Red Sox owner John Henry is mad and…well, he’s still going to take it
COMMENTARY
John Henry has spoken, and the message is clear from the Red Sox front office.
“Everything is awesome.’’
Well, not everything per se, but seemingly enough that the team owner sees fit to stay the course with his underperforming band of expense rather than make the drastic changes many see fit in order to resurrect his embattled franchise, seemingly destined for another last-place finish in the American League East.
“I’m here to be accountable and tell you how I see it,’’ Henry told the assembled media at Fenway Park prior to his team’s 1-0 win over the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night, adding that “We have played like bleep.’’
Clearly, Henry is angry about his team’s 23-29 start if he’s dishing out expletives like a grizzled 1890’s prospector. Consarn it!
But even Henry has to realize that this isn’t only indicative of just a poor start. Since the beginning of last season, John Farrell’s Red Sox are 94-120, the worst mark in the American League. Only the Colorado Rockies (89-124), Philadelphia Phillies (93-112) and Arizona Diamondbacks (88-125) have had lower winning percentages over that same stretch. Despite a re-vamped lineup with mega-million additions Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, the Sox have scored only 196 runs this season, 25th-best in all of baseball. Only the Chicago White Sox (minus-55), Phillies (minus-72), and Milwaukee Brewers (minus-65) have a lower run differential than Boston’s embarrassing minus-45. The Baltimore Orioles are the only other team with a negative differential (minus-6) in the pathetic AL East.
“Our approach has been suspect,’’ Henry said. “Offense is not what it used to be in baseball. The way you win games in 2003 is different from the way you win games in 2015. We have to make those adjustments as an organization.
“When you look at this team — and I tell you we’ve analyzed this team — this is a strong team. They’ve just played not up to their capabilities,’’ Henry said.
Yeah. No bleep.
Jeez, Louise, these are tough times for Henry’s sports properties (Henry also owns Boston Globe Media, which includes Boston.com). There’s a mirror image of angst happening across the pond where Brendan Rodgers will remain as Liverpool manager after a dismal, sixth-place finish last season. Rodgers met with CEO Tom Werner and Fenway Sports Group chief executive Mike Gordon on Tuesday in the midst of a fan base calling for his head. Likewise, Henry said on Tuesday that Red Sox manager John Farrell, nor general manager Ben Cherington were in danger of losing their jobs.
Awesome. Gum drops and lollipops.
“Why do I believe that? Because I have worked with a lot of people over the years and these are two people that I really like working with. They’re committed; they’re, I believe, very good at what they do,’’ Henry said.
“John [Farrell] has provided the kind of leadership that we need through a really tough period. I just don’t think you can blame the manager for this. I watch these games. They’ve been painful games to watch. To me, it’s not the manager’s fault the way we’ve been playing. I just don’t see that.
“The general manager is going to be the general manager of this club for a very long time.’’
Oof.
“I have nothing but respect for him and the job that he does,’’ Henry said. “I think we’ve been on the same wavelength, so you have to blame ownership as much as you can blame the general manager. We have a certain philosophy. We’ve talked a lot about adjusting that philosophy. I’m not sure it’s just the players that need to make adjustments. In fact, I’m sure about that. There are adjustments we need to make as an organization. Ben will make those adjustments, and he’ll lead that process. I think he and his people are the right people to do that.’’
The Red Sox are 260-278 with Cherington as the team’s general manager. He’s been grilled for his dubious talent evaluation in terms of making trades and free agent signings, with Joe Kelly, Allen Craig, Ramirez, Sandoval, A.J. Pierzynski, Edward Mujica, Mark Melancon, Andrew Bailey, Stephen Drew and Justin Masterson leading the ledger of blunders. The Red Sox farm system, which Cherington has had his fingerprints on since 1999, is an enigma, with a healthy crop of players on the rise that the team has seemingly given up hope for with even the slightest hiccup of performance. See Rubby De La Rosa, Anthony Ranaudo, Allen Webster, Will Middlebrooks, etc.
That purge of youth seems to be just fine with Farrell though, not exactly known as a youth leader, dating back to his days as Toronto’s manager.
“It’s part of the inexperience,’’ former Blue Jays infielder Omar Vizquel said back in 2012. “If you make mistakes and nobody says anything about it — they just let it go — we’re going to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We have to stand up and say something right after that mistake happened. We have to talk about it at meetings. We have to address it in a big way in the clubhouse.
“Sometimes you have to punish players because they’re making the same mistakes over and over again.
“Look, I think a lot of mistakes were let go because it’s young guys. You expect mistakes from young guys. It needs to be talked about. It shouldn’t just be let go and say, ‘Ah, we have another day.’ You have to get on it. You have to say, ‘I didn’t like that play’ and let’s try and do something different. You have to talk it over and over again and how do you call it, be on top of that.
Former Jay Gregg Zaun, a Toronto TV analyst, added: “The atmosphere in this clubhouse and in this organization is consequence-free.’’
Does this all sound familiar?
Farrell’s pandering ways when it comes to his struggling players has become a tired act, something they realized after only two seasons in Toronto, something Bostonians are finally catching onto in his third season as manager here.
Not the one person who matters most though.
In adopting the measured and patient approach that helped build his empire, Henry instituted a remarkable run for these Red Sox, winners of three World Series that New England never thought they would see. But sometimes people — not projections and expectations, people — need a kick in the bleep.
Henry did nothing of the sort on Tuesday.
Awesome.
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