NO MORE EXCUSES: Why the Red Sox Must UPGRADE With a POWER HITTER This Offseason

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College football is back in Iowa, which means Saturdays are officially spoken for. Here in Iowa, we know it's about the tailgate. The black and gold everywhere, a little back and black happening on the speakers, and do it with a Captain Morgan drink in hand. Having a great time and get ready for the game. Don't overthink it. Rally the crew. Pour a Captain and Cola and Captain while you can. Enjoy responsibly Captain's orders. Captain Morgan Rum Company, New York, New York.

The Red Sox season is over. Now Craig Breslow has to prove this team is actually ready to take the next step.

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Hello and welcome to Locked on Red Sox, your daily Boston Red Sox podcast. I'm your host, Gabby Maljanian, and today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Make this your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel Rewards Club. Every week, check the FanDuel app to see what's waiting for you. So the Red Sox season is over. For the first time in a while, there's no Red Sox game to prepare for, which is so sad. No lineup coming out to look forward to or pitching matchup or scoreboard watching. No playoff scenario. The 2026 Red Sox season is officially behind us, and it feels so depressing, but... we can at least get excited about and look forward to potentially the future if the Red Sox go about it the right way. So now the focus is going to be more turned to, okay, what do the Red Sox need to do this offseason? What do they need to prioritize? Not wasting this pitching window that they're in right now. Who stays and who goes? Fixing the offense. That's all going to be talked about on today's show. This is going to be one of the most important offseasons Craig Breslow has had since taking over this organization. The Red Sox finished 87-75 this year, making the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Also had one of the most incredible in-season turnarounds we've ever seen from this franchise. But they also finished third in the AL East, 11 games behind the Rays, and then got just dismantled by the Yankees in two games in the wildcard. And I don't think you can come away from that saying, well, we made the playoffs, let's run it back. No, not anymore. I made this so clear last week on the show. The standard has changed. The standard shouldn't be as long as we make the playoffs, we're good. This is the Boston Red Sox. We expect championships. The next step should be, how can we make this a legitimate World Series contender and not a fringe wildcard team? So this is a window you absolutely cannot waste if you're the Boston Red Sox. If Craig Breslow does one thing this winter, get this lineup more power. That is the biggest thing to me. That's the priority. I mean, this lineup could not hit at all. Not even just at Yankee Stadium in the wildcard, but down the stretch, the entire month of September, the offense struggled to score runs. And that's an issue. Please get this lineup more power. I don't need another versatile player who can play four positions. The Red Sox have