No one wants to come here, because the owner doesn’t put winning as his priority. He should have the same thought as the Patriots—The only goal is winning the Super Bowl. Then players that are great will come and take less money. Bad enough coming to Massachusetts Tax Central without playing for a financial genius that doesn’t understand nobody gives a shit or remembers how much money you have, but they all remember how many World Series you won.
They’re trading for guys on 1 or 2 year deals and haven’t signed a free agent to a multi year deal for real money since Story. This team is just hoping all their prospects pan out and they can win that way, which almost never works by the by but whatever. Let’s continue to pay top of the market value for tickets to watch a team that doesn’t pay top of the market for anything
Let’s continue to pay top of the market value for tickets to watch a team that doesn’t pay top of the market for anything
It's the same answer as "why does McDonald's cost 2x what it did 5 years ago" or "why does Netflix keep going up" or anything similar. They keep doing it because people keep buying the product anyway.
McDonald's sales went down and they had to correct course and offer better value. I'm sure revenue from NESN is down substantially. And the past few years before 2025, Fenway was packed with visiting fans constantly. Hell even in 2025, Dodgers fans packed it. We don't just keep buying the product.
Nah you're good. Probably my fault. I'm at the point where I'm done with John Henry, and have been since the Mookie trade/they fired Dombrowski.
The only absolutely minor hope I have is Henry is doing to the Red Sox what Jeremy Jacobs was doing to the Bruins before their lockout/strike. If they get some sort of salary cap (I don't think they will), and he spends to the cap (I don't think he will either), I'll consider spending money on the team again.
But as of now? I'm voting with my wallet. Fuck all of this so much.
No, they just don't care. The revenue impact of being a 80 win team vs. a 90 win team is minimal.
They've learned that fans don't punish them for mediocrity. The "lyric little bandbox" will be full through September. Fans will spend $300 in January to get a picture with Nate Eaton, $500 for a family selfie during a midseason game, $170 on City Connect Nikes, $185 on a generic Tommy Bahama shirt... literally anything they can slap a B on, fans will buy it.
You're in the cash cow phase of the investment now. Henry has his eye on other rising stars, he has shiny new toys to play with. Why do you think he cut LeBron James in on FSG a few years ago? Because he wants to own an expansion franchise in Vegas. And you're gonna pay for it.
Well, Xander had already signed a 6/120 extension as a young player, so there was no reason for them to do that. But he had opt outs and chose to exercise it. There was no way they would go from paying a 27 year old Devers 20 million to paying a 30 year old Devers 30+ million annually. That's the one move I don't disagree with and proved prescient. Possibly the only one they were right about.
So are fans. I’ve read so many comments about Early and Tolle basically being Cy Young candidates already and they’ve got like 50 MLB innings between them. Meanwhile that number 2 is Sonny Gray.
It's just insane to me that they're practically spending the same money recycling these guys every year anyway. Just give it all to one guy who's actually good.
Raphy acted like a child, and the Red Sox also acted like children. Moving on very well may have been the right move, but damn to get basically zero long term assets AND not using the "saved" money is asinine.
I think it was the principal. They committed a lot of money to Devers and he was acting like a selfish baby and not even Henry himself flying in to meet him could change his mind. When they decided they were done with him, they were done with him. They didn't want to owe him a thing after they sent him packing.
You people are wild. It is objectively stupid to pay old players big money on long-term deals. I’m not saying they will sign Bichette, but at 27 years old he makes a lot more sense to what the Red Sox do than paying Bregman, who will be 32 to start the year.
Except they're willing to acquire the last years of other teams' contracts through trades for players like Sonny Gray or Willson Contreras so they're still paying the big money while not getting the prime productivity.
The optics right now are shit and the fanbase has every right to be pissed, the Devers trade plus losing Bregman is such a terrible look from a PR standpoint
Gotta do something, at least when you traded Devers you brought up Anthony, who turned out to be incredible... you don't have anyone right now who can give you that luster
Orioles fan, not sure why I'm seeing your thread but...
I agree, I would be pissed if I were a Sox fan and gave bregman that contract.
Bo feels like the right player to shoot for in my opinion... I guess the counter argument tho is bregman has shown better durability and a higher ceiling than Bo
Tough to imagine Bo getting 35 apy. Nonetheless y'all need to do something
Breslow and Cora antagonized our face of the team and treated him like shit to show favoritism for a cheater who had an opt out. All that offseason bullshit like “any promises made to Rafi were made by people who aren’t around anymore” was complete garbage
They told Devers to put away his glove and that we only see him as a DH. If they didn’t treat him like shit and handled the situation better he would’ve been playing first like he did for the Giants. Yes he was a dick but they gave him every reason to be one
You keep doubling down like a moron. All the shit talking and provocation came from the front office and the manager. If they handled the situation better he’s still here, it is their job to learn how to handle people and personnel. The fault lies 70/30 with them.
