3 fatal decisions since the 2021 ALCS that put the Red Sox in this mess

The commitment to cutting payroll above anything else

In 2021, the Boston Red Sox ranked 6th in the MLB in terms of payroll, according to Spotrac. Three of the five teams ranked ahead of them were playoff teams, including the World Series-winning Astros. The Red Sox remained sixth in 2022 after losing a lot of players to injuries that year. Last season, they fell to the 13th-highest payroll. The plan set forth by the front office to continually shed payroll has worked but has come at the expense of not fielding a competitive baseball team. 

The Red Sox are currently projected to have the 10th-highest payroll in the league in 2024, but CEO Sam Kennedy has said that they are looking to shed additional payroll before the season. The attempts to treat the Red Sox like a business where the margins are extremely fine are killing the team. All of these businessmen in the front office only view things as a business opportunity, and in a marketplace like professional baseball, there’s always going to be younger and cheaper potential players who can take the roles of these more expensive veterans. 

As much hate as fans rightfully give owners like John Fisher, Robert Nutting and Bob Castellini for not wanting to spend money to benefit their teams and their fan bases, John Henry and FSG rightfully deserve as much criticism. FSG is trying to get away with doing whatever it wants because Henry and Tom Werner have managed to bring success and championships to Boston in the past.

All of the other questionable decisions that have been made over the past few years could be excused if the front office was attempting to be competitive and fulfill Boston's big-market expectations, but they're not. The front office is an embarrassment, and ownership's focus on margins over performance and quality of product on the field has caused all of the issues plaguing the Red Sox right now.

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