Chapter 1: What did Craig Breslow like about the trade for Caleb Durbin?
Hey, Craig, what did you like about this deal and kind of where does this leave the completion of the infield now?
Okay, so really like a lot of what Kayla brings to the table. You know, strong defender, strong bat-to-ball skills, really versatile right-handed hitter, and also feel like he's a good fit for our park, just given kind of the profile of hitting the ball in the air to the pole side. I think it was like a 20% air pull metric last year. I feel like that will play well at Fenway.
Versatility in terms of where he can play and still feel like his best days are ahead of him, just given kind of the age and and control, and we're excited to get him into our organization.
Greg, I know he's played both second and third. Where do you see him fitting in sort of relative to Marcelo and some other options you have?
Sure. Alex, Caleb, and I talked a little bit this morning. I think at this point, we're just excited about getting a really good player into the organization, and we'll figure out where he fits best. It just doesn't feel like it makes sense to commit to anything right now. He's got experience at third base in the big leagues, some experience at second coming up.
He's played a little bit of shortstop, and I think that versatility is something that helps us out, but we'll figure that out as we get into camp and get underway.
Do you view him as an everyday player?
I do, yeah. I think he showed last year that he can be a very good everyday player in the big leagues. He does a lot of things really, really well.
When you think about some of the deficiencies that our team had last year in terms of putting the ball in play, not expanding the strike zone, catching up to fastballs, those are all things that he excels at, and we think that he's a really good defender as well.
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Chapter 2: How does Caleb Durbin fit into the Red Sox infield?
And on the position question, would you be comfortable bouncing in between, say, two spots, or would you rather pick one whenever you pick it and let him just stick to the one spot?
I think that's something that we'll figure out as we get to know Caleb and we look at the way that the roster comes together. Certainly, Alex has shown that he's willing to take advantage of matchups and move guys around, but I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves before we've had a chance to really sit down and talk this through. Craig, more broadly, how do you...
view with everything you've done and unofficially have done, like how third base and second base shake out right now.
sure you know i think we we talked about the importance of defense we've talked about the importance of balancing out the lineup uh thinking about our our pitching staff um and their ability to you know to manage hard contact um and to keep the ball on the ground um converting balls and playing outs is gonna be something that was really really important to our success i think we've largely addressed that and we've got uh we've got options um you know we'll see how
how camp plays out, but feel confident in the group, you know, and in their ability to help contribute in terms of turning balls and playing outs. That's important. We've talked a lot about our outfield defense and how anything that's hit in the air to the outfield that doesn't get out of Fenway, we feel like is going to be caught.
And now we can say the same thing, you know, in terms of converting balls and playing outs in the infield.
Greg, you talked earlier in the offseason about the idea that home runs were a foolproof way of generating offense. At that point, you were saying that power was a tool that you were foregrounding the acquisition of. Do you feel comfortable with the amount of power that you have in the lineup right now? And did your targeting of power shift over the course of the offseason?
Were you foregrounding other elements above that?
Sure. So we feel confident that there is going to be power that emerges from the group that we have, you know, getting a full healthy season out of Roman and Willie.
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Chapter 3: What are the strengths of Caleb Durbin as a player?
And so as long as we're kind of anchored to this idea that we have to put a winning team on the field, I think we have to be willing to pivot. And I think we've shown that. It's been our pursuits were pretty, pretty public at times, but then also the opportunity to really double down on pitching and defense being a strength of this team. And I think along the way, we've improved our base running.
We talk about the athletic dynamic nature of the roster. I think it's going to position as well. Craig, how do you view Marcelo's role on the team this spring, this season? Is he someone that you see as an everyday player? Is he someone that you kind of need to see something more from this spring to sort of kind of prove himself health-wise and also position-wise, hitting-wise, all that?
We talked to Marcelo a lot about making sure that he had a really productive offseason where he got bigger and stronger and obviously completely healthy and recovered from the injury that he had at the end of the season. And I think he's largely done that. He looks great. He's moving really well. He needs to come into camp and compete and show us what he's capable of.
But he's got a ton of potential, absolutely, to be an everyday player. And he'll have an opportunity in front of him to come in and compete for a spot. We're excited about the potential that he has and even more excited about the possibility of that manifesting throughout the season.
How much did the whole offseason kind of shift once Alex made his decision and then you guys pivoted to Ranger and then kind of some of these infield moves that have followed? How much did your kind of original thinking for how this offseason will play out kind of change?
Yeah, you know, we go into every offseason, like I said earlier, kind of working backwards from what are we hoping to accomplish. And what we're hoping to accomplish is to put the best team on the field that we possibly can, recognizing that we've got a number of cornerstone pieces that we think can contribute to a championship team. And we kind of map out a bunch of different paths. And as we
get information about the market and decisions around players, both in free agency and in trade pursuits, we kind of navigate that path. And, you know, path was always pursue, you know, pursue pitching in free agency and, you know, potentially address position player needs via trade and also the opposite, right? So neither of the paths that we would have taken would have been
completely foreign, but without knowing exactly where the market is and what decisions players are going to make, it becomes impossible to chart at the beginning. But there are a lot of people who did a ton of work in terms of putting us in a position to make decisions around building the roster.
