On Thursday, the Red Sox open their 2025 regular season on the road in Arlington, TX as they take on the Rangers.
With the start of a new Red Sox season on tap, Thursday also marked the return of regular visits by Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy to The Greg Hill Show on WEEI.
While questions about Rafael Devers moving to designated hitter full-time and Garrett Crochet’s contract extension negotiations headlined Thursday’s conversation, there was a brief deviation from the on-field product into the world that Kennedy helps oversee for the organization:
The bottom line.
WEEI’s Chris Curtis asked, “We spoke all last year, and prior to last year we discussed the roster construction and everything, and you had mentioned that it’s a break-even business, the baseball component of it. And Forbes has a list that came out with the valuations of the franchises - the Red Sox just under $5 billion as the third most-valuable franchise in Major League Baseball.
“And they note that the operating income of the Boston Red Sox was $120 million last year, which put the Red Sox as the best, most profitable in Major League Baseball. Is that number accurate? And what does that signify to you?”
“I can assure you that number is inaccurate, No. 1,” Kennedy said with no hesitation. “No. 2 - yeah, I can assure you of that. But it wouldn’t serve the Boston Red Sox or me well to get into a debate or a discussion publicly about our finances.
“Here’s what I’ll tell you - this ownership group has consistently demonstrated a willingness to invest in all areas of the franchise. From preserving and protecting Fenway Park, to investing in player payroll, to investing in our minor league affiliates, our spring training affiliates, the resources have not been a problem. Have we made mistakes in terms of where we’ve invested in the past? Yeah, of course we have. But really excited about where we are for 2025, and I think our fans care about who’s putting on the uniforms today and going out there versus the business side of the game. So I’ll leave it at that.”
Normally a denial and deflection like this on Opening Day wouldn’t be worth diving into, but the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has lost the benefit of the doubt in recent years.
As FSG has added to their professional sports portfolio across the board in recent years, there has been a greater emphasis by the Red Sox on staying under the MLB’s luxury tax rather than spending big money on marquee players. This change in mantra led to stars Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts landing on new teams, and eventual consecutive last-place finishes for Boston in 2022 and 2023.
Last season, the team showed on-field progression for the first time since losing in the ALCS in 2021, finishing in third place in the AL East with an 81-81 record and competing for a playoff spot deep into the summer. In the midst of this .500 season, the team signed manager Alex Cora to a somewhat surprising contract extension, leading fans and media alike to assume that some sort of assurances were given to the 49-year-old that the club intended to invest towards “winning now” in a way more akin to the early years of ownership for FSG - years that saw the franchise win four World Series titles in 15 seasons.
Had Cora become a free agent manager, he was going to have options and was going to be paid top-dollar by clubs with loaded rosters (yes, Dave Roberts just won the World Series, but…). Instead, Cora opted to sign an extension that will take him through the 2027 season, and it appeared the franchise did, indeed, make a pivot in their spending strategy:
- In early December, WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported that the Red Sox were willing to spend $700 million over 15 years on free agent left fielder Juan Soto (they, of course, were ultimately outbid by the Mets)
- A few days later, the team traded with the White Sox for Crochet - a bonafide 25-year-old ace that the Red Sox will have under team control through the end of the 2026 season
- Just before Christmas, the team signed former Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler to a one-year deal worth $21.05 million, adding yet another big name arm to a starting rotation that ran out of gas in 2024
- In February, the team signed former Astros third baseman Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million deal, giving him one of the highest AAV-contracts in all of baseball
You can point to each of these storylines and say, “Look, the big-spendin’ Red Sox are back! Cue the Duck Boats!”
But when look a little closer at each situation, you’ll see that this spending-pivot was more of a halfway-pivot:
- The Soto pursuit was, obviously, just a pursuit, with many in the media locally wondering if the the team ultimately knew they would never be able to get to the true number it would take to sign the former Yankee outfielder, and that the offer was more for optics than anything else
- Crochet is great, but the team was only willing to make the trade while the player was on a team-friendly deal. With no extension completed heading into his first season in Boston, there’s already a worry among fans and media of Crochet’s long-term future with the franchise before he’s even thrown one regular season pitch with the ballclub
- Bringing in someone like Buehler is great, but adding a player on a one-year deal coming off a subpar return-from-Tommy-John 2024 season (5.38 ERA in 16 starts) could be seen as buying low on a player that if he performs well in 2025 could sign for big money elsewhere this upcoming winter
- Bregman’s three-year deal has the option for him to opt-out after both this season and next, effectively making the contract a series of one-year deals with the team. If Bregman lives up to the hype and is able to turn his short sample size success at Fenway into a monster year in 2025, he could be in-store for a huge payday on the open market as a free agent this winter, if he so chooses
None of the above is meant to pour water on the excitement Red Sox fans should be feeling about this team heading into game No. 1 out of 162 in 2025. The team was on the cusp of the postseason last year, and all they did was add talent to the roster this offseason. In addition to the trades and free agent signings, they have exciting young talent coming through the system - with at least one top prospect in Kristian Campbell joining the big league club from the jump this season.
To cap it all off, the AL East should see some regression across the board with injuries and key departing free agents impacting division rivals this winter. Easier competition in the division should lead to more wins for Boston against the Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays and Rays. Should.
But with that excitement, fans should still remain guarded. FSG might have opened the wallet more this winter than they have at any point in the last five years, but that’s a low bar to exceed given their spending habits post-2018.
Kennedy may deny Forbes’ claims of “most-profitable MLB franchise,” but the loaf-sized bread crumbs of the last half-decade, including what was accomplished this offseason, say otherwise.