Baseball Isn’t Boring
BIB on the Go: Adam Ottavino Weighs In On The Red Sox Pitching Heavy Offseason Approach
23 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What unique approach did the Red Sox take this offseason?
Yeah, there should be some passion. This doesn't have to be boring.
You don't get bored by baseball. Okay, one thing the game needs is more people like you. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.
You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You.
You. You. You. You.
Chapter 2: How important is run prevention for the Red Sox's strategy?
The narrative that the Red Sox were pushing throughout that press conference, Breslau, was run prevention, run prevention. We think that we are going to have elite pitching and it doesn't... The quote was like... They weren't, Breslau wasn't making any bones about it. Here's the quote. I think the improvements we made the pitching side are significant.
It can be difficult at times to fully appreciate the impact of having dominant starting pitching, but going into a game feeling like we can just play our game offensively and on the basis because our pitching is going to keep us in the game. It's such a huge advantage for the team. I think no matter who we're playing or any given day, we're going to feel like we've got a chance to win.
That sounds great. That sounds great. But number one, I don't think this is like the, the no holds barred, unbelievable, no questions asked starting pitching set is good.
But what I want to ask you is that mentality of just saying, hey, we're good enough offensively, but what we're going to be really dominant is pitching, and that'll get us through even after, Adam, even after we just saw a World Series where home runs were everything, you know? So anyway, what's your take when you hear that stuff?
I mean, I think that this is just kind of where the market landed for the Red Sox this year. I mean, they were able to do the contrarious move. But other than that, they've been opportunistic at times in the pitching because I think it also helps to have a surplus, have a strength.
I've been wondering for a while if they're going to utilize that in some surprising way because it is crazy on paper. It goes like nine deep, really, when you count the Earleys and the Harrisons in there. The Patrick Sandovals and the... Patrick Sandoval, Cutter Crawford. Cutter Crawford, yeah. There's a lot of guys. So, me personally, I was a little surprised about Ranger Suarez for the Red Sox.
I didn't necessarily see that because they seem to be very stuff-driven, and that's not really his game.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of elite pitching on team performance?
He's a tremendous control command pitcher, so I was actually... Pleasantly surprised to see that. I wonder what they're going to do with him, how they're going to tweak some things. But I don't know. I think you need to have a balanced team. Just having one dominant outfit doesn't mean anything. The Rangers had led the baseball in ERA last year, did not make the postseason.
So I think you're better off being a little bit more well-rounded. I remember... having long conversations about this with Justin Morneau one year when we were both on the IL. A lot of times the formula is to just be kind of hanging around the top 10 in both starting pitching and run scored, starting pitching, and then also relief pitching and base running and all the basics.
If you're just above average in everything, you're going to be probably winning a lot more than being top heavy in one area.
The Rangers thing, I forgot about that. That's a good example. That's a good comp. Like you just, and, and by the way, I know that crochet is awesome. And I know that Sonny Gray's was, has been good. I know that Ranger Suarez has been good. I know that Brian Bayo has been good, but I'll come back to it.
It's like, it's, it's not like you have a bunch of Cy Young award winners, you know, it's not as good as the Dodgers. Yeah, no, but that's, yeah. And I don't know if you know this, the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker. So they're not saying no, no, no. No, no, we're going to do it this way.
Yeah, I mean, look, I'd love for them to have more power in their lineup. I mean, you're needing a ton out of Roman, a ton out of Roman right now. I know he might be the guy, but they're asking a lot out of him. Marcelo, a lot of the young guys, Contreras to continue what he's been doing.
I do think losing Bregman Hurd, and I know he only had one really great half last year, but Alonso I thought would have been a good fit. I think they would. They're definitely I mean, look around the AL East. There's some powerful offenses out there. The Orioles are on the scene now. So you're going to have to go toe to toe with that at times.
They're not always going to be able to shut everybody down in that division. You have to put some runs up, too. So it's intriguing. But I think they still have time if they want to make some more moves.
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Chapter 4: How does Adam Ottavino view the balance between offense and pitching?
They're going to make another move. But the question is, honestly, because there's no in the free agent market for what they need, which is a third baseman, they say there's no really. I mean, you could trade for a Brendan Donovan. There's no logic other than Gattel Marte, who is not going to be traded. There's no like either. You have a Gino Suarez who's going to hit home runs. Yeah.
