Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy made some head-scratching remarks on Sunday regarding Alex Bregman's free agency.
Kennedy said that, "If Alex Bregman wanted to be here (in Boston), ultimately he'd be here," ignoring the basic fact that Bregman was offered more money and a no-trade clause by the Chicago Cubs this offseason.
Red Sox executives make confusing statements on Alex Bregman at spring training
Kennedy wasn't the only Red Sox front executive to make confusing statements about Bregman on Sunday. Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner chimed in, asserting that money wasn't the sole reason Bregman chose Chicago, nor was the aforementioned no-trade clause.
Werner mentioned that the Cubs' spring training facility being in Arizona, where Bregman's family resides, may have played a factor.
Red Sox media immediately reacted to Kennedy and Werner's comments with varied degrees of befuddlement. Tyler Milliken of The Sports Hub questioned what exactly the point was of Kennedy and Werner reopening "wounds" surrounding the loss of Bregman.
In light of this point by Milliken, it should be noted that Kennedy and Werner were responding to questions posed to them about Bregman and were not simply bringing up Bregman unprompted.
Still, their responses were not logical. Bregman obviously chose the Cubs because Chicago offered a better contract than the Red Sox did. Moreover, there's no reason to believe that Bregman's interest in returning to Boston wasn't 100% genuine, provided the Red Sox were willing to present him with the optimal offer.
In the hours following Bregman's deal with the Cubs, Boston's chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made an admirable pivot and snagged Ranger Suárez in free agency.
It was a move that screamed that the Red Sox were moving on immediately from the Bregman stuff, and in competitive fashion, no less. But these comments from the club's executives on Sunday didn't fall in line with that attitude.
Yes, upon any close inspection of the Bregman ordeal, the Red Sox don't look great for low-balling Bregman, especially after Boston lost Rafael Devers due in large part to catering to Bregman less than a year ago.
But it's entirely fruitless for the Red Sox to dwell on those mistakes moving forward, or to try and point fingers. Everybody knows why they lost Bregman. The fans don't need executives trying to make themselves look good lie about it. Boston must consider the past perfect and simply look ahead to 2026.
The Red Sox still have a competitive team that can make the playoffs. Bregman was a one-year wonder, and there's no reason to shamelessly change the story about why he's no longer in Boston. No front office operates mistake-free.