Welcome again to our 2025 Purple Sox Postmortem. After speaking in regards to the issues we loved and hated, grading Craig Breslow and Alex Cora, reevaluating the Rafael Devers trade, and handing out individual awards, in the present day we flip our consideration to the massive query: was the 2025 Purple Sox season a hit?
Yeeeeeahhhhuuuuhhhhhhhhehhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnno. No. It’s not a hit, no. It’s definitely not a failure, and it’s definitely a step in the correct route (Sam Kennedy can be pleased with me for saying that). However season that ends by the hands of the Yankees within the Wild Card spherical can’t be thought-about a hit for a franchise with our pedigree. Constructive strides had been made this 12 months, and the longer term seems vivid. Nonetheless, I can’t name 2025 a “success,” in probably the most pure sense of the phrase.
It’s an enchancment, however not fairly a hit. Seeing the younger guys play was superior, and I’m tremendous excited for what they’ll do in a complete season in 2026. Garrett Crochet was unbelievable, Brayan Bello outlined himself as a participant greater than he ever has earlier than — however Rafael Devers was victimized and Nick Pivetta turned a No. 2 starter in San Diego, so it was a little bit of a tough go for me personally.
However the best way it ended did give us the prospect to see the Yankees get humiliated by the Blue Jays as soon as extra in 2025, so I’ll contemplate that profitable.
There was nonetheless a collapse in September, however this one was extra as a result of large accidents that simply turned an excessive amount of to hold. They dumped Rafael Devers for a one-year answer which might be dangerous if/when Bregman leaves. Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, and Roman Anthony had been a blended bag of misplaced on the plate/harm/and famous person. The rotation was worrying coming into the season, Tanner Houck left a gaping gap that gained’t be stuffed by him in 2026 both, and not one of the injured guys returned as reinforcements (although historical past is kinda squishy on whether or not or not Giolito was injured in March; I really feel like not).
There’s a lot to construct on, nevertheless it additionally felt like there have been plenty of areas the place the Sox had been just a little asleep on the wheel. It looks like it was a hit, but when they drop down once more in 2026, then it’ll reveal itself as a mirage as an alternative of what all of us need: an actual step ahead.
A really difficult query however I lean in direction of no. Being all the way down to their fourteenth or fifteenth beginning pitcher by season’s finish was definitely a troublesome break, and you can argue that making the playoffs with the roster they’d left in September, sans Roman Anthony, was spectacular. However, in a wide-open American League, the group took plenty of half-measures at first of their competition window. They had been aggressive in buying Garrett Crochet, Alex Bregman, and Aroldis Chapman. On the identical time, they dealt Devers at a excessive level within the season and waited too lengthy to name up Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, particularly Anthony who was held down till June 9 in what definitely felt like service time manipulation to stop him from ending top-2 within the MVP voting and dropping a season of management. With Anthony and Mayer harm, and Campbell within the minors, not one of the “Large Three” prospects obtained a lick of playoff expertise.
Properly…they made the postseason after the ignominy of the final 4 years. Put one within the plus column. However they didn’t adapt to altering circumstances (the weak AL East) in-season and that goes within the minus column. The entrance workplace ought to have pounced in a number of alternative ways to make one thing occur whereas we had been uniquely positioned to take action. Enchancment isn’t fairly the identical as success, and success wasn’t the phrase popping out of my mouth whereas watching our offense flame out in Sport 3 of the Wild Card Collection.
It was a step in the correct route, however not a hit. I do know just one group wins the World Collection, however successful all of it is a hit, and anything isn’t.
I used to say that, so long as a group performs significant baseball video games in September, then the season was a hit. And whereas I nonetheless just like the sound of that, I’m undecided it stays true anymore.
The expanded and watered-down playoff system is disincentivizing most organizations from making an attempt to construct actually nice groups. You used to wish to goal for over 95 wins to hope to have an opportunity at successful the World Collection. Now that quantity is all the way down to about 86 and, so long as you’re hovering round .500 at first of September, then you may nonetheless declare to be within the hunt.
I hate this and am satisfied it’s horrible for the long-term well being of the game. However I don’t have a say in how issues are run. The house owners do and so they love this technique, significantly house owners like Fenway Sports activities Group, who’re fascinated by successful solely to the extent that they’ll win as value effectively as doable. Thus, I’ve little doubt that FSG is fairly content material with how issues went down in 2025 — they had been capable of make the playoffs and sell-out the ballpark whereas additionally dumping a long-term contract and carrying simply the 12-highest payroll in baseball.
However I’m below no obligation to just accept their definition of the phrase success, nor am I below any obligation to stick to any of my outdated definitions of the phrase, both. So I’m going to alter issues up a bit. To me, success is now a extra nebulous idea, not essentially outlined solely by wins. Slightly, I’ll outline success as a company doing every little thing it may possibly to attempt to win inside motive, after which doing so. I don’t consider that the 2025 Purple Sox as a company did every little thing they may to place a successful group on the sector, and I don’t consider that merely aiming for 86-90 wins is ever acceptable.