But he's not going to be the run prevention guy that you keep talking about. you have Brady's who same sort of deal, you know, it's offense, but certainly not as a, you know, he's going to be locked down on third base. So there's no easy answers is what I'm saying, I guess.
Yeah. Those are two intriguing fits though. I mean, both dead pull righty hitters at Fenway. I mean, I know that they're not great defenders, but they're intriguing in a way. I mean, Gino Suarez, I don't know. I don't know what his impact on winning is on a daily basis. It's hard to measure it in totality, but he hit 40-something homers. That's good. That's decent.
Home runs are good. Another thing I asked Breslow, which I don't think has been talked about enough... was the clubhouse stuff. We've talked about clubhouse stuff before. But they took out Bregman, which is undeniable. This is part of the equation. You took out Ref Snyder, which was another 30-something who was perceived as a leader in there. And...
Yeah, I know Contreras is perceived as that sort of guy, but that's another element of this. And so I asked Breslow about it, and one of the things he said, well, you know, it's the time-honored tradition of trying to figure out does winning help that or does that help winning? I'm like, well, I can tell you this.
I think that helps winning a whole lot more than winning helps that because if you win and then you hit the bad times, Then all of a sudden, if you don't have people to reel it in, you're not going to win anymore.
Anyway, that's my take. I've been turning down interviews all week. Hoda Kotb reached out, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said, no, I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.
Yeah, I mean, winning cures everything, but most of the time you don't win all the time. So, yeah, you have to deal with adversity no matter what. You better have some adults in the room. I think Story might... Well, yeah, he's definitely part of it.
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Chapter 5: What surprises does Adam have regarding the Red Sox's roster moves?
Story and then Crochet on the pitching side. Those guys command a lot of respect. Obviously, Bregman, I mean, look... I, you know, and I'm part of the narrative because I believe in it actually at this time around. I really, I really do think that he's a major impact beyond his own stats. So the Cubs obviously are buying in on that too. But yeah, I mean, that's, that's a big loss.
Him, Schwarber, guys like that, they don't grow on trees for sure. Alonzo to another one, right? Sort of. Yeah, sort of. No pizza. I mean, Pete's just a joy to be around every day. And I think he's getting more smart, smarter and smarter, more calculated as he goes. I think those guys had been through playoff battles and wars, you know, at the very beginning of their career.
That really sets you up on a huge advantage, you know, against everybody else. When you when you when you find out what real baseball is about, you know, games with it all on the line. you know, going against a great opponent with, you know, with everything on the line, the stakes, you know, that I think you learn a lot through that process.
Yeah. I don't think it's a coincidence. Alex Bregman's played in more post-season game than anybody since 2016. Last thing is, I'm not, you know, I like power ranking. Sure. So give me your top three. I'll just say top three. And I'm sorry, I should have let you know this, but You're an educated man. Top three off seasons.
And with the understanding that that does not win you a World Series and the Mets and the Diamondbacks were definitely like top two, top three off season. They didn't make the playoffs last year, but it's a fun game to play. Top three off seasons for teams as we sit here right now.
Yeah, I mean, the Dodgers are number one just because they continue to add to what they have without taking away from anything that they already had. So, like, Edwin's a huge impact on their bullpen, Diaz, and then, you know, Tucker. I mean, it kind of falls in their lap with what they're able to do with the Shohei effect and everything.
I think now they're in a situation where, you know, they're even more high end come postseason time to really take a shot at three Pete. I also like what Baltimore did. Now, I know it was a little bit I mean, and maybe they're not totally done yet, but I love that they infused some power into that offense. It's pretty exciting. Pete and also Ward. Yeah, Ward.
Yeah, and they have some big bounce back. They have a lot of the incentives and the motivation of the game is kind of lining up well for the Orioles right now. I think they're going to be a good threat, so I like what they did. Other than that, you know, I'm not as high on the Blue Jays as some of the others.
No, you know, that's the thing, not to interrupt you, but the Blue Jays started off strong, but if you compare what the Blue Jays did, even with the Red Sox, honestly... It's like, yeah, you did what you had to do because you had to replace Bichette and you wanted an ace. You got an ace. You took a flyer in Cody Ponce. You know, Rodgers, okay. Like, but it's not like, I don't,
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