Team MVP
In the spirit of picking a hitter to win MVP, I guess it’s Willson Contreras. His OPS was the third-highest among qualifiers and was fairly consistent throughout the season. Sonny Gray, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu all deserve shouts too, but Contreras played for most of the season and stayed steady throughout.
— Jacob Roy
I’ll say Ceddanne Rafaela. There are a couple of guys you could go with here without hearing an argument from me, but I can’t get over the jump in offensive production to go along
with the all-world defense. Who can say for sure if the 113 OPS+ will be the norm moving forward, but he’s improved his average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage every year during his still-young career. The first-time All-Star gets my vote for MVP.
—Fitzy Mo Peña
I actually think it’s Caleb Durbin, which is both a credit to him and a knock to the team as a whole. When the Summer Sox managed to rip off that sensational 32-5 stretch in an otherwise disastrous season, Garrett Crochet wasn’t there, Roman Anthony wasn’t there, Trevor Story wasn’t there, Ranger Suarez was mostly hurt, Connelly Early got hurt and then got traded, and even Willson Contreras — who had a fantastic year overall — was either suspended or banged up for ten of the games scattered throughout that streak (and the team went 9-1 in those games where he either didn’t play or didn’t make it to the end). But do you know who played in every single one of those games during the 32-5 stretch? Caleb Durbin. And he did it posting an .885 OPS. Oh, and on top of Durbin being great during the streak, he also posted the highest WAR of anybody on the team from May 28th onward after he revamped his swing.
—Matthew Gross
Willson Contreras. Despite 2026 being an extremely up and down year there are actually a number of players who could be the team MVP. Rafaela, Durbin, Tolle, are all contenders. But Contreras was there from day one to the end as almost the living representation of the heart of the team.
— Mike Carlucci
I agree with Mike on two counts: there are several contenders, and the winner is Willson Contreras. He was essentially the heart and soul of the team.
— Maura McGurk
Team LVP
Jarren Duran couldn’t stop finding his way into the lineup, and he couldn’t stop not hitting the ball. His glove was solid, but a 76 OPS+ shouldn’t warrant 600 at-bats.
— Jacob Roy
Yeah, Jacob really said it best there. Over 600 plate appearances for a guy who only just barely hit his body weight (.207 compared to 205 pounds per Baseball Reference, nice!) is tough to justify, even if he did go 20-20. I wonder how rare it is to hit 20 homers for Boston yet only have an OPS that’s 10 points higher than the city’s area code. The defense looked better, at least (except for a few real bad standout examples; that Colorado one comes to mind). A year to forget for Mr. Duran, unfortunately.
—Fitzy Mo Peña
I’m sure most people don’t want to hear this, but it’s Garrett Crochet. He entered the season as the guy who was supposed to be the ace, and instead we got six starts to the tune of a 6.30 ERA, a -0.5 WAR, and an injury that kept morphing into something more complex and problematic. Then, he was allowed to return out of the bullpen in a do or die Game 2 with the season on the line in a tight 2-0 affair, and all four batters he faced scored. You can say he was unlucky, and you’d be right, but no player underperformed expectations more than Crochet in 2026.
—Matthew Gross
It’s weird to say a guy who went 20-20 but Jarren Duran. You can definitely see it was torturing him to struggle. He had a great May and August. Just didn’t do much those other months. Hopefully he bounces back in 2027 because he has too many skills to put up a season that’s only just over 0 WAR.
—Mike Carlucci
Jarren “Nothing Happened” Duran. I’m talking about not only his performance in 2026, which left so much to be desired but also his repeated tussles with fans and even our beloved Willson Contreras. “Nothing happened” was his stubbornly repeated response when asked to address his interaction with a fan in June. Granted, it was a Yankees heckler and that person was shown the exit. Duran had already tangled with a fan in April (not to mention even more notable interactions in past seasons). In July, he boiled over at Willson Contreras, who correctly held (and was held by third-base coach Chad Epperson) at third base. Duran thought he should have run anyway and let him have it. This guy doesn’t seem to learn.
—Maura McGurk
The correct answer is Jarren Duran and Matt makes a compelling case for Garrett Crochet. But I’ll shoot for something different here: Carlos Narvaez. Craig Breslow acquired the team’s ace by trading away the team’s catcher of the future, Kyle Teel. Narvaez was acquired to replace Teel and, for a while there in 2025, it looked like he would do just fine. But, in plummeting back down to Earth this year (.161/.241/.226 – yikes!), Narvaez left the team not only with a black hole in a lineup that already had one too many of those, but turned the catching position into an open question for the foreseeable future — a question that Breslow then had to answer by sending out yet more future assets to bring in Adley Rutschman, who still may not be the catcher of the future given his contract status.
