This has Red Sox fans FIRED UP...

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]This has Red Sox fans fired up and for good reason. As we continue to learn new information surrounding this Red Sox front office and what took place when Alex Cora and the rest of Kora's guys were fired from this Red Sox organization earlier this off season.

[00:00:16]We'll break down quotes from Jen McAffrey as well as Brelo himself surrounding the state of this Red Sox team and what the next step actually is.

[00:00:25]Is it going to be selling off prospects to make sure they can make a run this season, or are they going to just try to go out there and get a budgetary option as a right-handed bat to really add some fuel to the fire in Boston? We'll break down all of the moving parts on this episode of Red Sox Digest, but first, please do us a favor by scrolling down and making sure you are subscribed to the channel to stay up to date with everything Boston Red Sox. Again, we do appreciate all the love and support. So again, thank you guys tremendously for everything. But now, let's get to it and break down the news. And we're going to start with this article published by Jen McAffrey on the Athletic. And we've cited her a lot over the last week or so because of the big quotes that have been coming out surrounding Boston. The likelihood they go out there and try to make a blockbuster trade, whether it's for Yordon Alvarez or any other bigname bat or preferably just a right-handed bat, whether it is a superstar or just another guy that can come in and give the Red Sox some good reps. Give them some good at bats, especially when in the box. Not even the defense isn't even the first really box they're trying to check off here as a defense for the Red Sox in its entirety this season has been really really good. The offense on the other hand has been abysmal. So there's a lot of question marks. So first quote even before the season began Brelo was aware his job was on the line knowing his three predecessors each had limited time to turn the organization around.

[00:01:56]The mindset offered a backdrop to the firings, particularly of a hitting staff that Brezlo felt, according to sources was not making enough of an impact.

[00:02:07]Now, this is this is interesting. Why?

[00:02:10]Because all of Red Sox fans and all of Red Sox nation was screaming from the mountaintops to fire Craig Brezlo. Why?

[00:02:20]Well, he simply continued to miss. He missed. He traded Raphael Deers. The return ended up being Caleb Durban.

[00:02:28]Durban has done nothing. Caleb Durban actually, no joke, is the worst offensive player in baseball. And you may be saying, Houston, that no, that can't be right. Like, there's no way.

[00:02:39]There is no way because the Red Sox traded Kyle Harrison who's an ace in Milwaukee right now and that's not an exa an ace in Milwaukee right now as well as others for Andrew Monisterio Caleb Durban and others and Durban is the starting third baseman for the Boston Red Sox has been that was the plan when he he was acquired in that trade for Kyle Harrison in Milwaukee and well he hasn't lived up to expectations he and not not even relatively ly close. If you look at this baseball savant page, it is actually the worst in baseball.

[00:03:14]The only guy that really competes with it is Trevor Story, who's currently on the IIL with a sports hernia, but he has been a part of this Red Sox team much longer than Durban, and he's older than Durban. The expectations for Story were much lower to some extent because Durban was coming into a new place. He wanted to be or the Red Sox organization wanted him to be that guy at third base. Not only a good glove, but a consistent offensive weapon that was not killing you in pop, but a killing you with average. Someone who's able to be a table setter to some extent, be able to get on base, get the troops going, and give them something to work with with runners on. That has not been the case.

[00:03:51]it literally like bottom five to 8 percentile across the board in basically everything expect except expected batting average where he ranks bottom 17th percentile. So not bottom eight to 10 but bottom 18. Horrible. Absolutely horrible. Yes, the range is great but then he doesn't strike out all that much. He doesn't whiff all that much. He doesn't chase all that much. But holy guys. What the what are we talking about? Like how like h how could it be any worse? How genuinely how could it be any worse? So we continue in that article we mentioned earlier. Breza has already begun pre preliminary trade conversations with other teams on ways to add to the offense. Despite the trade deadline being more than two months away, Brezlo thinks this offense will continue to make improvements, but recognizes a need to add.

[00:04:43]You ain't lying there because you have Caleb Durban at third base and we just looked at it. It's absolutely horrible.

