2026 Red Sox/MLB Season Thread

[Vermont Green]

Interesting rule that I forgot about.  A position player assigned to the minors must stay there for 10 days but can be brought back for a double header.  So Seigler could be assigned to the minors on Thursday (replaced by Anthony), but brought back for the Yankees double header.  I am guessing this is what they do.  And then bring up Story on Sept 1 to start his "tryout".  IKF stays down unless someone gets hurt.  Probably add a pitcher as the 28th player.

Then you really don't have an issue until Mead is ready to come back.  When he is ready, he could be brought up with a pitcher who has options sent down.  That gets you to the playoffs.  Then they probably reduce by 1 pitcher and then can make Jones or White inactive without having to DFA them.

[Goldstar88]

Good news on Mead.

Second baseman Curtis Mead, who fractured his wrist in his second plate appearance with the Red Sox, received positive news from the four-week follow-up imaging that he underwent Monday.

?He?s healed enough, progressing in the healing where they could take him out of the hard cast and put him in the splint,? interim manager Chad Tracy said before Boston?s game against the Marlins on Tuesday.

[BitterJim]

Interesting rule that I forgot about.  A position player assigned to the minors must stay there for 10 days but can be brought back for a double header.  So Seigler could be assigned to the minors on Thursday (replaced by Anthony), but brought back for the Yankees double header.  I am guessing this is what they do.  And then bring up Story on Sept 1 to start his "tryout".  IKF stays down unless someone gets hurt.  Probably add a pitcher as the 28th player.

Then you really don't have an issue until Mead is ready to come back.  When he is ready, he could be brought up with a pitcher who has options sent down.  That gets you to the playoffs.  Then they probably reduce by 1 pitcher and then can make Jones or White inactive without having to DFA them.

Unfortunately that's not possible. Rosters are now pretty strict about pitchers vs. position players, with half the roster spots going to each. So it has to be a position player that we send down to bring up Mead

[Vermont Green]

Interesting rule that I forgot about.  A position player assigned to the minors must stay there for 10 days but can be brought back for a double header.  So Seigler could be assigned to the minors on Thursday (replaced by Anthony), but brought back for the Yankees double header.  I am guessing this is what they do.  And then bring up Story on Sept 1 to start his "tryout".  IKF stays down unless someone gets hurt.  Probably add a pitcher as the 28th player.

Then you really don't have an issue until Mead is ready to come back.  When he is ready, he could be brought up with a pitcher who has options sent down.  That gets you to the playoffs.  Then they probably reduce by 1 pitcher and then can make Jones or White inactive without having to DFA them.

Unfortunately that's not possible. Rosters are now pretty strict about pitchers vs. position players, with half the roster spots going to each. So it has to be a position player that we send down to bring up Mead

You may be right, I am no expert, but what I read said that there is a set rule for a maximum of 14 pitchers (which would result in 14 position players), but I am not seeing that the rule says you can't have 13 pitchers and 15 position players if you want.

Expanded Roster (Sept 1 to End of Season): 28 total players with a maximum of 14 pitchers (leaving at least 14 position/two-way players).

I think they are fine with 13 pitchers, several of the current staff still have options so they can move things around as Whitlock and Slaten come back.  At some point, they may want to make Crochet the 14th pitcher, but that appears still down the road.

It is looking more and more like they won't change anything for the NYY series, maybe bring Anthony back for the doubleheader (you can add a player for the day for a double header).  Then plan to add Anthony and Story "permanently" when rosters expand.  If the rules say that you can only add 1 position player (max 14), no big, I think Seigler gets sent down to make room for Story.

I think the media is making too much of this.  Seigler has been good but only 0.684 OPS in the last 30 days.  Montasterio is 0.695 in the last 30 days.  These guys are not hitting like Gasper (1.734 OPS last 30 days) or Sogard (0.788 OPS last 30 days).  If Seigler needs to be sent down for Story, I don't see the issue.  And I see no reason to bring up Kiner-Falefa at this point unless there is an injury, or I guess unless you think he is better than Monasterio, which he may be (maybe favor defense over offense).

