Red Sox Star Open About Frustration With Ownership For Lack Of Spending

Boston seemingly mislead many of their recent free agent additions

Scott Neville | Feb 20, 2024

Red Sox Star Open About Frustration With Ownership For Lack Of Spending /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have not come close to the vision of sustained success set by former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and picked up by Craig Breslow.

After an unexpected playoff run that reached the American League Championship Series in 2021, expectations were high for 2022 and beyond. Bloom was hoping to build off his early success while still building up the farm system along the way.

However, his attempt to thread the needle between winning in the present and setting up the future resulted in back-to-back last-place finishes in the American League East.

For that reason, the Red Sox have stopped trying to make the big-league roster better and instead focused on 2025 and beyond. The change in direction has left some players who believed they were brought in to compete irritated -- and for good reason.

"I definitely feel frustrated," Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen said on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. "I came here for two years where Year 1 we were going to compete but by Year 2 they were really going to go for it... They have a different vision now. I get it. It's part of the business but at the same time I have one more year left here and I'm going to give the fans the best that I have."

Jansen left out a key point, Boston has elected to throw away his ages 35 and 36 seasons after acting like this offseason was going to be the one where they go all-in.

Instead, the Red Sox seem to be waiting until they have the best farm system of all time -- and then they'll probably wait a few more years until those teenagers reach the big leagues.

Players who signed here after being told the team was going to attempt to put a competitive product on the field during their tenures deserve to be livid after a silent offseason.

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Published Feb 20, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu