Fitzy already took you through the highlights (such as they were) from yesterday’s press conference. We’ve gotten plenty used to the front office telling us about how pained they are by failing to meet their goals, so there wasn’t much actual news in that sense. But we did get some actual substantive information regarding Roman Anthony. After a lost season that saw him bow out of the playoffs in the middle of the first game, Anthony will not need surgery on his mysteriously strained hand. “What we’ve been told [is] that we don’t even know what surgery we would do,” said Craig Breslow. And, yeah, that sentence doesn’t inspire much confidence in me, either. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)
Roman Anthony having a healthy and productive 2027 season is key to the Red Sox having a productive 2027 season. But considering that the team’s biggest issue is home run power, he won’t be able to fix things on his own. The Red Sox know that they need to add power to the lineup, but knowing something and doing something are two different things. “Despite identifying power as a priority entering last offseason, the Red Sox’ lineup took a step backward. In 2025, the Sox hit 186 homers (15th in MLB), had a .324 on-base percentage (eighth), and a .421 slugging percentage (ninth). This year, the Red Sox hit 163 homers (26th), had a .319 OBP (12th), and slugged .398 (20th).” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
But maybe they already have some more power in the organization in the form of Curtis Mead, whom the Red Sox appear to be penciling in at second base as they head into the offseason. “He was acquired for a reason. You see the numbers that kind of project at least toward a 30-home run season. And adding that, we were really excited about that,” said Chad Tracy. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
The Sox best source of power in 2026, Willson Contreras, didn’t sound too happy the last time he spoke to the media, following the Sox’ embarrassing exit from the playoffs. But the Sox brass is confident they smoothed things over with the slugger after Tracy and Breslow met with him for over two hours on Sunday. “We actually had a great conversation, Trace and I, with Willson,” Breslow said. “Many of those [details] I will keep private just to protect or just to kind of preserve the relationship that we have. But it was incredibly constructive and covered a wide scope of things. And Willson would be the right person to ask directly, but he spoke very, very highly of his time here, how much he’s looking forward to 2027, and the way that he and his family appreciated the Red Sox.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
The source of Contreras’ unhappiness seemed to primarily be the early hook Tracy employed in removing Sonny Gray from Game 2 against the Yankees, a decision that Tracy is owning. “I do trust Sonny Gray,” Tracy said. “I do trust the guys in the bullpen as well. So again, I think the easiest way to say is it was my call. It’s my decision. It went south. I think the biggest thing for me coming into this was maybe dispelling any notion of people thinking that decisions get made prior to the game or with a piece of paper or with any computer. If I can do anything just to dispel that, say, those decisions are always going to fall on me.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
At least Contreras can comfort himself with the fact that he’s a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award. The award, given to the player who had the most outstanding offensive season is, for some bizarre reason, voted on by the fans. So if you want to throw some love Willson’s way, you can cast your ballot online. (MLB.com)
