With division series' underway and the World Series in view, baseball's offseason is really about to start. Free agency opens the day after the Fall Classic is won, and the race to sign the winter's biggest talent is a tight one among the league's biggest markets.
The Boston Red Sox have been left behind in recent offseasons. Boston's ownership hasn't been willing to spend on big-ticket players, and the lack of star power has shown on the field. All the while, Red Sox ownership has raised ticket prices at Fenway Park and promised competitiveness, to no avail.
Red Sox fans are hopeful — but not optimistic — that this offseason will be different. Recent comments from chief baseball officer Craig Breslow's appearance on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast contribute to Boston's hopes.
". . . We are preparing to be more decisive, more aggressive to field a team that is capable of winning the division, of making a deep playoff run," Breslow said to host Rob Bradford. ". . . That was the tone that Sam struck, that is the messaging that I'm getting throughout the organization, is that it's time to deliver to our fans the teams that they have come to expect, the competitive level they have come to expect of the Boston Red Sox."
Craig Breslow says Red Sox front office is primed to be more 'aggressive' and 'decisive' this offseason
Morning podcast: Peeling back the Red Sox' plans for the offseason with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
— Baseball Isn’t Boring (@BBisntBoring) October 7, 2024
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Boston's front office is no stranger to promising big moves — Breslow's comments harken back to Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner's "full throttle" statement from last year. The Sox made offers to Teoscar Hernández, Shōta Imanaga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jordan Montgomery and more, only to be out-bid by other teams. The calls to spend have not been backed up by the men with the spending power.
The messaging has shifted this offseason. Last year, the front office preached "competitiveness" as a goal, and the Red Sox met it at a bare minimum level. A .500 record and a late-September playoff elimination barely qualify as "competitiveness." Now, Breslow and the front office have discussed winning the division and deep playoff runs as the target for next year.
Red Sox fans were forced to sit and watch as the Yankees traded for Juan Soto and the Orioles for Corbin Burnes to further their postseason dreams. Boston has missed the postseason in five of the last six years, and the front office may have decided that is unacceptable, finally — but fans won't know for sure until they see action.
Breslow did leave some room for doubt in his statement. He said he couldn't promise aggressiveness in terms of "what comes to fruition," which allows for more out-bids for top-tier talent. But the change in the team's overall messaging, from the desire for competitiveness last year to winning the division this year, is promising for Sox fans.
Breslow also emphasized that the desire to improve the team comes from all levels in the front office. He mentioned Sam Kennedy's hopes for the future, and Alex Cora and Kennedy have included John Henry and Werner in their promises.
But positive messaging doesn't matter without the right moves to follow it up. The front office has seen Red Sox fans' anger about missing the postseason and paying top dollar for tickets to see a consistently mediocre team. Things may finally change after six years at the bottom of the American League East, but it's unfortunate Sox fans have been conditioned not to take such positive comments seriously.