fact I will and did enjoy it.
Injuries are part of the game, Are you going to cry about it?
If we had Cole, who knows, maybe we would still be playing, but we didn’t, that’s life.
.
Nope. I just take pride in what happens when clubs are at full strength…
Like, say, when the Yankees choked in a manner never seen before or since in 2004. Delicious.
All-time biggest choke job.
The rivalry has been missing for too long. I encourage you to do your best to restore the fires as both clubs are positioned, talent-wise, to revive something an entire generation has come of age failing to appreciate.