Hey, have you heard the one where the Red Sox declare themselves championship-driven and assure us they'll leave no stone unturned in their quest to win another World Series?
Of course you have. They tell it at this time every year.
Don't believe me? See if you can guess when Sam Kennedy uttered the following quotes:
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1. "There's been a lot of incredible strides made across the organization in terms of our systems, our processes, our minor leagues, everyone knows that the ranking of our system. I think, where we've where we've fallen short, is not getting to where we need to be at the end of the year, we should be playing right now. And that's the goal each and every year. We think it's possible to build and win. We also recognize that this division isn't getting any easier. It's incredibly competitive, and we've got a lot of work in front of us."
2. "At a high level, where I sit, it's underperformance across the board. That starts with us. It's on us. When we finish in last place or when we win a World Series, the leadership of the organization is responsible for it, and so we've had underperformance this year and that's on us. We need to be better."
3. "I anticipate our ownership group continuing to invest across our baseball operations, whether that's major league payroll, whether that's international signings, scouting, player development, analytics, infrastructure, medical. The commitment to spending has been there. How those resources have been allocated, the underperformance, just not getting it done, that's on us. We're responsible for that. We've had the commitment to spend in all areas and I do not see that changing moving forward. We just need to be better."
4. "We're not there. That's on us. I mean, you can phrase it any way you want, but when you fall short of your expectations, you can always do more. And we feel that obligation and that responsibility each and every year. . . And so we need to do more, we need to be better in every, every aspect. Within our ownership group, within the front office, we're not here to be having press conferences on Sept. 30 or Oct. 1. We're here to be talking about postseason play. And that's what we got to get back to."
MORE RED SOX
Honestly, I could make up the years and you wouldn't know the difference, but for the record, they go like this: 1. 2022, 2. 2023, 3. 2023, 4. 2024.
Every year, just more of the same. On Monday, the Red Sox held their annual season-ending post-mortem. What was once subject to overflow crowds this time saw members of the Red Sox front office fill the back row of seats in the interview room, which is only a modest venue. That's what happens when you finish .500 and try to convince people the season was a success because you're pointed in the right direction, etc. . . .
I suspect I speak for every last Red Sox fan when I say we're done. No more talk. No more insulting us that ownership remains as committed as ever, no more evasions about the payroll while insisting the team will pursue every avenue of improvement even as it spends less and less money each winter.
Perhaps we'll believe it when we see it, but we definitely don't want to hear it. It's just so much white noise.
The Red Sox may hope the farm system paves a path to glory, but internal solutions alone cannot plug the many holes. For one thing, the club's best prospects are hitters, which doesn't address the matter of finding a No. 1 starter or rebuilding virtually the entire bullpen. For another, the American League East is loaded, and the Red Sox have the Orioles and Yankees to contend with, not to mention the Rays, who never seem to stay down for long.
If ever an offseason called for aggression, this is it. Some of the younger players legitimately flashed, but they need help. In the old days, this would've meant making a serious run at Yankees outfielder Juan Soto, but even floating that idea makes me feel instantly dumber.
The fear is that we're just spinning around a whirlpool of mediocrity and that winning 84 games next season will merit further promises that we're so close now, just a little bit longer.
Fans don't want to hear it, just like they rolled their eyes in 2022, 2023, 2024, and eventually, I fear, 2025.