[BitterJim]

Interesting rule that I forgot about.  A position player assigned to the minors must stay there for 10 days but can be brought back for a double header.  So Seigler could be assigned to the minors on Thursday (replaced by Anthony), but brought back for the Yankees double header.  I am guessing this is what they do.  And then bring up Story on Sept 1 to start his "tryout".  IKF stays down unless someone gets hurt.  Probably add a pitcher as the 28th player.

Then you really don't have an issue until Mead is ready to come back.  When he is ready, he could be brought up with a pitcher who has options sent down.  That gets you to the playoffs.  Then they probably reduce by 1 pitcher and then can make Jones or White inactive without having to DFA them.

Unfortunately that's not possible. Rosters are now pretty strict about pitchers vs. position players, with half the roster spots going to each. So it has to be a position player that we send down to bring up Mead

You may be right, I am no expert, but what I read said that there is a set rule for a maximum of 14 pitchers (which would result in 14 position players), but I am not seeing that the rule says you can't have 13 pitchers and 15 position players if you want.

Expanded Roster (Sept 1 to End of Season): 28 total players with a maximum of 14 pitchers (leaving at least 14 position/two-way players).

I think they are fine with 13 pitchers, several of the current staff still have options so they can move things around as Whitlock and Slaten come back.  At some point, they may want to make Crochet the 14th pitcher, but that appears still down the road.

It is looking more and more like they won't change anything for the NYY series, maybe bring Anthony back for the doubleheader (you can add a player for the day for a double header).  Then plan to add Anthony and Story "permanently" when rosters expand.  If the rules say that you can only add 1 position player (max 14), no big, I think Seigler gets sent down to make room for Story.

I think the media is making too much of this.  Seigler has been good but only 0.684 OPS in the last 30 days.  Montasterio is 0.695 in the last 30 days.  These guys are not hitting like Gasper (1.734 OPS last 30 days) or Sogard (0.788 OPS last 30 days).  If Seigler needs to be sent down for Story, I don't see the issue.  And I see no reason to bring up Kiner-Falefa at this point unless there is an injury, or I guess unless you think he is better than Monasterio, which he may be (maybe favor defense over offense).

Good point about the pitchers vs. position players, I think that's a misunderstanding on my part just because teams always carry the maximum number of pitchers. Whitlock might be back next series so we also have to leave space for him, then maybe Crochet when rosters expand? If he's not ready then maybe we use that spot for a position player until he's ready (but I've liked how some of the young relievers have been doing so I'd like to see them get more run)

I like the idea of using the doubleheader to bring up Anthony, but I wouldn't send him down afterward (I'd probably send down Gasper, but if he keeps up the hot streak than that's a tough pill to swallow. DH is the obvious spot for Anthony for the first week or so, though). Then bring up Story once rosters expand, and maybe swap Siegler with IKF (this'll be the hardest decision by far). IKF's versatility would be huge for giving guys like Durbin rest down the stretch

We really need Story's defense at SS, but the hitting has to be at an acceptable level too. If he can't get to that level before he hits his max of 20 days in AAA, then do you designate IKF for assignment and bring up Arias to start at SS? That's the highest upside move, it's low floor but if all of our other SS are barely above the floor then why not give him a chance (like Bogaertz in 2013)?

I know there's a lot of fans that would like to see Story get DFAed, but given his salary there's 0 chance of that

[Vermont Green]

Interesting rule that I forgot about.  A position player assigned to the minors must stay there for 10 days but can be brought back for a double header.  So Seigler could be assigned to the minors on Thursday (replaced by Anthony), but brought back for the Yankees double header.  I am guessing this is what they do.  And then bring up Story on Sept 1 to start his "tryout".  IKF stays down unless someone gets hurt.  Probably add a pitcher as the 28th player.