[00:04:49]That's not Caleb Durban. There's Caleb Durban. He's absolutely horrible. And then you get the Carlos Nvas and Narvy despite being good behind the plate has not produced offensively. And it doesn't end there. As Marcelo Meyer, another guy in the infield, has not produced offensively. And you guys know how I feel about Meyer. I am a huge fan. I'm a huge supporter. I want to see Meyer be an MVP level player for this Red Sox team. It hasn't happened this year. And it just feels like it's getting worse.

[00:05:15]And then you have Trevor Story, arguably the worst baseball Savant Page in the history of professional baseball. Like it, you might be saying, "Houston, you're being a little harsh." No, I'm not. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. This guy stole 30 plus bags last year. He had what? 30 home runs, 30 plus home runs last year. The Red Sox won basically every all but one game where he hit home run last year. It It's just so so abysmally bad for the Red Sox right now.

[00:05:40]And yes, granted, all of the AL is basically on top of one another outside of the top seed, the Tampa Bay Rays, who mind you, in divisional matchup.

[00:05:49]Everyone else, you see the Yankees 34 and 22. You have the Rays at 34 and 19.

[00:05:54]You have the Guard Guardians at in second place, only eight games above 500. The Mariners third place at 28 and 29. You have the White Socks at five.

[00:06:04]The White Socks, the Chicago White Socks are in the five seed right now at 28 and 27. The Twins who just swept the Red Sox at 27 and 29 in the six seed. The Athletics 27 and 29 in the seventh seed.

[00:06:17]The Toronto Blue Jays who are playing with a team who twothirds of are sitting on the IIL right now in the eighth spot at 27 and 29. Another indivision rival.

[00:06:28]And then another indivision rival one game back at 26 and 30 in the Orioles.

[00:06:32]The the uh Rangers 25 and 30. The Astros at 25 and 32. And then you have the Red Sox in 12th place, 25 or excuse me, 23 and 31. Eight games below 500 right now.

[00:06:45]And yes, the AL is an absolute shitows least. And the level expectations put on this Red Sox team have been simply failed. It just they were far too high to say the absolute least because Roman has been out. The offense output from Roman was down when he was there. Then he's been out with injury. Marcelo's been playing, the offense output's down.

[00:07:05]Durban, we know, story, we know, both down. Jiren Durant has gotten red-hot over the last seven games or so, and that's great, but he can't do it by himself. He He simply can't. Wilson and Sidon and Willard have been simply phenomenal. And right now, based off how this Red Sox team has been playing, if the expectation is to not sell this year and just continue to try to be competitive, those three three guys are basically should be untouchable because of the production they've given you both offensively and defensively for this Red Sox team.

[00:07:35]Roman obviously an untouchable. You just paid him. He's one of the top players in baseball. He's one of the top prospects in baseball. The expectation is he's going to be an MVP candidate in his career. You're not going to move him. So those four guys are untouchable. What is the plan? What positions can you fill?

[00:07:51]What positions do you need to fill?

[00:07:53]Well, Narvy's been underperforming, but you pulled up Mickey Gasper. You have Connor Wong. Second base, Meyer's been underwhelming. shortstop. You have a mix of Meyer, Monasterio, IKF, and Trevor Story when healthy. But in what world do you want to see a lineup where it looks, yes, the top of this lineup is not too bad. Jiren, Raphaela, Willard, Contras.

[00:08:14]But then after that, you have Yoshida, Gasper, Soard, Meyer, and IKF. On the bench, you have Narvy, Wong, Durban, and Monasterio.

[00:08:22]That team does not win championships. It doesn't. It does not. You need another big name. and they specifically based off the reports want a right-handed bat and they kind of want to replace that third base option because Durban has not lived up to the expectation. So, what do the Red Sox do? What budgetary guy can they go out and get for a right-handed bat that could play third base, that could possibly play second base if Meyer continues to struggle? There's not a lot of options. Do you go and try to get a catcher to replace Narvy and Connor Wong? Well, you bold up Mickey Gasper and he's been playing pretty damn well and he's a switch hitter. So, do you go away from him? Like, there's a lot of big question marks here. And what would be the best option for the Red Sox? I don't have a list of names that they should go out and trade for. That video is coming, I promise you. But for now, we're going to focus on this quote from Craig Brezlo. And this is from Brelo himself. Another way to improve is additions from outside the organization.

