MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — Impressed by the Boston Red Sox’s offseason? Well, it’s how they drew it up.
Setting expectations for the winter can be difficult, as free-agent targets and trade candidates can slip through the cracks, forcing Major League Baseball teams to explore Plans B, C, D, etc. The Red Sox essentially executed their Plan A, though, and principal owner John Henry is optimistic about the direction Boston is headed despite back-to-back last-place finishes.
“Generally, (the offseason) doesn’t unfold the way you expect it to. And ‘expect’ is the wrong word,” Henry said Friday before the Red Sox Town Hall event at Foxwoods Resort Casino. “I think it unfolded the way we hoped it would unfold. I thought (president of baseball operations) Dave (Dombrowski) did a great job, baseball ops did a great job. From the very beginning, the strategies for how they went about it were strong and effective.”
The Red Sox have added several key pieces, including ace David Price, lights-out closer Craig Kimbrel, up-and-coming reliever Carson Smith and veteran outfielder Chris Young. Boston doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses with Opening Day less than three months away, especially when one considers the young nucleus already in place and the strides made by the Red Sox over the final two months of the 2015 season.
But the Red Sox know as well as any franchise in baseball that games aren’t won on paper. The Sox have finished in last place two seasons in a row despite high expectations going into both campaigns, and so even Henry realizes one must use caution when projecting what lies ahead.
“I feel very good about the future. You have to feel good about this season,” Henry said. “But in all honesty, I felt good about last season, so if there’s one thing we’ve learned the last few years, especially in the American League, probably in both leagues, it’s getting more and more difficult to predict anything.”
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner concurs.
“It’s a very competitive division, a very competitive league and you have to get that right mix of young talent coming up and veteran leadership,” Werner said Friday. “As John has said before, we were very disappointed about our season last year, but we feel that we’ve made some very strong improvements, especially on our pitching staff, so we’re optimistic. But we were optimistic last year.”
The Red Sox have won the offseason. Again. The coming months will determine whether that means anything this time around.
Tune in to Red Sox Town Hall on NESN on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 7 p.m.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@JMastrodonato
