Red Sox’, Kennedy’s Vaccine Against Contention: No Boosters Required

In the five years since the Boston Red Sox traded homegrown superstar Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers, what was once New England’s most sacred public institution has remained stuck in reverse.

The Red Sox’ free fall to mid-market purgatory remains practically unprecedented in the history of American professional sports. While other pro franchise owners fork out whatever it takes for even a momentary blip in the global sports conscience, the Red Sox’ managing partners Fenway Sports Group and principal owner John W. Henry have designed, implemented, and actively participated in the destruction of their once globally iconic brand.

Yesterday’s report that the club refused to go beyond four years in any deal with free agent infielder Alex Bregman marked the latest installment of the team’s ambivalence to add experienced Major League talent via free agency. Red Sox team President Sam Kennedy, who said in November that “there is an extreme urgency internally to compete for the American League East Championship and to set ourselves up for a deep postseason run in 2025,” continues to trot out lie after lie, before, during and after each free agent the team chooses not to seriously engage.

Let’s Not and Say We Did

Like faithful scribes dutifully transcribing the team’s gospel, Boston’s tiny band of remaining beat writers turn every front-office whisper into headlines, every “almost” into action, and every “we tried” into triumph – their press badges might as well read “Red Sox PR.”

Since the 2020 offseason, reports have linked the team to outfielder George Springer, second baseman Marcus Semien, shortstops Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson, and starting pitchers Carlos Rodón, Sonny Gray, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jordon Montgomery, and Corbin Burnes. And that’s a top-of-mind shortlist. There really is MLB free agent Boston and Sam Kennedy won’t cry wolf on. And it’s just piling on to pretend they were legitimate players in the pursuit of superstar free agents Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto.

Infinite Analysis, Zero At-Bats

The most evil aspect of FSG’s unwillingness to spend on proven talent and actual Major League wins has been their stylish packaging of the possibility of winning, what legendary Boston sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy has christened “the illusion of contention.”

In boardrooms on Jersey Street, data analysts explain how losing is practically winning if you just adjust your perspective through their psychedelic menu of proprietary algorithms. The team’s cumulative record of 274-272 in the four years since Betts was dealt? That’s ‘antiquated’ thinking.

At his introductory press conference after being hired as the Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer in 2023, Craig Breslow offered this heartwarming perspective into baseball’s poetic cannon: “The idea of deploying our players in a way that maximizes positive outcomes by creating the most favorable matchups we can is something I would call optimization.” Eat your heart out, Yogi Berra.

The Red Sox have paired Breslow’s poetry of robotic nothings with a far more colorful marketing and social media blitz championing their highly touted prospects, many of whom have yet to make an appearance in a Major League game. Does any other Major League club brag about their rookie development camp in skillfully artistic, fashion shoot photos?

Red Sox baseball no longer seems to take place at Fenway Park, where Def Leppard and Journey just wrapped up a weekend of shows. Fenway Park’s new bleachers are the decks and dashboards of an army of analysts, where winning is theoretical – a complex equation always solving for tomorrow, and the coming summer slate slate is, yet again, just a lounge act for the winding bathroom lines at Boston’s most beloved outdoor dive bar.

It Used to Be So Much Fun

New England’s rapidly disappearing baseball family now longs for the days of on-field dysfunction and drama that captivated the region on a daily basis. In June of 2012, Red Sox great David Ortiz famously lamented, “It’s becoming to be the shithole it used to be,” adding, “Look around, bro. Look around. Playing here used to be so much fun. Now, every day is something new, not related to baseball.”

Ortiz’s frustration seems to have taken on a whole new meaning as the Red Sox enter Spring Training 2025 as a budget-friendly team under a banner of promise versus expectation, with a carefully (read: affordably) revamped pitching rotation and a lineup that ownership is plainly too cheap to improve.

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