Red Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports Group

The Boston Red Sox are in severe disarray and it all comes from the head of the snake, Fenway Sports Group. The once proud owners of our beloved franchise are now entranced by shinier toys, with their old favorites being tossed aside.

Also, I know I’ll have plenty of folks bark back about the payroll and how the Red Sox are consistently at the top in regard to spending. That’s neat. I can also spend all of my money, but it doesn’t mean I’m spending it in a responsible and effective manner. FSG once used to pour cash into the Sox in order to secure top players that would deliver results. Now, that cash gets splashed on middling options while those that should be getting paid land elsewhere.

In past seasons, when things weren’t going Boston’s way, John Henry and Tom Werner would loosen the purse strings and hand out some serious dough to correct the course. But it seems the hefty contracts handed out to Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval may have changed that mindset. Then again, they were OK with giving big money deals to Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi after the 2018 championship run.

But why is Mookie Betts in Los Angeles? Why is Xander Bogaerts in San Diego? Hell, at this rate, we should start playing, “Where will Rafael Devers be after 2023?” Continually bringing in players that don’t actually help in the long run versus passing on rewarding those that paid their dues in the system is just baffling to me.

Is anyone reading this a Liverpool supporter? If you are, you’re probably feeling the same way about your beloved club as you are about the Red Sox. Liverpool was once the glimmer in FSG’s eye and is now on the chopping block from the portfolio. With a possible NBA franchise popping up in Sin City (and the Washington Commanders available), Henry and the gang are looking elsewhere for their next yacht payment.

Luckily for us, we have owners that are transparent and willing to answer the tough questions that face them. Oh, wait … In fact, we haven’t heard from Henry or Werner in a Presidential term. Sadly, that leaves the next in line to take the punches and try to keep moving forward. Chaim Bloom often gets blamed for the current state of the Red Sox, and while he’s far from perfect, what we all thought when he was hired has become reality.

Bloom is in Boston to take the shots from fans and critics while doing the bidding of the Fenway overlords. He’s the ultimate scapegoat, especially to any fan that doesn’t look below the surface and has zero desire to ask a single question of the organization. His counterpart on the business side, Sam Kennedy, is none the better in the eyes of fans. Both are trotted out at every opportunity to answer for things well beyond their control.

Whenever ticket prices go up, Kennedy announces it. Oh, a beer now costs an extra $2? I bet it’s Kennedy explaining why. Neither he nor Bloom are making these big-picture decisions — it’s FSG. And yet, it’ll be Bloom and Kennedy that feel the vitriol of Red Sox Nation while Henry and Werner count their profits.

Let’s go back to Bogaerts for a brief second. From the get-go, Scott Boras made it clear he’d only negotiate with Henry and Werner when it came to a new deal in Boston. Bloom’s knees were cut out from under him instantly. And if anyone thinks Bloom was going to play a role in bringing Bogey back to Fenway, you’re foolish. He wasn’t brought here to make deals in that stratosphere; it was fully up to FSG to make that happen. They didn’t want to pay him and he walked, understandably so.

His buddy Raffy is about to go through the exact same situation. Both were named as the “top priorities,” by the Red Sox and one is already gone. Do they think that these two don’t talk? Devers did everything he could to try and help keep Bogaerts’ mind off of the contract situation, and now the other shoe is about to drop. Devers is in line to make far more than X, and as it stands right now, based on what we’re all hearing, it won’t be Boston cutting him that check next winter.

It’s pretty clear how most Sox fans feel about John Henry and Tom Werner. Neither has shied away from making a buck no matter what nefarious means, and the Red Sox are feeling the results of their greed. Having a high payroll doesn’t mean anything if it’s not spent on the right players. Look no further than Steve Cohen. He saw what the Mets needed and has spent to achieve that goal. Anyone willing to bet Henry was one of the owners that complained about Cohen’s ownership style?

I don’t want to hear about the payroll. I don’t want to hear about the four championships. I want to hear from our ownership on what the plan is going forward. Are we going to be an organization that thrives off the farm system? Will we pay those players what they’re worth when the time comes? Are we going to keep paying for players that are dead weight? At this point, we’d even take a “Hello” from one of these two. Just give us something so we can feel like this ownership group actually cares.