I think it’s safe to say John Henry, Tom Werner, and Sam Kennedy didn't get the warm Winter Weekend reception they were expecting after signing Raffy Devers to his 11 year 331 million dollar extension. Even with this record breaking deal when it has come to resigning their own superstars Fenway Sports Group is about as low rent as you can get. And the Fans who attended Red Sox Winter Weekend had no qualms in letting them know that's exactly how they feel about the John Henry led group. After all they spent between 50 and 90 bucks a piece to vent three years of built up frustration to do exactly that.
When Henry and company took the stage yesterday Boo’s pelted them like a hailstorm. The seldom seen John Henry in particular seemed most uncomfortable hemming and hawing his way around the verbal tomatoes being tossed at he and his co-conspirators at the MassMutual center. Sorry but when you hide out on your yacht for 36 months while your team finishes dead last two out of the last three years that's going to happen. John Henry had this to say to the disgruntled crowd
“I think it’s important to say that over the years, we’ve given everything that we can give to this franchise. We live and die every game.”
No the fans have given everything to this team they live and die with each game, you’ve just sat back and gotten richer… he went on
Look, I’ve had my share of disappointment… We've had quite a few. Often, those years have been a disappointment because we’ve been focused on what came next … When Nomar (Garciaparra) was traded, I got a call from Theo Epstein. He said, ‘I feel like the loneliest man in New England right now.’
For the most part what came next was your FSG portfolio. Liverpool , your racing team and the Penguins
“You have to make decisions. You have to let players go sometimes. That’s very, very tough. It’s the worst part of this game… It really sucks. I just want to let you know that we think about everything that happens here. We’re fully invested, not just monetarily, we’re fully invested in wanting to win championships. I promise you.”
Winning championships in the cheapest way possible.
In what can only be described as typical tone-deaf Red Sox front office takes the brain trust of FSG skirted the criticism by trying to con the masses as once again they didn't see their vision. Chaim Bloom feebly tried to take on the crowd when questions about the direction of the franchise went all the way back to the Mookie Betts trade.
“Where was the organization three years ago?” Bloom said. “The organization was coming off an 84-win season. That team had shown in 2019 it had good players, but the team wasn’t good enough, there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot coming”
“We weren't in a position to do well”, yet they made the ALCS in 2021. Think an MVP on the roster could have pushed them over ?
Bloom went on
“So we could keep going and drive right off that cliff,” he continued. “You’ve seen big-market teams do it before and end up rebuilding for half a decade. That’s not acceptable, that’s not acceptable to you guys, and it can’t happen in Boston. So what we had to do was find a way to turn that car around before it drove off the cliff. It’s hard to do if you want to win at the same time.”
But Chaim you and Louise did exactly that. You brought nothing back in that deal of substance. A fourth outfielder, a third string catcher and you just DFA the “ Centerpiece” to the deal in Jeter Downs. This lead to more con artistry by Bloom
“At that time three years ago, we were faced with a similar choice with a superstar player one year from free agency. We didn’t sign him, and I want to explain why, because it relates to where we’re going. We didn’t sign him because when you make those bets, they’re big bets and … those bets , Those bets” having to repeat himself to be heard over the boo’s “ you all know it and are smart — they are much better up front than on the back end. We know that and every team knows that” yet those teams sign these deals. “ But if you want to make that type of bet, you better be ready to back it up and surround that with a whole lot of talent, a whole lot of young talent, or you’re not going to win. You see it all the time in this game. I don’t think anybody would disagree where the organization was, we just weren’t ready to back up that bet.”
Young talent ? You mean cheap talent. Talent that could have been brought in via free agency while you rebuild your farm. Bloom went on.
“Here we are in a similar crossroads with a superstar player a year from free agency and we did something different,” Bloom said. “We made the bet. Why? Because we’re going to be ready to back up that bet, we’re going to be ready with the talent we have coming and those guys here on stage to surround him the right way, so we can get back to winning the right way so we never have to go through what we just went through again. We made that bet because as an organization we’re going to be ready to back that up.”
Winning the right way ? you mean winning while the fans line John Henry’s pocket ? Just be patent Red Sox nation. We will get there when the kids are ready to back up Raffy. Sorry, didn't someone just say “ rebuilding for half a decade? That's not acceptable?” Well that's what this fanbase is staring right in the face. A half decade of rebuilding.
My favorite quote of the night. we go back to Henry
“It’s expensive to have baseball players.”
Well it isn't expensive for you JH . you bought this team for 380 million dollars. It's now worth 3.9 billion. It carries no debt. Over the past 4 years the sox have generated 1.5 billion in revenue for you. Cry me a river Mr. Henry. And sail off in your yacht on it.
As always you can follow / give me grief on Twitter @Tmurph207