Then you really don't have an issue until Mead is ready to come back.  When he is ready, he could be brought up with a pitcher who has options sent down.  That gets you to the playoffs.  Then they probably reduce by 1 pitcher and then can make Jones or White inactive without having to DFA them.

Unfortunately that's not possible. Rosters are now pretty strict about pitchers vs. position players, with half the roster spots going to each. So it has to be a position player that we send down to bring up Mead

You may be right, I am no expert, but what I read said that there is a set rule for a maximum of 14 pitchers (which would result in 14 position players), but I am not seeing that the rule says you can't have 13 pitchers and 15 position players if you want.

Expanded Roster (Sept 1 to End of Season): 28 total players with a maximum of 14 pitchers (leaving at least 14 position/two-way players).

I think they are fine with 13 pitchers, several of the current staff still have options so they can move things around as Whitlock and Slaten come back.  At some point, they may want to make Crochet the 14th pitcher, but that appears still down the road.

It is looking more and more like they won't change anything for the NYY series, maybe bring Anthony back for the doubleheader (you can add a player for the day for a double header).  Then plan to add Anthony and Story "permanently" when rosters expand.  If the rules say that you can only add 1 position player (max 14), no big, I think Seigler gets sent down to make room for Story.

I think the media is making too much of this.  Seigler has been good but only 0.684 OPS in the last 30 days.  Montasterio is 0.695 in the last 30 days.  These guys are not hitting like Gasper (1.734 OPS last 30 days) or Sogard (0.788 OPS last 30 days).  If Seigler needs to be sent down for Story, I don't see the issue.  And I see no reason to bring up Kiner-Falefa at this point unless there is an injury, or I guess unless you think he is better than Monasterio, which he may be (maybe favor defense over offense).

Good point about the pitchers vs. position players, I think that's a misunderstanding on my part just because teams always carry the maximum number of pitchers. Whitlock might be back next series so we also have to leave space for him, then maybe Crochet when rosters expand? If he's not ready then maybe we use that spot for a position player until he's ready (but I've liked how some of the young relievers have been doing so I'd like to see them get more run)

I like the idea of using the doubleheader to bring up Anthony, but I wouldn't send him down afterward (I'd probably send down Gasper, but if he keeps up the hot streak than that's a tough pill to swallow. DH is the obvious spot for Anthony for the first week or so, though). Then bring up Story once rosters expand, and maybe swap Siegler with IKF (this'll be the hardest decision by far). IKF's versatility would be huge for giving guys like Durbin rest down the stretch

We really need Story's defense at SS, but the hitting has to be at an acceptable level too. If he can't get to that level before he hits his max of 20 days in AAA, then do you designate IKF for assignment and bring up Arias to start at SS? That's the highest upside move, it's low floor but if all of our other SS are barely above the floor then why not give him a chance (like Bogaertz in 2013)?

I know there's a lot of fans that would like to see Story get DFAed, but given his salary there's 0 chance of that

I agree with you in general.  Shortstop is really the last remaining soft spot in the line up, both offense and defense.  I think the hope is that can get Story back to the player he was last season (25 HRs).  I think they are willing to invest some playing time in him down the stretch to see if he can get there.  Maybe not during the NYY series, but when the rosters expand, I expect him on the team and getting playing time.  If he doesn't produce, I see the default as a platoon of Monasterio and Kiner-Falefa or something like that.  I would be surprised if Arias is in the mix but who knows.  I hope that Story can be better than Monasterio or Kiner-Falefa.  These are both really career utility guys.  Neither is really an everyday shortstop.

With Anthony, they can bring him up for the doubleheader and then have him back on Tuesday when the rosters expand.  It would just be a couple of days off.  Not sure what is better for his preparation, some real MLB at bats vs. NYY or just staying in Worcester.  They can also send Seigler down and create a spot for Anthony for the whole NYY series.  That puts the team down 1 infielder, but they can probably manage around that for (1) series plus a game or so.  Gasper or even Rafaela can play infield in a pinch.  And if someone gets hurt, they can bring Seigler back up as an emergency call up.