2026 Red Sox/MLB Season Thread

[Roy H.]

Welp, there goes Mayer

[Vermont Green]

Welp, there goes Mayer

What do people know about Erik Miller?

[Roy H.]

Welp, there goes Mayer

What do people know about Erik Miller?

Some control issues but great stuff.  He's got closer potential.

[Roy H.]

The Uberstine for White deal is weird.  It seems like we traded a useful reliever for a pinch runner.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

My general view is that proven commodities are worth more than unproven prospects, so I'm happy with the Rutschman deal, as long as he can stay reasonably healthy.

[Phantom255x]

I was taking an exam this afternoon so I heard some of the Adley rumors but didn't see the official trade until recently. Holy... they gave up a ton for Adley. Now the farm system is a bit barren besides Arias, and lacks high-end right handed starters with Eyanson AND Witherspoon out.

And while I was find trading Mayer in a package deal for something, it's crazy that they were fine dumping him for a reliever. They must have hated or fully lost belief in him behind the scenes.

No clue what to make of the Eli White trade. I guess he's solid depth?

My god. Breslow seemed to go somewhat all-in here. Kinda risky. I do hope they extend Adley because if they traded all that for a 1.5 year rental basically, oof

[Vermont Green]

Taking a shot at the possible playoff batting order:

LF   1   Anthony
CF   2   Rafaela
RF   3   Abreu
1B   4   Contreras
CF   5   Rutschman
2B   6   Mead
DH   7   Yoshida
3B   8   Durbin
SS   9   Kiner-Falefa

There really isn't a good lead off hitter.  I actually don't like Antony in that spot but I am not sure how else to do it.  And I have Kiner-Falefa in at SS over Monasterio for improved defense.  Jones could platoon with Yoshida.

[Silas]

Taking a shot at the possible playoff batting order:

LF   1   Anthony
CF   2   Rafaela
RF   3   Abreu
1B   4   Contreras
CF   5   Rutschman
2B   6   Mead
DH   7   Yoshida
3B   8   Durbin
SS   9   Kiner-Falefa

There really isn't a good lead off hitter.  I actually don't like Antony in that spot but I am not sure how else to do it.  And I have Kiner-Falefa in at SS over Monasterio for improved defense.  Jones could platoon with Yoshida.

Solid!!!! With our pitching excellent chance to make it to the world series.

[Silas]

The Uberstine for White deal is weird.  It seems like we traded a useful reliever for a pinch runner.

White is a decent right handed bat that can play all positions in the outfield....Uberstine hasn't shown anything worth keeping around.

[Vermont Green]

Heard something interesting on the radio.  The Yankees were looking for a catcher also.  They have had worse production from catchers than BOS, which isn't easy.  So if it seems that BOS overpaid for Rutschman, maybe they were bidding against the Yankees.  So if they had lost Rutschman, not only would that be a loss for the Sox but a gain for the Yankees.

[Silas]

Heard something interesting on the radio.  The Yankees were looking for a catcher also.  They have had worse production from catchers than BOS, which isn't easy.  So if it seems that BOS overpaid for Rutschman, maybe they were bidding against the Yankees.  So if they had lost Rutschman, not only would that be a loss for the Sox but a gain for the Yankees.

Read the same thing that the Yanks were after Rutschman.  Double win for the Sox...get a solid catcher and keep him away from the Yanks.

[Vermont Green]

Solid!!!! With our pitching excellent chance to make it to the world series.

Relief pitching is very important in the playoffs.  Currently, the Sox bullpen has a 2.95 ERA, best in all of baseball (Yankees 2nd at 3.01 ERA).  And the Sox were able to improve it with the addition of Erik Miller.  Big plus for the Sox for the rest of the season and playoffs.

Sox starters are 9th at 3.96 ERA.  It feels like it has been better than this, but there it is.  Getting Crochet back would be huge.  Playoff rotations usually drop down to 4.  Not sure who those 4 would be right now but it would be a lot better with Crochet.  There is enough depth that is should be good in any case, just not the best.

Crochet
Bennett
Gray
Suarez
Tolle (?)
Sandoval (?)
Oviedo (?)
Bello (?)

It is actually very possible that both Tolle and Bennett become bull pen arms due to them not wanting to run up the innings too high, and that would be OK, especially if we get Crochet back.

[Vermont Green]

Catchers:

Rutschman may need to be load managed some.  That is manageable since we have Wong.  Interesting stats:

vs. Lefties    Wong             0.740 OPS
vs. Righties  Rutschman     0.799 OPS
BOS Catchers this Season   0.615 OPS

That is some pretty solid production improvement from the catcher.  There are 75% Righties in MLB and 25% Lefties, so that would still be the majority of AB for Rutschman.  But let him rest whenever he needs to, be cautious, manage his minutes.

Second base should be much better also.  LF better too if Anthony comes back and hits like he can.

[BitterJim]

The Uberstine for White deal is weird.  It seems like we traded a useful reliever for a pinch runner.

Trading for a pinch runner is weird, too, because we have Braiden Ward in AAA who's elite at stealing bases and should get that job in the playoffs

When the trade first happened I figured it was a precursor to a Duran deal, but that never materialized. Maybe they'll have him platoon with Duran until Roman comes back? Or do something with Duran (IL, AAA) and have White start in the meantime? Just a weird deal

[Celtics2021]

The Uberstine for White deal is weird.  It seems like we traded a useful reliever for a pinch runner.

Trading for a pinch runner is weird, too, because we have Braiden Ward in AAA who's elite at stealing bases and should get that job in the playoffs

When the trade first happened I figured it was a precursor to a Duran deal, but that never materialized. Maybe they'll have him platoon with Duran until Roman comes back? Or do something with Duran (IL, AAA) and have White start in the meantime? Just a weird deal

It is a small sample size, but White has an OPS about 200 points higher vs. lefties this season compared to Duran, so maybe they will platoon Duran for a bit to help get him some days off and get his head in the right place.  White also has managed to nearly triple Duran in WAR, despite having about 1/3 the plate appearances.  I know that says more about Duran than White, but I think he is potentially more than a pinch runner.