Red Sox exec says team is ‘making the right decisions’ after Xander Bogaerts walks; Rafael Devers up next

The Boston Red Sox continue to neglect both the roster and one of the game’s most engaged fan bases by doing not much of genuine importance this offseason. This lack of investment on the part of the team’s high command continues a trend that dates back to at least the early 2020 trade that sent homegrown superstar and possible future Hall of Famer Mookie Betts to the Dodgers – a trade that thus far from the Boston standpoint looks like a disaster on a generational scale. 

That was prelude to the departure of homegrown superstar No. 2 Xander Bogaerts, who earlier this offseason inked a $280 million pact with the Padres. Reportedly, the Red Sox in their discussions with Bogaerts wound up roughly $100 million shy of the Padres’ final figure. In no sense of the term is that a competitive offer. Understandably, the fearful attention of Red Sox fans is now on third baseman Rafael Devers, one of the best young hitters in franchise history who’s slated for free agency following the 2023 season. Boston has vast resources and can afford to sign any player they choose, but the commitment from ownership seems to be woefully lacking. The suspicion is that such a lack of desire on the part of ownership and the frankly ham-fisted way the front office has gone about engaging Betts and Bogaerts will lead to Devers’ departure. As backdrop to all of this is the Red Sox’s failure to sign most of their (quite modest) winter targets. They had designs on Jose Abreu, Zach Eflin, Andrew Heaney, and Tommy Kahnle but lost out on each and every one of them. The front office, however, did go to the trouble of leaking “we lost” stories about those mostly C-tier free agents. 

On Tuesday at the introductory press conference of new Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy was asked about the recent lack of effort on the part of ownership and the front office, and his answers ranged from inscrutable to “suggestive of an alternate reality.” Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com has them all, but a couple bear highlighting. Regarding the loss of Bogaerts, Kennedy said: 

“I try not to look back. You can really harm yourself and harm your plan and harm decision-making if you get too caught up in regrets in the past or any type of fear of the future. I don’t engage in any of those two activities. I don’t focus on regrets of the past and I don’t worry about the things I can’t control in the future. What we’re trying to do in the moment is make the right decisions for the Boston Red Sox. That’s the job. It comes with painful, difficult decisions along the way.”

This is basically a deflection couched in the parlance of the life coach, which means it amounts to a non-answer. As for how the loss of Bogaerts will inform the team’s approach to re-signing Devers, Kennedy had this to say: 

“We’ll keep doing what I said we’re going to do, which is making the right decisions.”

This is basically a deflection couched in the parlance of the delusionist. Obviously, it’s foolish to expect candor from C-suite types, but the lack of accountability on display does not suggest much is going to change in Boston, at least right away.  

Yes, the bar for making the postseason is lower than it’s ever been, and the more balanced schedule of 2023 and beyond means that the Red Sox may not take as many intra-divisional lumps in the tough AL East. However, the larger reality is that this was a non-competitive Boston roster in 2022, and Chaim Bloom and team owners have methodically made it worse this offseason.