And we're comfortable with where we are right now, knowing that ultimately in October, our season is going to be evaluated by the number of games that we win. Craig, obviously, you know, probably isn't top of mind as you're making this move, but the fact you've traded, you know, Harris and Hicks and Tims from the Devers return, you know, probably the three most well-known players in that.
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Chapter 4: How does the Red Sox plan to utilize versatility in their lineup?
Greg, at this point, can you comment on how you plan to use Keiner Falefa?
No, at this point, you know, really nothing to share, but I anticipate being able to talk about that in the next day or two.
Okay. And I guess sort of in that context, how do you feel about the roster as it stands right now going into spring training? Do you envision any other major changes?
Sure. So I think, you know, I think there's a, There's an improved balance in terms of right-handed, left-handed skew. I think that we've got some optionable depth that insulates us against injury or if players don't perform to the level that we are anticipating.
But I'll also say that we're never, I don't think you're ever going to find someone who sits in this chair who says, you know, if there's an opportunity to get better, we're going to ignore it. So we'll always be open-minded. We'll always be willing to listen. But at the same time, you know, we do feel good about the group that we've got coming into camp.
Would you feel like there's a bullpen need still at this point?
We'll continue to look. And if there is that opportunity to improve that group, I think we will take advantage of it. At the same time, given some of the starting pitching depth that we still have, there's always the possibility for somebody to be shortened up and come out of the pen. We'll have to evaluate those situations as we get into camp and see how things play out.
Craig, starting pitching depth was obviously something that you were very high on going into the offseason, but having traded Dobbins, Fitz, and now Harrison, are you still comfortable with what you have in reserve depth?
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Chapter 5: What are the Red Sox's goals for the upcoming season?
Yeah, we still feel like starting pitching is going to be a strength of this team, both in terms of the quality that we have and whatever the guys are who make up the rotation coming out of camp, and then also the depth that we're going to have pitching in Worcester. And then I think the next thing that we think about is kind of, okay, what is the next wave?
And obviously, you know, we're really excited about the pitchers that we took in last year's draft and the previous year. And so, you know, I think you can start to see a fairly steady pipeline of pitching talent. And also we've recognized that if you do have kind of good controllable pitching, that's something that other teams seek.
And so it does give us some flexibility to address our major league roster.
Along those lines, Frank, how important was it to you to kind of maybe not trade some of the guys with major league experience at the top end of that depth like Tully and Early? Sure.
Connelly and Payton are guys that we're very, very excited about. I don't think that's a secret. I think our fans are excited about them. Both the performance and just the personalities and the competitive guys that they are and the guys that we wanted to hold on to.
I don't think anybody would say someone is untouchable, but rather that kind of the bar that we're going to hold in the way that we think about those guys is so high that it's just really hard to ever line up on value. But we're a better team with those guys in our system, and there's no doubt that they're going to contribute pretty meaningfully this year.
Exactly what that looks like, what that timeline is, we'll figure out as we get into camp.
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Chapter 6: How does the Red Sox view their current roster and potential changes?
So I think we do have options, and we'll continue to explore what might be available from outside the organization as well.
And with Christian, obviously at his stage in his career, regular at-bats would seem beneficial. Would you consider him for a bench spot, or would you prefer he be getting regular playing time either in Boston or in Worcester?
Yeah, I think we're going to do what's best for the organization and our 2026 Major League team, and also what's best for Christian. And if those overlap, then that's the ideal outcome. And when they don't, we'll have to figure out how we want to prioritize things.
Greg, what did you like from Andrew Monasterios? How do you think he would fit the team?
Yeah, we think that Andrew is an above-average defender at multiple positions. He's played second base, he's played third base, he's played shortstop. Also, as a right-handed hitter, he's had some success against lefties in the KOPS over 800 against lefties last year. And so, again, giving us another option who can play the infield and be in a lineup against left-handed pitching is great.
It's something that is important for us, you know, and he's kind of served that role very, very well in a couple of seasons with the Brewers, you know, and bringing in really good players and having them compete for roster spots and compete for playing time, I think, is the sign of a good team.
And how do you view Sigler or Sigler defensively?
Yeah. So, you know, again, a guy that has has moved around a little bit, I think can play second base, can play third base as a left handed bat, can hit right handed pitching and is coming off a really good season in AAA. You know, I think he maybe hasn't gotten an extended look in the big leagues and a chance to show just how talented he is.
But if you look at the pedigree and you look at the season that he just had, it's pretty easy to get excited about him.
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Chapter 7: What is the strategy for addressing pitching depth this season?
Yeah, so from the information that we have in talking to Masa and our strength staff, training staff, he is completely healthy. And we don't anticipate any limitations or restrictions on him. However, the Japanese team wants to deploy him. That will be their decision. But from our perspective, he is completely healthy.
Are you planning to put him in the left field in the spring training?
We'll get with Alex and we'll figure out, you know, what the best way for him to get playing time and at bats will be. You know, this will be one of the first seasons that I think he's coming in completely healthy and with a chance to, you know, to get into games on the position player side in ways other than just DHing, which is great because we've seen the impact his bat can have on our roster.
But unfortunately, you know, each of the last two seasons, he's dealt with some injuries.
Thank you.
Sure.
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