Impact free agents like Devin Williams and Dylan Cease have already signed, and the trade market has been buzzing all winter long with deals like the Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien swap, Boston's acquisition of Sonny Gray, and last night's five-player deal between the Pirates and Red Sox. The activity should only ratchet up from here leading up to and throughout the meetings, with plenty of exciting moves to come in the next few days.
Good morning! There's snow on the ground in parts of Boston today and the winter meetings are right around the corner. We're in the thick of the offseason. So what's next for the Sox? Well, here's a reminder that we don't really know: Maybe they'll get a big bat! Maybe they'll get more pitching! Maybe they won't do anything! Talk about what you want, ignore most of the rumors, and be good to one another.
As the offseason gets ready to kick into high gear, now's a good time check in with you, the Over The Monster community and gauge fan opinion on how the Red Sox are doing across the organization. Below are polls covering the job performance of the front office, ownership, and the manager, followed by some other topical items. Your job is to express your opinion on them.
Grandal joined Boston on a minor league deal in April. He played in 23 games at Triple-A, posting a solid 110 wRC+ with his typically strong plate discipline (15 strikeouts to 13 walks). Grandal last suited up for Worcester on June 1, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Manager told MassLive's Katie Morrison-O'Day that he talked to Grandal the next day about his future. " I knew he was going to pack up and go...his response was 'it's time to be dad. ' "
The Red Sox already boast one American League Cy Young Award finalist on their roster in Garrett Crochet. But could Boston have both Crochet and the likely 2026 Cy Young frontrunner in Detroit's Tarik Skubal in their rotation next season? ESPN's Buster Olney believes that the Red Sox have the resources in place to make a legitimate run at the reigning Cy Young Award winner this winter if Detroit dangles him out on the trade market.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss... Plus, we answer your questions, including... If the Blue Jays were to extend Addison Barger, would the Lawrence Butler deal be a good comp? (40:35) If a veteran signs a minor league deal, are they eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 draft? (44:50) Will the Red Sox trade Jarren Duran? (46:25)
Here's something you might not be aware of: the Red Sox absolutely own the third base Silver Slugger award. Of the 45 trophies given out at that position, 11 of them have gone to Red Sox third baseman. This has been thanks mostly to Wade Boggs, who won the award six times with the Sox. But Rafael Devers also won the award twice, with Adrian Beltre, Bill Mueller, and Carney Lansford all picking up the hardware, too.
I've been a Pokemon fan for just as long as I've been a Red Sox fan. With the release of Pokemon Legends Z-A for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 today, I thought this could be fun to match up Red Sox players with their Pokémon counterparts and put a team together. Note that all of these counterparts are purely vibes-based. Also note that this team would assuredly be terrible in-game. Either way, let's get started!
We never quite figured out why third-string catcher Ali Sanchez was ever in Boston to begin with, and now we may never know. As a minor leaguer who is not currently on the 40-man roster, Sanchez exercised his right to become a free agent, as did pitcher Nick Burdi. Sanchez made four appearances for the Sox this year, with each one coming as a 9th inning defensive replacement. He made just two plate appearances, failing to get on base and striking out once.
My emotions are going in several directions at this point in the 2025 season. I'm still sad over the Red Sox early exit from the playoffs; I really believed that we'd at least take the Yankees down. I don't feel the intense bitterness of, say, 2003-I'm just sad. Saturday's Toronto/New York ALDS game gave me a major case of the side-eyes too; why couldn't we get it together to score a bunch of runs against Yankee pitching?! Dammit, offense, where were you?
It started with a bloop double from Cody Bellinger that hit off Ceddanne Rafaela's glove and fell to the ground. It wasn't as egregious as Jarren Duran's misplay the night prior, but it was also a catchable ball if he had taken a more strategic route. Unlike Giancarlo Stanton earlier in the game, Bellinger was running from the start and managed to hustle to second.