People really think other teams with star players don’t have difficulties hearing about them. They do! We just don’t hear about it cos those teams can handle their business.
I’ve read the article. Passan is pussin’ out and not calling out the name that needs to be called out. Henry.
The return on Devers sucked because Henry wanted a salary dump. Not a trade. Breslow followed orders from the guy who hired him after like 15 other guys passed on the job.
We got Contreras who is +16 above Casas at first, with his +6 OAA, and hit about the same as Bregman and we got Gray who is better than Giolito. We have a full season of Anthony, hopefully of Mayer (I'll allow some worry about a full season of him), Rafaela in center, Duran, Abreu, a healthy Story, and Oviedo, Tolle, Bello, Early, Sandoval, Crawford, and Chaps holding it down. I didn't even mention Slaten and Whitlock. Y'all act like this team is shit. They aren't. This fan base needs to cool it. Suarez and Bichette are still out there, and we could STILL possibly trade.
The team is worse than they were last year, I don’t think that’s really disputable now that Bregman has sailed. We’re gambling on a hundred things going the right way, including a virtually injury-free season, which almost never happens
Casas hasn’t had a -10 OAA since his rookie season and Contreras is of that age where he could fall off a cliff at any moment. Give me a guy who can mash at 1B any day over a “good glove” guy, idc. Better hope the woman beater can repeat that career year and pressure a bunch of kids to not regress though?
if Bichette or Tucker (complicated, but would still be correct) are Red Sox by the start of the season then sure, but they've considerably capped their upside if not
Bichette obviously the simplest but Tucker is still best player available, worth trading 2 OF'ers to clear space for - whether or not any of that is realistic is obviously the caveat
"...gives us the financial flexibility to take on other contracts blah blah blah."
Really? Tell us more about these other contracts you're taking on.
The vibe I was shooting for lol
Sonny Gray’s 1.4 WAR is worth like 30 million dollars and Patrick Sandoval is making 12 million to maybe come back from Tommy John.
Don't forget about the 10 Million on the books for Jordan Hicks....
......awesome.
No one wants to come here, because the owner doesn’t put winning as his priority. He should have the same thought as the Patriots—The only goal is winning the Super Bowl. Then players that are great will come and take less money. Bad enough coming to Massachusetts Tax Central without playing for a financial genius that doesn’t understand nobody gives a shit or remembers how much money you have, but they all remember how many World Series you won.
What a waste of having good young talent.
To be fair he turned around and signed Anthony to a deal after the Devers trade…
No “to be fair”, that was something he’d tried to do already.
Also I’m sorry, but the Boston Red Sox do not need to trade their biggest star in order to be able to afford their best prospects in years.
Correct.
They’re trading for guys on 1 or 2 year deals and haven’t signed a free agent to a multi year deal for real money since Story. This team is just hoping all their prospects pan out and they can win that way, which almost never works by the by but whatever. Let’s continue to pay top of the market value for tickets to watch a team that doesn’t pay top of the market for anything
It's the same answer as "why does McDonald's cost 2x what it did 5 years ago" or "why does Netflix keep going up" or anything similar. They keep doing it because people keep buying the product anyway.
McDonald's sales went down and they had to correct course and offer better value. I'm sure revenue from NESN is down substantially. And the past few years before 2025, Fenway was packed with visiting fans constantly. Hell even in 2025, Dodgers fans packed it. We don't just keep buying the product.
This assumes FSG gives a shit what team the paying spectators are cheering for
No it doesn't. In fact it specifically isn't assuming that because it's proof they don't care how they make their money, just that they make it.
Well then I thought you were making the opposite point and I’m stupid
Nah you're good. Probably my fault. I'm at the point where I'm done with John Henry, and have been since the Mookie trade/they fired Dombrowski.
The only absolutely minor hope I have is Henry is doing to the Red Sox what Jeremy Jacobs was doing to the Bruins before their lockout/strike. If they get some sort of salary cap (I don't think they will), and he spends to the cap (I don't think he will either), I'll consider spending money on the team again.
But as of now? I'm voting with my wallet. Fuck all of this so much.
No, they just don't care. The revenue impact of being a 80 win team vs. a 90 win team is minimal.
