Mazz: Rafael Devers has rightfully blasted management, but Red Sox players have failed, too
Let’s make this clear: Rafael Devers had a right to blast management. But it’s not like Red Sox players have exactly held up their end of the bargain in recent years, either.
So, should you be glad that Devers called out ownership earlier this week, making it clear that those actually wearing Sox uniforms expect more from the people who sign their checks? Yes. Absolutely. Now that Devers is beginning a 10-year, $313.5 million contract, he has more security than anyone in the organization, including manager Alex Cora and new interim GM Craig Breslow. (Sorry, but the Sox have now created the reality that the head of baseball operations here is a temporary position.) Sometimes, someone has to say something – and Devers was the obvious guy.
But sooner or later, the Red Sox have to face the reality that there is a season to be played. The last time I checked, nobody was going to cancel the season just because the Red Sox felt like the were getting screwed by ownership.
Here’s the point: have Red Sox owners and decision-makers given you a representative product over the last 3-4 years? Generally speaking, no. But it’s not like the players have lived up to their end of the deal, either. The uniformed leaders in the Boston organization have spent a good time whining about the makeup of the roster over the last few years to the point where their on-field performance has suffered and/or they’ve been unable to play because of questionable decision-making.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 08: Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora looks on during the sixth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on September 08, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Think about it: Chris Sale? Getting hit by a line drive is one thing, but cracking up your bike in Chestnut Hill is something altogether different. (Good riddance.) Trevor Story has been more interested in playing shortstop than second base since the day he got here and delayed his return last year as a result. (The Red Sox needed him sooner, not later. He then hit .203 last season and has a .685 OPS since coming to Boston.) Nick Pivetta has never lived up to his promise. Tanner Houck hasn’t gotten any better and Garrett Whitlock breaks down. (Why do both keep happening?) Devers’ defense was awful and the Sox have seemed to lose an inordinate number of balls in the sky while making an alarming number of mental mistakes for a big league team, experienced or not.
And then there’s this: over the last three seasons, right around the trading deadline, the Sox have gone off the rails. In 2021 – when they were having a good year – they went 3-11. In 2022, after players spoke about the need for help from baseball operations, the Sox went 12-27 over a nine-game stretch and got pole-axed by the count of 41-7 over one three-game stretch in the division. Most of us like Alex Cora as a manager, but his disdain for the approach of ownership and the front office has been palpable and has infected the clubhouse.
Here’s the bottom line: the attitude around Fenway Park has generally sucked for a while now. Do the Sox have the horses to compete with the big boys? No. And that is rightfully on ownership. But two years ago, the Sox went 3-16 against the Toronto Blue Jays while being outscored by 70 runs. That isn’t just because the Jays had more talent. It’s because the Sox played like a bunch of spoiled brats.
Before anyone takes this as some defense of ownership, it isn’t. When you buy the Red Sox and operate in a big market, you sign up for the scrutiny. But the same is true of the players. Years ago, the Red Sox got so good for a while there that the regular season was a forgone conclusion. They could plan for October. No jobs were on the line during spring training. The regular season was easy and absurdly manageable and the Sox could basically coast. Now, things just aren’t as easy for them anymore. And some of that might be a good thing.
If you’re looking for positives so far this spring, here’s one: Cora seems to be taking a more aggressive approach with spring training. (Good.) If the Red Sox aren’t going to be as talented as they have been in the past – and they obviously aren’t – that doesn’t mean they get to complain and skate. We’ve all been bitching about the way the Red Sox have been operating at the management level for three years now and things haven’t changed. The attitude appears to have gotten worse. There needs to be as much change on the field as there does in the upper reaches of Jersey Street.
One final thing: this hardly exempts the Red Sox from looking to add pitching this spring. Jordan Montgomery is still out there. If the Sox want to attract players (and executives) like they once did, they need to steadily make the franchise more appealing. You can’t chase a guy like Yoshinobu Yamamoto when your team sucks and when others will pay him more. In that case, your chances are less than zero because you have absolutely nothing to offer. The reputation of the entire franchise has taken a massive beating in recent years – on the field and off – and the entire vibe around the organization needs to change.
And off the field and on, that change has to start sooner rather than later.
