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Some Things I Think I Think: Red Sox should be careful about unloading prospects they’ve stockpiled
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- Some Things I Think I Think: Red Sox should be careful about unloading prospects they’ve stockpiled
∗ To date, the Red Sox have made two trades and no significant free agent signings this offseason, and while it seems as if re-signing Alex Bregman remains a goal, there’s little evidence to suggest that the Sox are otherwise very aggressive in free agency.
That means if they’re going to further add to the roster, it’s likely going to come via another trade. And that likely means giving up more prospects.
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Already, the Red Sox have dealt off one of their five top position player prospects in Jhostynxon Garcia and one of their top pitching prospects in Brandon Clarke. The minor league system is highly regarded and there’s still some depth from which to deal.
The Red Sox, under both Chaim Bloom and Craig Breslow , restocked their inventory of young players — at times at the expense of the major league club. Now, those prospects are ready to contribute, or soon will be. But the supply isn’t inexhaustible.
Starting pitching prospects like Connelly Early and Payton Tolle , among others, have great value on the trade market. But having finally figured out how to develop starting pitching after a fallow period of more than a decade, the Sox should guard their young arms zealously.
Nothing is more expensive or riskier than the starting pitching market in free agency. It would be counter-productive the Red Sox to deal away what they’ve worked so hard to accumulate.
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∗ We tend to evaluate Boston teams by championships won, and on that score, there’s a bit of an ongoing drought. The last title won was by the Celtics in 2024. It’s the only championship won in Boston since the pandemic.
Naturally, this has led to plenty of complaining about the local sports scene and claims that, after a 20-year run that saw all four teams win at least one championship, we’re in the middle of a downturn.
This year wasn’t supposed to be any better. But then, the Red Sox had their first winning season and first playoff appearance since 2021. And now, the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics are all performing ahead of expectations.
The Patriots are tied for the best record in the NFL and will qualify for the postseason, maybe even with a first-round bye. The Bruins, whose string of playoff appearances was snapped at eight last spring, entered Saturday tied for the most number of wins in the Eastern Conference. And the Celtics, having lost their best player (likely) for the season, sit in second place in their division.
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Maybe things aren’t so bad after all.
∗ Sunday’s showdown between the Patriots and Buffalo Bills feels like a passing of the torch in the AFC East. A Patriots win would effectively give them the division title for the first time since 2019. Meanwhile, a loss by the Bills could further weaken Bills coach Sean McDermott’s job security.
McDermott has been in charge since 2017 and doesn’t have a Super Bowl appearance, much less a championship. A loss Sunday would relegate the Bills to a lesser playoff seed, and very likely, another early playoff exit.
Josh Allen remains elite, but his supporting cast is slipping. Meanwhile, Drake Maye’s star is on the ascent.
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∗ In December of 2023, it was clearly time for the Red Sox to move on from Chris Sale . The injuries had piled up and he could no longer be counted on. It was time, and when the Red Sox shipped him to Atlanta , most Red Sox fans were almost relieved. Two years removed, it’s hard to second-guess, that decision.
That said, the deal could hardly have worked out worse. Sale won a Cy Young award and the pitching triple crown for the Atlanta Braves and the return, infielder Vaughn Grissom , played a grand total of 31 games for the Red Sox over two seasons, almost all of them forgettable. And now, Grissom, too, is gone, unloaded to the Los Angeles Angels for a rather anonymous prospect.
∗ Why doesn’t the NFL change the name of the award from NFL MVP to Quarterback of the Year? A QB has won the honor every year dating back to 2012 and all but three times since 2000. That won’t change this year, either, with the favorites being Matthew Stafford, Allen and Maye.
∗ I’m not ready to say he’s this year’s version of Morgan Geekie, but Alex Steeves has shown a nice scoring touch for the Bruins.
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∗ It’s been a somewhat rough patch for Michigan football over the last few years, has it not?
∗ College football is as popular as ever. So why isn’t the Heisman Trophy the big deal it once was?
∗ And on the topic of major college football programs that are just humming along, it became wholly obvious Friday that all the problems at the University of North Carolina were the fault of those inept coordinators.
∗ Among the many job-seekers at the Winter Meetings last week: former Red Sox reliever Alan Embree, interested in becoming someone’s pitching coach. Embree has worked as a coach in both high school and college. He, of course, was on the mound for the final out when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
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∗ The latest Knives Out installment from Rian Johnson — Wake Up Dead Man, on Netflix — is the best (and funniest) of the series yet.
∗ What should be gold — as in “black and gold” — in the Stadium Series uniforms for the Bruins looks suspiciously like canary yellow to me. Discuss.
∗ Raul Malo had such a magical voice that he could sing the phone book and make it sound compelling. You name the genre — country, rock & roll, mariachi — and either leading the Mavericks or on his own, he could sing the hell out of it. RIP.
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