— Dan Secatore
Most Pleasant Surprise
Mickey Gasper couldn’t buy a hit in his first stint with the Red Sox, bounced to Minnesota, and then yo-yo’d between Worcester and Boston on his return to the Red Sox system. He was, potentially unfairly, asked to catch nearly every day when the offense needed a spark, but his bat couldn’t support his subpar defense behind the plate. At 30 years old, his career seemed to be on life support, but when he was recalled in the middle of August and asked only to hit against right-handed pitchers, he became a weapon. Not like a pepper spray type weapon, more like a tank or a gatling gun. Something cool and explosive. Seriously, he hit more home runs than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., except the former’s came in 33 games and the latter played 144.
He also went to the very esteemed Bryant University. Other notable alumni include Matt Gross, “Coach” from Cheers, and myself. I guess his success shouldn’t come as a surprise, based on the fact that he was able to withstand the rigorous academic curriculum required to receive a degree from Bryant.
— Jacob Roy
Nick Sogard becoming a capital-D Dude in 2026. That’s a ballplayer, man. Switch-hitting infielder guy who can get hot from time to time and play solid defense up the middle, he’s a solid guy to have around. I don’t know what the future holds for him when it comes to playing time—Curtis Mead’s gonna come a-knockin’—but I love the idea of Sogard being a platoon guy moving forward. He’s got a fan in me.
—Fitzy Mo Peña
The 15-game winning streak itself. I watched it, I lived it, I studied it, I wrote about it, and I still have no idea how it happened. It shines like a diamond in the middle of a gigantic pile of garbage.
—Matthew Gross
Connor Wong. The backup catcher had a brutal 2025 after Cora called upon him to fill in at first base and second base in addition to catcher the prior year. Then after losing the job in 2025 was called on to manage the pitching staff in 2026. The expectations were low and he showed he still has some years left in the tank.
—Mike Carlucci
Best Newcomer
I was super high on Jake Bennett after Spring Training, and then a little more tepid after his first couple of starts in the majors. He’s on the old side for a prospect, but given how many pitchers were in front of him on the depth chart, he found himself in the majors earlier than anticipated. He didn’t skip a beat and posted a 3.65 ERA over 20 appearances while blowing past his career high in innings and clearly battling some fatigue down the stretch. The rotation doesn’t survive the summer without him, so he’s my pick.
— Jacob Roy
Do I pick the former Cardinal with the 153 OPS+, or do I pick the former Cardinal with the 150 ERA+? Tie goes to the guy who was playing mostly every day prior to his injury; I’ll say Willson Contreras. He’s going to be pretty pivotal for our hopes in 2027.
—Fitzy Mo Peña
More props to Caleb Durbin! He was put in an impossible situation when asked to follow both Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman at third base, and after a disastrous first eight weeks of the season, he managed to catch fire and thrive. As noted above, it’s not really a great sign in the grand scheme of things that Durbin was the best player on the roster for the final four months of the season, but it’s a huge credit to him and how much he grinded to turn his (and the team’s) season around.
—Matthew Gross
Caleb Durbin. You want someone who can carry the mantle of Dustin Pedroia? Here he is! Probably winning a Gold Glove too in addition to having an injury that kinda kicked off a winning streak.
—Mike Carlucci
I’m having trouble deciding between Willson Contreras, who really carried the team on his back in so many ways this season as the heart and soul of the team, and Caleb Durbin. I’ll go with Durbin since, as a much younger player in only his second season, he’s more “newcomer” to the league overall (not just the Sox). I know, that’s getting hyper-specific but I couldn’t help myself; it was a tough call.
—Maura McGurk
Best Storyline
Anything involving Payton Tolle. Take your pick. I love him like a son.
—Fitzy Mo Peña
I absolutely love the connections between Chad Tracy and his father Jim. Back in 2009, Jim took over the Rockies in May when Clint Hurdle was fired. The team then dipped to a season low 12 games under .500 (20-32) in early June, and then rallied on the back of a ridiculous 17-1 stretch to grab a Wild Card. This year, Chad Tracy took over the Red Sox in April when Alex Cora was fired. This time, the team dipped to an even worse 14 games under .500 (32-46) in late June. But then in near perfect symmetry, these Red Sox rallied on the back of an astounding 32-5 stretch to grab a Wild Card. Unfortunately, both teams also proved quick postseason exits, with neither winning a single round in October. (At least we’ll always have this beautiful graph where we can marvel at the wondrous connections.)
—Matthew Gross
Payton Tolle vs The World. The hug. The balk. The pushup. Talking about being in the rain like he was Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino. Extremely talented at the game and has a fantastic outlook on life.
—Mike Carlucci
Caleb Durbin, “It’s only a pinky!” Maybe more like a tagline than a storyline, but what else is there to say?
—Maura McGurk
No matter what he does for the rest of his career, Mickey Gasper’s heater is going to be remembered forever.
— Dan Secatore
