Baseball fans across the league have been piling onto the Boston Red Sox this offseason. The lack of innovation from the front office and ownership’s unwillingness to spend has resulted in a less-than-favorable offseason, far different from the one Red Sox Nation was promised.
Even famous baseball fans have taken jabs at the Red Sox, including former consultants of the organization.
Bill James is a baseball historian, author, sabermetrics pioneer and former advisor of many years to the Sox front office. James was frequently quiet about his part in the goings-on in Boston’s front office, but many suspect he played a part in the Sox’s acquisition of David Ortiz.
James is also the keeper of some controversial baseball opinions. Despite his belief that the players on any given team don’t drive the game of baseball, even James thinks Boston’s roster leaves something to be desired.
Tell them how you really feel, James.
Regardless of the nature of his comment, James made a point about the state of Boston’s roster — there’s so little star power present, it would be hard to be optimistic about the club even if they were projected not to hold last place in the AL East.
The team with which James was formerly associated has changed significantly since his tenure with the club. James worked alongside the Red Sox front office from 2003 to 2019. During those years, the Red Sox won four World Series titles and were routinely signing high-quality talent to keep themselves in competition.
Now, Boston’s roster could be described as “Raffy Devers, Triston Casas and the rest.” It’s a far cry from the big-market Red Sox club that James was used to working with, and maybe he left his role with the team because he saw the Red Sox’s current fate coming, even back in 2019. John Henry and the rest of ownership’s spending philosophy seemed to change the following year with the Mookie Betts trade. Maybe James knew something Red Sox Nation didn’t at the time.
Sox fans in James’ comments have been making more jokes about his sarcastic quip. If Boston fans are anything, they’re cynical, and if ownership is going to punt on the coming season, so are they. A lot of die-hard Sox fans probably feel like jokes are all they have left.
Henry hired James to work alongside him soon after he purchased the Red Sox organization, which is a clear indication that he respects James’ opinions. Maybe James is the fan who can get through to Henry and ownership — maybe something good could come out of a former advisor roasting the club on social media.
