Betts, Bogaerts depict 2017 Red Sox as a team without leadership or joy

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Fully four months after it was pronounced dead, a couple of Red Sox players performed an autopsy on the team’s 2017 season.  It was, predictably, not a pretty sight.

The 2017 Red Sox may have won 93 games and their second straight American League East title, but from the outside, they didn’t seem to be a very likable bunch.

Now, as it turns out, they weren’t very happy with themselves, either.

Two of the team’s most important core players – right fielder Mookie Betts and shortstop Xander Bogaerts – confirmed as much Thursday morning in comments to the media.

“We had a lot of stuff going on, to be honest,’’ acknowledged Bogaerts. ‘We all live, learn and move forward. You can’t just sit back and keep your mind on stuff from the past. It’s not something we would really want to do.  It’s a long season. Whenever there are a lot of men in a room, there will always be some kind of head-butting, some kind of disagreements.  But in the end, we came out on top as division leaders and champs. We had to be doing something right. As grown men, we can (have) issues, all get past those problems and move forward.’’

When pressed for details, Bogaerts wasn’t in the mood to provide much specificity.

“We all know. I mean, we all know what was going on,’’ he said. “I don’t think I really want to get into details. The quicker we move on, the better for all of us. We should look forward to this year. It’s a new year with new expectations.’’

Together, Bogaerts and Betts painted a picture of, at times, a joyless atmosphere, with a clubhouse which tended to spiral downward when things weren’t going well with no roadmap from which to execute a turnaround.

“We could have had more fun,’’ admitted Betts. “We still enjoyed it, but through the rough times, I think those were the times where we could have had a little more fun instead of being down so much. If we have a rough patch this year, I feel like maybe we can learn from last year, enjoy the game and maybe we can get out of it faster.

“(When there’s) tension in the locker room, as far as when things are down, we have to find a way to smile and find a way to go out and re-focus on the game now instead of what had been going on. I think this year will be a little different. I’m going to approach things a little differently, if I’m not doing well or we’re losing, I’m going to do my best to find a way to get everybody happy, smiling and excited and be ready to play

‘’I think everybody kind of knows. There were times when we lost a couple of games in a row. We weren’t necessarily down, but we were kind of pressing to get back to the winning side instead of letting it happen and letting the game play out, especially late in the season when the gap started closing. I think we started pressing a little bit of instead of just playing and letting whatever happens, happens.’’

Part of the problem, both players agreed, was not having David Ortiz. In years past, Ortiz and his outsized personality had a knack for diffusing tension and getting the rest of the team focused. Without him for the first time, they were sometimes rudderless.

““He was one of those guys, when you see something going wrong, he was the guy to talk about it openly and try to fix it right there,’’ Bogaerts said of the retired slugger. “Those are special guys, special from a young age. Hopefully, we can have some guys step up and have a good year going forward.’’

“For sure, (Ortiz was missed),’’ agreed Betts. “ Nobody is him, so we have to find our niche in the clubhouse and figure out what works for us, and how to get back to that. I knew it would be tough. I had never played without him, so I didn’t know how it would happen, or what would happen. I think last year was definitely I learning curve. I think this year we, as a unit, kind of know how it works without him.

“We have to work on just focusing on us, on who’s in the clubhouse and figure out a way to lighten things up throughout the whole process. It’s going to take four, five, six guys to fill that spot. That shows how important he was.’’

Aside from the drama, these Red Sox have twice in a row faltered in the post-season and must find a way to translate their success in the regular season into the post-season.

Bogaerts suggested that the issue wasn’t so much talent as it was attitude.

“We’re just trying to get over that little bump and back to 2013 when we were in the playoffs and (World Series),’’ he said.  “If you look at it, that (2013) team roster-wise, name-wise, probably wasn’t one of the best teams the Red Sox ever had to win it. But the chemistry that we had was way beyond. We were a lot like brothers, on and off the field. A lot of veterans,…I was probably one of the youngest guys on that teams and they treated me so, so well that I was feeling so comfortable on the team.

‘’Any time you’ve got a team of young guys mixed with veterans, if the veterans just take those young guys and show the way and make them feel comfortable, we can make it happen. (The) 2013 (team) was special. All these others years, I think we had a better team, name-wise. But 2013, we were so close with each other, we had such a bond. David Ross, Mike Napoli…the way they treat you, the way they show you the way, it was unbelievable. Especially for me, coming up as a young kid from Triple-A , I didn’t know much. You try to learn from the stuff that they (teach) you and maybe move on to a guy like (Rafael) Devers. He’s definitely one of the main guys I ‘ve got to help this season because I know how much a season can go up and down, especially your first year in the big leagues.’’

“We weren’t as urgent as we should have been,’’ Betts said. “We saw all the other teams, they were coming out and ready to go. We were kind of lax. I think the last two years. I think we know that and we can make some adjustments there.’’