They've learned that fans don't punish them for mediocrity. The "lyric little bandbox" will be full through September. Fans will spend $300 in January to get a picture with Nate Eaton, $500 for a family selfie during a midseason game, $170 on City Connect Nikes, $185 on a generic Tommy Bahama shirt... literally anything they can slap a B on, fans will buy it.
You're in the cash cow phase of the investment now. Henry has his eye on other rising stars, he has shiny new toys to play with. Why do you think he cut LeBron James in on FSG a few years ago? Because he wants to own an expansion franchise in Vegas. And you're gonna pay for it.
I think John Henry is just old. He's doing stuff that was innovative in 2002, but is mediocre now.
Which they only did because they didn't want to pay Bogaerts, who probably would have signed early for reasonable money if they just approached him.
Well, Xander had already signed a 6/120 extension as a young player, so there was no reason for them to do that. But he had opt outs and chose to exercise it. There was no way they would go from paying a 27 year old Devers 20 million to paying a 30 year old Devers 30+ million annually. That's the one move I don't disagree with and proved prescient. Possibly the only one they were right about.
We’re trying to operate like the Guardians and Rays do. The Guardians and Rays sometimes make the playoffs, but they never make a serious run.
The problem (well, one of the problems) is they have no hitting prospects in the system. There's no one else coming.
So are fans. I’ve read so many comments about Early and Tolle basically being Cy Young candidates already and they’ve got like 50 MLB innings between them. Meanwhile that number 2 is Sonny Gray.
$10 hot dogs!! Yay!!!
Even if your prospects pan out, you don't have enough position players to fill every hole on the roster
You also can't continue to deplete your farm system
Let go Liverpool! /s
The Red Sox think the advantage is signing injured players to contracts where they may or may not be as good as they once were in 2 years
I don’t think a single one of those signings has worked out either.
Nope. They haven’t. But we’ll keep sinking millions into them though. And then cry poor when it comes to signing actual talent.
It's just insane to me that they're practically spending the same money recycling these guys every year anyway. Just give it all to one guy who's actually good.
Fuck John Henry. I’d say it to your face if I could
Last time a bunch of people did that he signed Devers….
…little did we all know it was just to trade him later to as a way to say “Fuck you” back
Henry is literal scum. Fuck your profit margins, sell the team if this is how we're gonna run things.
100% facts.
Yet the John Henry bootlickers will still continue to defend him and the front office.
Prescient
Passan never misses.
Well it’s the Sox and unless fans decide to not sit their ass in those seats, management will continue to think this approach is fine
He’s 100% CORRECT in this take.
That Devers trade crushed our playoff chances and leaves us in a terrible spot going into 2026. We're a small market club, now.
Unless they make some trades I don't think we're shoring up the team in free agency over the next couple of years. Things look bleak.
It’s time to boycott this ownership
Business is God Damn business.
Anytime you’re being compared to the fucking Marlins is a joke
That captures the frustration perfectly. For years we’ve been a big market team cosplaying as a small market team.
And the Marlins still stink so not a great example to cite.
Do you know what “bottom feeder” means? It’s not a compliment.
I do. I meant for the Red Sox office, not a great example to cite.
Yes, Passan is insulting them by doing so.
Yup, and I'm agreeing with, Passan. Thank you for the extra breakdown.
Raphy acted like a child, and the Red Sox also acted like children. Moving on very well may have been the right move, but damn to get basically zero long term assets AND not using the "saved" money is asinine.
Lmao
I think it was the principal. They committed a lot of money to Devers and he was acting like a selfish baby and not even Henry himself flying in to meet him could change his mind. When they decided they were done with him, they were done with him. They didn't want to owe him a thing after they sent him packing.
You people are wild. It is objectively stupid to pay old players big money on long-term deals. I’m not saying they will sign Bichette, but at 27 years old he makes a lot more sense to what the Red Sox do than paying Bregman, who will be 32 to start the year.
Except they're willing to acquire the last years of other teams' contracts through trades for players like Sonny Gray or Willson Contreras so they're still paying the big money while not getting the prime productivity.
How would you feel about a 28 year old 30+ HR perennial allstar 3B instead?
Do you see the FO and ownership paying Bo 300m?
Objectively, I agree
The optics right now are shit and the fanbase has every right to be pissed, the Devers trade plus losing Bregman is such a terrible look from a PR standpoint
Gotta do something, at least when you traded Devers you brought up Anthony, who turned out to be incredible... you don't have anyone right now who can give you that luster
Orioles fan, not sure why I'm seeing your thread but...
