Red Sox Owner Says Fans Shouldn't Expect To Win Championships

Boston Red Sox fans grew accustomed to success in the early-mid 2000's, as the David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia-era teams won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, with two more titles in 2013 and 2018.

As one of the biggest market teams in baseball, with a historic, legendary ballpark and recent success, it's not unreasonable for fans to have high expectations for the organization each year. Well, it's unreasonable if you ask the team's owner, John Henry. Henry gave a lengthy interview to the Financial Times, where he discussed the possibility that he'd sell the team, and how fans' views of the Red Sox are too unrealistic.

"My wife and I live and work in Boston," Henry said. "We are committed to the city, the region. So the Sox are not going to come up for sale. We generally don't sell assets."

Despite not investing heavily in free agency and generally refusing to pay the luxury tax, Henry said that fans are unrealistic about the chances for the team to compete for a title every year. 

"Because fans expect championships almost annually," he continued, "they easily become frustrated and are not going to buy into what the odds actually are: one in 20 or one in 30."

BOSTON - Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox warms up during sunset during the fourth inning of a game against the New York Yankees on August 14, 2022 at Fenway Park.(Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Henry's Comments On Boston Red Sox Fans Don't Hold Up

When team chairman Tom Werner said the team would go "full throttle" in the offseason to improve the team, fans reasonably expected that Boston would be involved with top free agents like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell or Shohei Ohtani.

Instead, the Red Sox did little, trading players like Chris Sale and Alex Verdugo. Henry defended the inaction, saying that fans expect to compete in the present, without looking towards the future.

"(Werner's comments) overshadowed every other word, paragraph and interview of the winter because it reaches so deeply into the false belief that many fans and media have that you should mortgage the future each year for the present," he said. "You have to base acquisitions and dispositions on the future, not the past. That is unpopular generally."

Yet the Red Sox should be competitive each year, because they're the Red Sox. They have the history, money, television market and fan support to justify being competitive each year. Investing in the team, spending money, usually, not always, but usually, leads to greater opportunity for success.

The Yankees traded for an expensive Juan Soto, are running a $300 million+ payroll, and have the best record in baseball. The Dodgers were aggressive, bringing in Yamamoto and Ohtani, and have the biggest division lead in the sport. Yes, building a farm system is important to competing consistently. But the Red Sox's farm system ranks 14th in MLB, according to MLB Pipeline. 

Boston's not elite on the field, or in the minors. And fans have every right to expect they should be.