Boston Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy is well aware of the road ahead in 2023.
While 2022 offered some rather underwhelming results, including missing the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons, it’s no secret that the Red Sox need to respond. Boston finished dead-last in the American League East after being just a year removed from coming two wins shy of a World Series appearance in 2021. But with a demanding market in a city that has set a high bar, maintaining a competitive nature is where expectations lie.
And as members of the team gathered for Spring Training duties Monday, Kennedy addressed that very elephant in the room.
“The pressure’s definitely on the 2023 Red Sox,” Kennedy said, according to MassLive. “It’s always on in Boston. We talked a little bit about that in the team meeting: Expectations from our fan base are high and they should be high. We have no excuses. We have all the resources. We have the best fan base in baseball that allows us to put a team out there that should be built to compete.”
With several key members of Boston’s 2018 World Series team departing — Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi — this offseason, fans became uneasy about the organization’s direction ahead of the clean slate of a season, which starts March 30 against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Red Sox, well aware that improvements were necessary heading into 2023, made a series of additions to their lineup, rotation and bullpen. They explored the trade market, the free agency market and even internationally, which resulted in a new-look squad. Plus the cherry on top of retaining new face of the franchise Rafael Devers on an extension that’ll keep him in Boston for the next decade.
Kennedy also acknowledged the vibe that fans presented during Winter Weekend with him, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and team owner John Henry in attendance, and what it revealed.
“Winter Weekend was an example of the face of two things: We didn’t deliver in 2022 and we need to do a better job of communicating our message to our fans,” Kennedy said. “That’s on me, frankly. I’m the leader of this organization. And if we’re not effectively communicating our strategy or our plan, that’s on me and that’s on us and I need to get better at it.”
The Red Sox take the diamond for Spring Training competition starting Friday in their annual matchup with Northeastern before facing the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
