Sam Kennedy explains that the Red Sox have been operating under spending parameters, but their focus is still to develop and extend young players.
Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was never given a chance to go "full throttle" this offseason.
Speaking to reporters Monday in Fort Myers, Fla., team president and CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed the club set parameters on Breslow's spending.
"We have set parameters for him and he's operating under those parameters," Kennedy said. "I do not want to talk about specifics related to payroll and parameters because it does nothing to help us competitively.
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"Look, I think the focus on spending is fair and reasonable given where we finished the last couple of years. We understand there's frustration. The best way to turn that frustration around is to go out and win baseball games and have the focus be on our team and our players versus where we're spending. There's nothing I can say or do at this point in the offseason that's going to make anybody feel great about what's happened the last two years, so we've turned the page internally and we're moving on to 2024."
This winter, the Red Sox have done little to improve a team that has finished last in the American League East standings in three of the last four seasons. Their most notable free-agent signings have been starter Lucas Giolito to a two-year, $38.5 million contract and veteran closer Liam Hendriks to a two-year deal worth $10 million. Giolito's deal includes a player option after the 2024 season and Hendriks will be out until midseason as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
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Unsurprisingly, John Henry was unwilling to speak with the media at JetBlue Park on Monday. The Red Sox owner hasn't spoken to reporters at spring training since 2019. Since Henry wouldn't speak for himself, Kennedy was asked what Henry would say if asked why the parameters for spending have been lower than past seasons.
"Look, we have parameters each and every year for the Red Sox in terms of where we are comfortable, in terms of major league payroll, in terms of total baseball operations spending. That has not changed since 2002," Kennedy answered.
"There's been a willingness to change those parameters midseason, midyear, based on how the team is doing. But there's no change to our overall operating philosophy other than we are in a build mode. You can see, we were talking about some of the young players. We're building around this core group of young players and we'd like to extend some of those young players."
Boston's young core is one of the few reasons to be optimistic about the organization going forward. Slugging first baseman Triston Casas and right-hander Brayan Bello should be exciting to watch again in 2024. The top prospect trio of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel provide hope for a bright future.
That said, this offseason would have been the ideal time to acquire top-tier talent for those promising prospects to join once they're ready. Instead, the Red Sox appear content to put all of their eggs in one basket and hope their homegrown talent pans out.