I agree, I would be pissed if I were a Sox fan and gave bregman that contract.
Bo feels like the right player to shoot for in my opinion... I guess the counter argument tho is bregman has shown better durability and a higher ceiling than Bo
Tough to imagine Bo getting 35 apy. Nonetheless y'all need to do something
This isn’t about Breslow tho. Writer is pointing the finger at the wrong guy.
Breslow and Cora antagonized our face of the team and treated him like shit to show favoritism for a cheater who had an opt out. All that offseason bullshit like “any promises made to Rafi were made by people who aren’t around anymore” was complete garbage
Always was, people loved jumping on that bandwagon cos of ~vibes~
[removed]
Boy do I ever, people are going to be calling Devers ungrateful until the day he dies
Devers was not without blame in that situation.
You need to direct your ire at the guy who took advantage of it to dump salary.
They told Devers to put away his glove and that we only see him as a DH. If they didn’t treat him like shit and handled the situation better he would’ve been playing first like he did for the Giants. Yes he was a dick but they gave him every reason to be one
Again, really think in the grand scheme of things you’re missing it.
We re not where we are right now because Breslow asked Devers to play 1B.
If Rafi’s drama doesn’t happen he doesn’t get traded.
And that’s on Devers just as much as the front office.
The real issue is not that he was traded. It’s that the trade was a salary dump. That wasn’t Breslow’s decision.
You keep doubling down like a moron. All the shit talking and provocation came from the front office and the manager. If they handled the situation better he’s still here, it is their job to learn how to handle people and personnel. The fault lies 70/30 with them.
People really think other teams with star players don’t have difficulties hearing about them. They do! We just don’t hear about it cos those teams can handle their business.
Try re reading what I just said and reply again. Still not getting it.
After gaslighting him about his position up to the point Bregman showed up in spring training
Again. Not where we are right now because of the way we treated Devers.
You’re not seeing the forrest through the trees
I mean the article link is right there, you can read what Passan says about everyone
I’ve read the article. Passan is pussin’ out and not calling out the name that needs to be called out. Henry.
The return on Devers sucked because Henry wanted a salary dump. Not a trade. Breslow followed orders from the guy who hired him after like 15 other guys passed on the job.
He refers to ownership in this several times what are you on about
He literally puts the return for Devers on Breslow. That’s wildly misplaced.
Read the article. Read it slowly if you’re having trouble. It’s aged remarkably well.
Read the paragraph you posted guy. Lol
The whole article, there’s a good fella.
Keep blaming the wrong dude!
You are crashing out that Passan never mentioned Henry even though he goes for ownership several times? Are you actually doing ok
We got Contreras who is +16 above Casas at first, with his +6 OAA, and hit about the same as Bregman and we got Gray who is better than Giolito. We have a full season of Anthony, hopefully of Mayer (I'll allow some worry about a full season of him), Rafaela in center, Duran, Abreu, a healthy Story, and Oviedo, Tolle, Bello, Early, Sandoval, Crawford, and Chaps holding it down. I didn't even mention Slaten and Whitlock. Y'all act like this team is shit. They aren't. This fan base needs to cool it. Suarez and Bichette are still out there, and we could STILL possibly trade.
Breathe mofos. Breathe.
The team is worse than they were last year, I don’t think that’s really disputable now that Bregman has sailed. We’re gambling on a hundred things going the right way, including a virtually injury-free season, which almost never happens
I would disagree, but okay.
Casas hasn’t had a -10 OAA since his rookie season and Contreras is of that age where he could fall off a cliff at any moment. Give me a guy who can mash at 1B any day over a “good glove” guy, idc. Better hope the woman beater can repeat that career year and pressure a bunch of kids to not regress though?
He's averaged -8. That ain't good. I love Casas, but he needs to learn to hit or field.
He’s got a career 118 WRC+, you need to pipe down and stop being affected
There is a BIG difference between having a good team and a world series contending team
if Bichette or Tucker (complicated, but would still be correct) are Red Sox by the start of the season then sure, but they've considerably capped their upside if not
If the Yankees get Tucker and the Jays bring back Bo this team is dead lol
will still have some fun moments, will still win ~85 games - but yup, 100% correct
People really underrate Tucker. It’s a big problem if he signs in the division.
We don't need Tucker. I'll agree Bichette would be a nice get.
Bichette obviously the simplest but Tucker is still best player available, worth trading 2 OF'ers to clear space for - whether or not any of that is realistic is obviously the caveat
Tucker is literally better than any non-Roman Anthony OFer.