The Weekly Reed: Standing on my soap box about the Red Sox 

In my final edition ever of The Weekly Reed (sad, I know), I wanted to focus on the one thing that I wrote most of my columns on, the Boston Red Sox. As a lifelong fan of the organization, it’s been rough for the last couple of years watching what has happened to this once storied franchise. Heck, I went to an event this past week to see former Yankees manager Joe Girardi speak and even he ragged on me for the team’s performance over the last few seasons. As everyone knows, this team has not been the same powerhouse that it was during my childhood of the early 2000s. I’ve been lucky enough to witness four World Series titles in my lifetime (2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018), though I only remember the last two. The question that a lot of people have is how this organization gets back to the level they once were, and to be honest, I don’t really know. However, I wanted to take my last column to voice my concerns over how ownership has handled fans and the team the past few years. 

With how horrendous pitching has been the past few years, something that has clearly aided in this year’s early success is the change of pitching coach. Andrew Bailey took over the position this offseason and has done wonders to the pitching staff, helping bring Boston starters’ ERA to the lowest in the entire league. As I’ve mentioned in other articles this year, the team didn’t even make significant changes to the rotation, returning five starters from last year. What was clearly a hindrance on the pitching staff for the past few years was allowed to hurt them for way too long: former pitching coach Dave Bush. Fans were really exposed to just how bad Bush was after Ryan Brasier joined the Dodgers halfway through last season. In 20 games with Boston in 2023, Brasier owned a 7.29 ERA, good for an ERA+ of 64. He joined the Dodgers organization in June and was called up at the end of the month. He ended the year appearing in 39 games for Los Angeles, finishing with a 0.70 ERA and 633 ERA+ with the Dodgers. Brasier isn’t even the only example as Jeffrey Springs went from an awful 7.08 ERA guy in 2020 to a pitcher who made 25 starts with a sub 2.50 ERA (2.46 to be exact) just two years later with the Rays. Even with this year’s team so far, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford are absolutely thriving with Bush gone. Houck just pitched a Maddux (complete game under 100 pitches) and has a 1.35 ERA in four starts after having a 5.01 ERA last year while Crawford has a 0.66 ERA in 5 starts. Red Sox pitching was its weakest link between 2020 and 2023, and as soon as Bush left the same staff has completely rebounded and proven to work well. Bush was employed for way too long and the organization seemed to have no clue that he was the issue which says a lot about their lack of awareness.  

The relationship between the ownership and the fans has been nothing short of an embarrassment since the team traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers prior to the 2020 season. As many journalists in the Boston area have called out, John Henry, the principal owner of the team, has not had any media availability since the trade. What was especially highlighted this offseason was the lack of awareness or care from the ownership group in what they were saying to their fans. The whole “full throttle” comment by Tom Werner, CEO Sam Kennedy calling the fans doubting their intentions “wrong” and “a liar”, John Henry remaining nowhere to be seen and the team made no big additions to their roster. When asked about improving the team, new CBO Craig Breslow was usually thrown under the bus with ownership saying he was the one making the decision. Everyone knows that the Red Sox are actively trying to stay under the luxury tax. Everyone knows that Craig Breslow is working with a hard budget made by Henry and company to keep that a reality. Ownership has continued to deny that fact and called out fans for believing it. Selling the “Fenway experience” was the biggest selling point from ownership this past year, and as a fan who has seen Fenway overtaken by road fans the past two seasons it seems to be working.  

An underrated relationship that I think is clearly being impacted is that of the ownership and the players. The last few years, players have openly called out ownership for not spending whether that was at a trade deadline or in the offseason. Former shortstop Xander Bogaerts did it in 2022 at the deadline, Kenley Jansen did it in 2023 at the deadline and then again in spring training this year. Even star third baseman Rafael Devers, a player who rarely voices frustration, called out the lack of additions this past offseason. Players are clearly frustrated with the direction that the team is headed in and ownership doesn’t seem to care. This can hurt the team’s ability to sign players in the next few off-seasons because there isn’t a clear time when this rebuild is going to end and ownership hasn’t treated their own players well for about four seasons. 2024 was supposed to be the year that pitching was brought in, but because Breslow took over for Chaim Bloom that was stopped and another bridge year was created.  

The organization is a mess. Fans are hating it, players are hating it and there isn’t a clear light at the end of the tunnel. Relationships can be rebuilt but trust has been broken from many different sides. Boston is 13-10 somehow despite awful defense once again, but the only thing that can heal these wounds is winning.