In the Red Sox’s search for a general manager, there have been two concerning developments.
The Red Sox intend to look further than they did for Chaim Bloom, the only candidate they spoke with four years ago, in their search for a replacement.
It’s not ideal because it means they might not have a leader in place before the GM Meetings in Arizona next month.
You should just say you’re going to wait if they have already chosen their top candidate and realize the process won’t be resolved until after the playoffs.
They must make this choice carefully or risk allowing their decline into irrelevance to continue.
They may do this quickly or deliberately. And in that context, Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy made a few unsettling remarks on Monday that were unwelcome.
The first came in response to a query about raising the team’s entertainment value as well as its record.
It’s difficult to entertain fans who watch games on NESN and pack Fenway Park when you’re the opener, which takes away the excitement of the first pitch and the necessity of getting to the park on time.
Brennan Bernardino isn’t a bad guy, but neither is he Pedro Martinez, Jon Lester, or Roger Clemens.
In a similar vein, let’s hope we never have to watch another season with 15 second basemen and 12 center fielders—numbers I slightly exaggerated.
Platooning players constantly and moving them around the diamond results in an amorphous product that is challenging for fans to identify with.
Kennedy, however, chose to rely on an overused axiom: winning fixes everything—instead of acknowledging the recent years’ poor entertainment value.
He asserted, “Winning baseball is entertaining baseball.
“I don’t give a damn what people say. You might argue that you need to play a different style of baseball or that you should do this or that.
We must triumph.
People start saying things like, “This team is likeable,” or “This team is entertaining” if you win.
“I think that’s nonsense.”.
What matters in baseball is winning.
People are amused by that. We’re aware of that.
“.
The Rays would sell out every game even in their dreadful Florida Dome if winning would make everything better, but winning doesn’t make everything better.
However, that was only a portion of the issue. The second issue arose when Kennedy was questioned about the viability of the top position and the idea that ownership had rendered it unstable, with a four-year shelf life.
Kennedy scoffed at the idea before issuing the decree.
He declared, “This is the Boston Red Sox.”.
“If you want to manage a baseball organization, come here.
You wish to reside in Boston.
This is the most important place for it to matter, so that’s why. So, thank you, but no thanks, if you’re not up for that challenge.
“.
Sam Kennedy, the president of the Boston Red Sox, is seated next to manager Alex Cora during the Red Sox’s final press conference before the season ends.
Boston, Massachusetts.
(Image courtesy of Getty Images and Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe) Read more.
The Red Sox have a problem with perception, and the job no longer sells itself, so while that sounds ferocious and defiant, is it good business?
In addition to the previous three heads of baseball operations not having security, there is no indication that ownership plans to reinvest in baseball’s strongest division as you look up at everyone else in the league.
Remember that the last time around, some very deserving candidates, including Chris Antonetti of Cleveland, Mike Hazen of Arizona, and Derek Falvey of Minnesota, withdrew from consideration before the search process had even begun?
If ownership chooses to adopt an eff-you-we’re-the-Red-Sox attitude rather than taking into account why these qualified executives wouldn’t even consider an interview, they are doing themselves a disservice and may be missing out on a savior.
And that would be unfortunate because Kennedy is correct on this point: Boston is the city where creating winners is most enjoyable.
