To say that Red Sox ownership has taken a low profile the last few seasons would be a massive understatement.
Until Wednesday, the last time a member of ownership was represented at a media availability was February of 2020, on the day following the team's trade of Mookie Betts.
That streak ended as the Red Sox officially announced their contract extension with Rafael Devers at a Fenway Park press conference. Principal owner John Henry was not present, detained, according to the club, by another commitment. But chairman Tom Werner, who owns the second-largest stake in the club, was on hand, and offered his full support of embattled chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
"We have great confidence in Chaim and his department,'' said Werner. "People were rightfully upset and disappointed (with the team's play in 2022); we were rightfully upset and disappointed. We did not like what happened last year. The wheels came off. On the other hand, we were two games away from going to the World Series the year before and we believe that we were ahead of our plan.
"I believe Chaim has a clear plan to make us not only competitive but to win another World Series. I have a lot of confidence in our minor league system -- we'll be seeing some of the results of that this year and next year. We know we're in a very competitive business. We're in the toughest, competitive division. But we'll be back this year. I think that the margin between winning and losing in is pretty thin in our division. But I've got a lot of confidence in our roster and I also know Chaim intends to improve it. The results will be what they are, but it's not what you see on paper in January; it's where you end up in October.''
Werner also said Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Red Sox (along with a number of other sports franchises) has "absolutely no plans (to sell the Red Sox). People should know that not only are our brains trying to fix our last-place finish but our heart is with our fans. I'm 72, John's 72. We have a desire to win many more World Series here. As long as we're healthy, we're going to be hopefully improving the stewardship of the Red Sox.
"As for FSG, yes, it's true that we were looking for additional investors (with Liverpool); nothing has materialized, but that doesn't change our focus. We're precluded from making an investment in the NFL because of our partnership and institutional investors. But our heart and soul is with the Red Sox.''
Henry was roundly booed at Fenway earlier this month at the NHL's Winter Classic between the Bruins and FSG's Pittsburgh Penguins, but Werner said that sort of fan reception goes with the territory and didn't influence the extension given to Devers later that week.
"If the narrative is that that might have had an impact on our decision, of course that's kind of implausible,'' said Werner. "We've been trying to sign Raffy for a long time. Owners get booed and that's part of the deal. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. The fact is, we're here today because Raffy wanted to make a long-term agreement and relationship with the Red Sox. We're happy that we didn't have to sort of hold our breath throughout the season and have further negotiations next year. So, today's a good day.''
Werner said Henry was instrumental in helping to turn the tide of the negotiations. In mid-December, joined by Bloom, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy assistant GM Eddie Romero and manager Alex Cora, Henry flew to Santa Domingo to meet with Devers "and demonstrate our desire (to extend him). We'd been having meetings with Raffy before that and then there were a lot of conversations after that.''
Werner also reiterated his support for Bloom, whom he labeled "one of the finer heads of baseball operations in baseball. He had a tough year last year; we all had a tough year. We had an excellent year the year before. I endorse and am excited about his long-term plan.''
He cited the need for improved health of the roster and better contributions from Chris Sale, who has been limited to just 48.1 innings over the last three seasons.
"Chris Sale has to perform at the level we expect him to,'' said Werner, "and then let's see how we do on the field.''
Werner also clapped back at the suggestion that the Red Sox aren't acting like a big market team.
"Each year, we're one of the top payrolls in baseball,'' said Werner. "I don't know whether we four, five or six. But we're not a small-market team and our fans expect us to be competitive and we try to be competitive...I would just say to our fans, we have the resources to be competitive and we have the flexibility to be competitive and the desire to be competitive.''
That said, Werner acknowledged it's been frustrating that the team hasn't been able to break out of the "boom-bust'' cycle of alternating deep playoff runs and championships with last-place finishes. The Sox have been in the AL East basement twice in the last three years and five times in the last 11.
"It's not acceptable,'' Werner said. "I don't want to rely too much on excuses, but the wheels came off in part last year because of injuries and they play, unfortunately, a bigger part of the game than I'd like to think. We cannot go through these cycles every other year. I think part of the reason that Chaim is doing a good job and the results will be what they are is that we've strengthened our minor league system and we've got some very, very good players coming up who hopefully will keep us at a competitive level, year-in, year-out.''