Red Sox Offseason Recap, from a Fan

Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images

Last season was disappointing, for sure, but somehow the offseason went so much worse. 

First off, before the off-season even, Boston fired Chief Baseball Officer (General Manager) Chaim Bloom after just four seasons. In his time after succeeding Dave Dombrowski after the 2019 season, the Red Sox finished in last place in the AL East three out of four years. Outside of the most random ALCS run of all time in 2021, the Red Sox have been atrocious.

Chaim Bloom did, however, do some good things. The Red Sox farm system has improved tremendously, some of which can be credited to high draft picks, but the future after Bloom is immensely better than the future after Dombrowski.

Since Craig Breslow was hired before the Winter Meetings and since then….yikes. Fenway Sports "headmasters" Sam Kennedy and John Henry have been adamant that the Red Sox remain their top priority and they want to win, but whenever a reporter asks them about spending money, the answer gets a little more complicated. 

In early November, Kennedy said it was “full throttle” into the offseason, but after months of inactivity and only one free agent signing with Lucas Giolito, President Kennedy walked back his initial comments about the offseason in mid-January. Less than a week later Kennedy was in the news again announcing he expects Boston’s payroll to be lower than it was the previous season. 

This can be very confusing, understandably, so let’s break this down. 

• Nov. 2: Sam Kennedy vows to spend money on free agents.  

• Jan. 16: Kennedy walks back “full throttle” comments.

• Jan. 20: Kennedy announces cutting team payroll.

Doesn’t really make too much sense, does it?

If the saga ended there it would be bad, but you can come back from that as owners, but it wasn’t. 

On Jan. 31 Strategic Sports Group, led by Fenway Sports Group, announced a $3 Billion investment in the PGA Tour. In this deal, PGA players would receive $1.5 Billion to split in prizes. 

Kennedy and Henry have spent 37 times more on players who play a completely different sport. Boston has spent a total of $39.5 Million on two free agents, Lucas Giolito and Cooper Criswell. 

Every time I read a new headline about Boston’s owners being ‘100% fully committed to winning’ I laugh because I know they’re lying. Everything that they do shows they are money-hungry-billionaires who have no idea what to do when the fans start to become annoyed when they realize their owners are complete potatoes. 

Shockingly, Kennedy disagrees with those opinions. He spoke to WEEI’s Chris Curtis in January, “If you think for one second that we aren't passionate, committed, dedicated to the Boston Red Sox, you're wrong, you're a liar, and I'll correct you on it because it's total BS.”

Surely after saying this, he would have proved he is committed to the team, right?

Kind of.

On Feb. 2, news broke that former General Manager Theo Epstein would be returning to Fenway Sports Group. I won’t lie, this was a great move made by Kennedy and Henry. Epstein broke the curse in 2004 and then left to go win a World Series with the Chicago Cubs. Since then, he has been working in the front office of the MLB. 

According to Chris Contillo at MassLive “people with an understanding of the arrangement between Epstein and the Red Sox, he was brought back into the fold, at least in part, due to Red Sox ownership privately acknowledging that they have, at times, not given the club the attention it has deserved in recent years as the FSG portfolio has rapidly grown.”

Now months after the offseason of doom started, ownership finally admitted (secretly and in private) that maybe they did not do the best job at managing this offseason. 

Although it took long enough to make a move to fix this, they did end up doing something that can help them. 

On Feb. 7, Netflix announced they are coming out with, not one, but two documentaries about the Red Sox that will debut in 2025. One of them will recap the 2004 World Championship team. The second will follow the 2024 Red Sox team. 

Netflix has been granted “unprecedented access to players, coaches, and executives” to show what goes into an MLB season. In a season where this team will probably win around 70-80 games and just move on to next year, the baseball world will get to see all the behind-the-scenes action. Drama, upset players, and missing connections were recorded, edited, and broadcast for everyone to see. 

If I were to be optimistic about this, I would say maybe some of the players find a reason to show out for the documentary. Tristan Casas is looking for a new contract, maybe if he hits 40 bombs on Netflix, he’ll raise his market value. 

An even more unlikely occurrence could be that Sam Kennedy and John Henry would want to look like “cool” owners and to be portrayed well. Could this documentary lead the Red Sox to sign a big-name free agent or even anyone who will help us win? 

Cody Bellinger, Jorge Soler, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Julio Urias are all still available. Why not make a run for them? This is the Boston Red Sox, this is a huge market team. They do not need to act like the Tampa Bay Rays or the Oakland Athletics, they have the money to spend in free agency, yet our owners refuse to use it. 

Let’s take a look at an updated offseason timeline now:

• Nov. 2: Sam Kennedy vows to spend money on free agents.  

• Jan. 16: Kennedy walks back “full throttle” comments.

• Jan. 20: Kennedy announces cutting team payroll.

• Jan. 20: Kennedy calls Boston fans ‘liars’ if they don’t believe in him.

• Feb 2: Theo Epstein returns because owners knew they messed up this offseason. 

• Feb. 7: Netflix documentaries announced. 

There is a side of me that still holds out hope for this season. I’m not sure why, but maybe this documentary will get ownership to think about adding some pieces that will not only make this season watchable, but a season where we can win. 

Trevor Story, who returns from an injury-riddled season, will be back fully healthy. Last year, Story returned to action early after off-season elbow surgery. After a full recovery, can he become what Boston had hoped for when they signed him in 2022? 

Key young players like Rafael Devers, Tristan Casas, Masataka Yoshida, Jaren Duran, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck will remain healthy and at the top of their game. 

As we wait for prospects like Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel, and Nick York to become ready for big league action, 2023 social media phenom, Enmanuel Valdez could be receiving more playing time than he initially expected. 

Update:

On Feb. 19, the Boston Red Sox and former All-Star closer Liam Hendricks agreed on a two-year deal worth around $10 Million, with the chance to earn more in performance bonuses.

Hendricks is 35 and recovering from Tommy John surgery. ESPN reports, he could be available late in the 2024 season, and fully healthy by 2025.