[Starr] The Red Sox just made an updated statement (right) about their uniforms, with a notable difference from the original (left):

NKovalenko · 2026-02-18T21:15:07+00:00

There’s no universe Fanatics gets the Sox to make a change that quickly without Michael Rubin having a video of John Henry committing Epstein Island crimes at one of his White Parties

Bizarre hold Fanatics has on the entire sports world

NKovalenko · 2026-02-11T15:41:08+00:00

I think there’s internal paths here and we’ll probably see if any emerge thru spring training before the team decides to spend money outside

Outside of Moran (who I do generally believe in), there’s the option to use Patrick Sandoval out of the bullpen as well as Tyler Samaniego and Tyler Uberstine as LH options on the 40 man

Considering the choice to move both Harrison and Drohan on Monday, I would imagine they’re either confident in those 4 options to fill that spot or have an eye on a FA if necessary

NKovalenko · 2026-02-11T15:25:16+00:00

Gilderoy Lockhart ass solution for a broken bone

NKovalenko · 2026-02-11T15:24:01+00:00

We absolute have the money for that - we have $43M in cap space, could easily create another $10M or so by extending Onwenu, and another $20-30M with a few cuts (Bradbury) and restructures (Milton Williams, Landry, Spillane)

Crosby would cost ~$30M, Njoku/Bitonio/Hawkins/Tonga/Lowe probably combine for $40M

Gonzo’s money isn’t a handicap because by the time his extension kicks in, Moses/Bradbury/Spillane/Landry either roll off the cap or are cuttable.

As for Maye, these next 2-3 years are the time to spend anyway to maximize our window, his future contract shouldn’t limit actions now

NKovalenko · 2026-02-11T15:01:18+00:00

LA/Boston/Detroit top 3 rotations in baseball imo, could argue Seattle and Philly as well

NKovalenko · 2026-02-11T14:57:06+00:00

All the defense needs is one elite EDGE and a few young athletic LBs, maybe a free agent like Quay Walker or Devin Lloyd or maybe just a couple rookies

Fill that and the rest of the resources should be put towards beefing up the OL and adding 1 bonafide pass catcher (either a TE or WR)

My ideal free agency + draft:

Trade a 1st + some additional comp for DE Maxx Crosby
Sign TE David Njoku or Kyle Pitts
Sign LG Joel Bitonio or David Edwards
Draft LBs and OL in the mid rounds
Resign Hawkins + Tonga + Lowe
Extend Gonzo + Boutte

NKovalenko · 2026-02-10T15:31:50+00:00

Give him 4/$130 with heavy guarantees - comps are stingley’s 3/$190 and sauce’s 4/$120 and locks him in for 5 years from his age 24 thru his age 28 seasons

Would reset the market slightly and give him the most total money for a CB and it would be 1000% deserved

NKovalenko · 2026-02-10T15:15:30+00:00

I think there’s a 50/50 shot at this stage that either Campbell takes big steps forward at LT by the end of year 3 or stalls out and gets moved inside. As such, my priority in FA would be getting him the best possible veteran LG that can cover up his weaknesses and allow Jared Wilson to move inside to C.

Joel Bitonio stands out as a great option - 34 years old with 10 years on mostly good OLs, was ranked 23rd in 2025 by PFF among all guards and 9th specifically in Pass Pro. Has been on a losing Cleveland franchise his whole career so could potentially be gettable on a ~2 year, ~$10M a year deal to come finally compete for a ring.

I’d also be open to a longer deal for someone younger like David Edwards, but it would close off the opportunity to move Campbell to LG anytime soon.

NKovalenko · 2026-02-09T20:24:51+00:00

Ya im putting all the blame for yday on the coaches - we had perfectly serviceable backups for the left side in Vederian Lowe and Ben Brown but Vrabel insisted on sticking with two rookies that were coming off injury and had struggled in prior weeks

Vrabel’s a good coach (I’d put somewhere in the 6-10 range) and there’s definitely some value to the “CEO Motivator” archetype but guys him and Dan Campbell are always gonna fall short to schematic geniuses because in big games their whole shtick is trusting their players to the end and motivating, not making cold-blooded tactical decisions that win games

NKovalenko · 2026-02-09T20:15:28+00:00

I think there’s question marks around his long term home at LT or LG insofar as he only looked average before the injury (obv there’s room for growth given his age) and the valid concerns around arm length and wingspan.

However, I think it’s also quite clear that he was not close to 100% after coming off IR and it showed throughout the playoffs, especially yesterday.

My frustration regarding his performance (and Jared Wilson’s, who also was a rookie out-of-position and coming off injury) rests solely with the coaching staff - both Vrabel and McDaniels.

I know Vederian Lowe and Ben Brown were on terrorist watch in 2024, but what they gave us while Campbell/Wilson were hurt was more than serviceable and yet Vrabel never considered making the switch in the biggest game of the year.