[00:09:18]And we're having conversations every day about those. Brezlo said, quote, "At the same time, I think there there are a bunch of other teams that see themselves in a similar position where they're probably underperforming relative to where they thought they would be in a league that is pretty compressed and not looking to give up on 2026 just yet, which makes it a lot harder to line up trades." And Brelo's right in the sense that a lot of these teams, like mentioned earlier when we looked at the AL, are right on top of one another.

[00:09:46]It's it's just a lot of mediocrity to say the absolute least. But with that being said, you have to go out there and you have to get something done or you have to bet on the team you put together.

[00:09:59]You did this. You had a chance to get Alonzo. You had a chance to get Schwarber. You had a chance to get a Wayneo Suarez. You had a chance to go out and I know it was a long shot and you didn't really need him because the outfield has too much depth to begin with, but Kyle Tucker was a free agent, too. And no, they weren't going to get anywhere close to the 600 million he got. But still, the idea is the same.

[00:10:17]These guys were free agents. And when you see the quote, you see the quote.

[00:10:22]Other ways to improve is additions from outside the organization. We're having those conversations every day.

[00:10:30]You went the whole whole off season without making a trade or excuse me, without making an offseason signing. Me and Jace or Jason and I were on this on this channel bringing you guys live ch live videos or live streams discussing the offseason and the free agency agency and the lack that the Red Sox were doing. Oh, they traded for Sunny Gray, but they got money back cheap. They went out and got Wilson Contra. They got money back cheap. Two trades. They didn't go out and make a free agency signing. They didn't spend hard-earned money just bring in guys. Rather, they gave up assets to bring in other assets.

[00:11:04]And then mind you, the trades they did make that gave up these players, you gave up Brandon Clark, stud prospect.

[00:11:10]Granted, he hasn't performed like a Kyle Harrison or other youngsters that they traded that are out there performing with their other new organizations, but the idea is the same. you want to go out there now in this difficult situation, not only in the sense of the Red Sox specifically and the organization and how they're playing right now, but then you add a little bit of context and you take into account that these all of these teams specifically in the AL and if you go to the NL, it's not that much different.

[00:11:36]Yeah, the top is the top and those teams are playing much better than the teams in the middle and towards the bottom of this pack. But if you look at the Cubs who are absolutely reeling right now and been on a losing streak, are what 30 and 20? I'm sorry the font's small. I'm going to lean in here. 30 and 26. Then you have the Reds half a game out. 29 anduh 26. Philly, the Philadelphia Phillies, who are a monstrous team with great a great roster and a great lineup.

[00:12:02]They're one game out, 29 and 27.

[00:12:04]Pittsburgh 29 and 27. Washington has been streaky and they have good names like C.J. Abrams and James Wood and various others. 29 and 28. The Marlins only four and a half games out at 26 and 31. The New York Mets, the billiondoll play pin, if you will, seven games back out of it, 23 and 33. The Giants, who had great expectations going into this year, eight games back at 22 and 34.

[00:12:28]There's a lot of big question marks, and obviously it is still early, but you're a third of the way through the season.

[00:12:34]And this is the roster, and this is the lineup you have presented. Granted, there are a lot of guys, both pitching and uh offensive guys and skilled players, if you will, that are on the IIL right now, but even if you were at maximum health, what does this offense look like? Yeah, Roman is there. Trevor Story is there, but what what are we talking about now? You're in this difficult situation. You've underperformed up to this point. There's a lot of pressure on your back to begin with. You got all of the coaching staff on the offensive side of things fired and thrown out of the organization and out of the building. And now you're trying to go out and acquire guys that aren't involved in the organization.

[00:13:12]You're trying to go out there and make trades two months plus before the trade deadline.

[00:13:18]This is a horrible situation for the Red Sox. It really and truly is. Now, do they have pieces to move both prospects and MLB ready guys? Absolutely. But what are you going to give up to bring back in a sign a a significant piece to remain competitive? It's a very difficult conversation. It's a very very interesting conversation to say the absolute least. I can't wait to see how this all plays out. I will be breaking down possible names the Red Sox could go out there and attempt to acquire before the M the MLB trade deadline this season that could improve their team without giving up on this season. Because with the way the AL looks, it's only a matter of time. If you get hot at the right moment, things can really look up for your team. Let me know down below, what are your thoughts and opinions on these quotes that we broke down and what do you expect from this Red Sox team? And I'll see you guys on the next episode of Red Sox Digest.