Friday, November 06

Welcome to this edition of the Red Sox beat newsletter. 

BOSTON -- Earlier this week, I held an Ask Me Anything on Reddit with Red Sox fans at r/redsox. This mailbag features questions and answers from there.

The full AMA can be read if you click here.

Questions and responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

What do you think is the more likely big-move scenario for the Red Sox this offseason? The farm system is in pretty good shape, but it's nowhere near as stocked as it was a year ago. Was the postseason loss enough to get the front office to consider emptying it out for a true impact bat via trade? Or does Craig Breslow just add another impact starting pitcher via free agency, like a Michael King or Freddy Peralta, to replace Sonny Gray?

Breslow has gone down the trade road a lot in his three previous offseasons as chief baseball officer. With the prospect haul that was sent to the Orioles for Adley Rutschman, this could be the year free agency is the option Breslow explores the most. Randy Arozarena, to me, would be the perfect fit in the middle of the batting order. I'm not sure how much they will invest in pitching considering that Garrett Crochet should be fully healthy. The front three in the rotation (Crochet, Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez) seem pretty formidable. They also have Jake Bennett, who was solid last year as a rookie, and Tanner Houck, who is back from Tommy John surgery.

Does the team view Garrett Whitlock as the heir to the closer?

I believe Whitlock is more of a setup man. He is excellent in that role and sometimes you shouldn't mess with what works. I'm guessing the Sox will again pick up Whitlock's option for 2028, like they did for next season. After '28, he will be a free agent, giving him a choice to pursue a closer's role either with Boston, someone else or even try to convert back to his old role of starting somewhere.

What do you think about the bullpen?

The bullpen has as good a 1-2 punch as you can have with Whitlock in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman in the ninth. One underrated thing that really crushed the Red Sox going into the playoffs was the injury to Tyron Guerrero, not to mention Justin Slaten going down a few weeks before that. I think that each year in the playoffs, the teams that go deep into October have one strong bullpen option after another they throw at you from about the fifth through ninth innings. The Red Sox already have the makings of a strong bullpen, but they should continue to keep adding to it whenever possible.

No one is talking back-end starters or bullpen arms. I think these are important for depth. Who are likely targets?

Even if the rotation looks to be a strong suit, you can never count out Breslow from adding more rotation depth, particularly if Gray signs elsewhere. One name that intrigues me? Shota Imanaga. Breslow was really fond of him when he was scouting him for the Cubs three years ago. The Cubs wound up signing him, but Breslow was in his early stages with the Red Sox at that point. On the international front, keep an eye on Kaima Taira, the righty who was recently posted by the Saitama Seibu Lions. Taira is known for his fastball, and has plenty of experience as both a starter and reliever.

There seem to be a lot of backup catcher options on the market this offseason -- do you think there is any consideration of an upgrade from Connor Wong? He just had his second year in a row with negative fWAR (although bWAR tells a slightly different story).

Given that Wong is arbitration-eligible, the Red Sox have until Nov. 20 -- the non-tender deadline -- to make a decision on him. I do think this is probably the right time to evaluate whether he is still the best fit. Austin Hedges, Kyle Higashioka, James McCann, Gary Sánchez and Jake Rogers are some of the free agents on the market. Sánchez would certainly offer some right-handed power off the bench. Rogers was really comfortable in the very short stint he had with the Red Sox in August, and the pitchers all seemed to like him, so you wonder if they would re-explore that.

Manager Chad Tracy has made a second hire to his coaching staff. A week after hiring Jason Bell as outfield instructor, the Sox have added Shelley Duncan -- a long-time coach in the Yankees system -- a source told MLB.com. The club has not confirmed the hire.

It is unknown what role Duncan will fill. The Sox are still looking to fill the vacancies of first-base coach and third-base coach, and Bell and Duncan are candidates for both of those spots.

Duncan’s father Dave was a Major League catcher in the 1960s and 70s, but was best known as an elite pitching coach on manager Tony La Russa’s staff for several teams.

Shelley Duncan managed Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the last four years and crossed paths many times with Tracy, who managed Triple-A Worcester during that same block of time.

Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras and right fielder Wilyer Abreu are AL Silver Slugger finalists at their respective positions. Pete Alonso is the other finalist at first base. The Red Sox made a run at Alonso last offseason before he signed with the Orioles. Boston pivoted after that and acquired Contreras instead in a trade with St. Louis.

Abreu, who took home his third straight Gold Glove Award earlier this month, will be looking for his first Silver Slugger. Only three outfielders in the AL get Silver Slugger Awards, regardless of position, and the eight finalists joining Abreu are Arozarena (Mariners), Cody Bellinger (Yankees), Jac Caglianone (Royals), Chase DeLauter (Guardians), Riley Greene (Tigers), Tristan Peters (White Sox), Chandler Simpson (Rays) and Mike Trout (Angels).

The legendary Pedro Martínez and his wife Carolina Martínez are back in Boston this weekend for something that has become more frequent in recent years as the Pedro Martínez Foundation continues to make a positive impact in the 617 and surrounding area codes.

On Saturday night at Raffles Hotel in Boston, the Foundation will be hosting its 10th Annual Gala, emceed by WCVB’s Maria Stephanos and attended by hundreds of guests including Hall of Famer Jim Rice and former Patriots Troy Brown and Ty Law.

With a silent and live auction raising critical funds, the evening will support the Foundation’s mission to provide struggling youth with education, health and sports programs so they can thrive in life in the United States and Dominican Republic.

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