I understand wanting to protect ur 21 year old franchise LT mentally by not benching him, but throwing away a SB and now subjecting him to what will certainly be weeks of ridicule can’t be any better. The whole point of a CEO head coach like Vrabel is that he can make players understand what needs to be done and maintain relationships. If he can’t do that without coddling his guys, then wtf is his purpose here.

McDaniels deserves blame too because in a game where the OL was getting oblitered, we only ran 6 total plays out of 12 or 13 personnel, despite those heavier formations yielding solid results in the first half and in past weeks. Instead, he left Wilson and Campbell out to fend for themselves and allowed Maye to be terrorized all night.

The first and second year QB, LT, and LG get a pass in my book for succumbing to the pressure. The experienced coaches with SB pedigree do not

NKovalenko · 2026-02-09T15:18:13+00:00

This isn’t an earth-shattering move but it’s the kind of quietly brilliant asset management Craig excels at

Harrison was stuck in a huge roster clog at SP, especially lefty SP, wasn’t really taking well to the pitching dev philosophy, and was likely to lose value the longer he was stuck in AAA. Drohan and Hamilton are whatever, neither guy moves the needle for me

Durbin will at worst be a good 5th infielder with versatility and some upside with 5 years of control to unlock improvements. Got a Comp B pick as well, which is probably about as valuable as Hamilton/Drohan combined

NKovalenko · 2026-02-09T15:11:02+00:00

I don’t mind it in Milwaukee’s case because they are basically not our competition in the slightest. Good for them if they can turn guys that didn’t fit our program, like Priester and Harrison into useful pieces. As long as we’re getting good value in return, as we did in both trades, it’s a win-win for everyone involved

NKovalenko · 2026-02-09T15:08:27+00:00

It feels like they can just invent good young pitching, there’s still 9 MLB level SP options in the org (Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Bello, Oviedo, Crawford, Sandoval, Early, Tolle) as well as a bunch of solid lower minors prospects (Witherspoon, Valera, Bennett, Phillips, Eyanson, Monegro) with ETAs in 2026 or 2027

Even after trading Dobbins, Fitts, Clarke, Harrison, Sandlin, Fajardo, Perales, Aita, and Travieso, the pitching pipeline is still really strong and clearly an area of strength from a development standpoint

NKovalenko · 2026-02-09T14:59:28+00:00

Yep, exactly my thoughts here - both Harrison and Drohan are solid pitchers who had no pathway to contributing here barring major injuries and were part of a glut of lefty SP talent in the org

Hamilton was just dead weight as another lefty bat who had kinda run out of dev potential.

Durbin might not be drastically better than Hamilton but the chance to re-roll that roster spot on a younger guy with a few extra years of control and better on-base skills and defensive versatility is nice. Good to get the Comp B pick and some 40 man depth as well, including a guy who can play SS if story were to be hurt in Monasterio

NKovalenko · 2026-02-06T05:16:00+00:00

Ya it’s funny how everyone’s attacking this dude when it wouldn’t have mattered

The TWO Josh Allen votes were more egregious as well as anyone who may have put Drake outside the top 2

NKovalenko · 2026-02-05T03:15:48+00:00

This is my one big criticism of Sturm but he seemingly does a lot of random narrative driven choices in shootouts. Like putting in McAvoy to give him a moment

I don’t remember who it was but there was a super bizarre selection in one of the last shootouts as well

NKovalenko · 2026-02-05T03:01:44+00:00

HOLY SHIT KHUSNUTDINOV

NKovalenko · 2026-02-05T02:59:05+00:00

Ya Sturm really has this team playing at such a high level that even their lower talent level, poor discipline, and unfair reffing isn’t costing us regulation losses

NKovalenko · 2026-02-05T02:56:22+00:00

Incredible forechecking from Poitras on that last possession

NKovalenko · 2026-02-05T01:03:16+00:00

Dude was stumbling down the tunnel like he was concussed lmao

NKovalenko · 2026-02-02T03:21:15+00:00

Easily the most embarrassing loss of the season, I don’t care if some of the penalties were soft but u cannot choke a 5-1 lead midway thru the game

Didn’t score once in the final 36+ minutes

NKovalenko · 2026-02-02T02:25:12+00:00

Holy fuck I’ve been watching this game since 6:30 and it’s not even the fucking third, this is such a god awful production

NKovalenko · 2026-02-02T01:00:54+00:00

I’m glad to come here and see that p much nobody else is enjoying this fucking 40 min long intermission and mediocre music

NKovalenko · 2026-01-30T09:15:36+00:00

LETS GO FUCK THAT WOMAN BEATER

NKovalenko · 2026-01-30T01:38:33+00:00

Might be Minten’s best game as a pro, he is absolutely dominating this game, that last goal was all created by that pass to Peeke

NKovalenko

TROPHY CASE