In case they needed a reminder of how much ground they have to make up with their fan base this season, the Red Sox were served a big slice of humble pie in Springfield Friday night -- with a scoop of rage on top.
As the team's Winter Weekend in Springfield kicked off, a panel of Red Sox executives and staff took the stage at the Mass Mutual Center to take questions from NESN hosts.
Principal owner John Henry, in a rare public appearance, was greeted harshly. He had to pause for the boos to cease when he attempted to explain the high cost of tickets at Fenway. But easily the most negative response was saved for chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who was roasted with boos and the occasional cat-call ("Dave Dombrowski!'' heckled one fan in attendance, referencing Bloom's predecessor).
Bloom attempted to lay out his vision for the organization and recap his guiding strategy since arriving, but he had to do so over a restless, annoyed crowd. At times, Bloom paused for the cascade of boos to subside; at other times, he gamely plowed forward.
It's important to note here that the fans who attend Winter Weekend do not exactly fit the "bloodthirsty shut-in'' stereotypes as conjured up by Rick Pitino. These, typically at least, are not the rabid, vocal fans who might otherwise populate the city's two sports talk show stations, egged on by equally agitated hosts. No, these are loyal, ticket-buying types who devote a weekend to drive to the western part of the state, stand in line for autographs and are usually content to get a glimpse of their favorite players.
Winter Weekend is traditionally a feel-good event. Kids get to connect with their heroes, ask questions of them and shake hands. Traditionally, at least, this is a celebration of the game, with everyone counting down the days until Truck Day and the start of spring training. Even after past disappointing seasons, the group at Winter Weekend usually takes a decidedly upbeat approach.
Not this time.
That they were so unhappy, so emotional, so angry, spoke volumes about the current climate and the way the organization is perceived in the region. And that's not a good sign for the Red Sox.
Team president and CEO Sam Kennedy told reporters that he wasn't necessarily surprised by the reaction, labeled the fan sentiment as "restless,'' and noted that the outburst was merely an indication of how invested the fans are.
But this was more than that. This was evidence of how deep-seated the resentment runs, and how impatient fans have become. They're not interested in long-term vision or plans for the future. They don't want rationalizations, or half-baked apologies -- they want to know how it is that, after winning a World Series in 2018, the team has failed to qualify for the postseason three times in the last four seasons, including two last-place finishes.
Part of this stems from the transformed sports culture in New England over the past 20 years. A generation ago, a Red Sox team which failed to achieve would have been treated as the same old, same old. But six Super Bowl wins, four World Series titles and a championship each for the Celtics and Bruins have changed the calculus. It's now win it all or bust, and there's very little in between.
Expect that interest in the Red Sox when spring training begins to be at a low for this century. When the regular season begins, the Sox will be eclipsed by the playoff fortunes of the Bruins and Celtics, each of whom currently possesses the best records in their respective leagues. Deep playoff runs are forecast for both.
That could actually provide the Red Sox with some cover. If the Red Sox struggle out of the gate, fans will be more occupied with the NHL and NBA playoffs, and the Sox will have some time to find their footing. But when the B's and C's are done playing, the focus will shift quickly to the Red Sox. If the Sox are declared to be non-competitive by early June, it could be a very long summer at Fenway.
Already, according to sources, both NESN and WEEI are finding it difficult to attract sponsors and advertisers for the 2023 Red Sox. Ticket sales, though improved with the re-signing of Rafael Devers and the recent addition of some players, still lag behind past offseasons. Both the business community and the ticket-buying public are, predictably, taking a wait-and-see approach.
Kennedy's assessment of the hostile reaction on display Friday night -- that fans are only angry because they care -- is true to a degree. The fact that the organization can still elicit a response from the fan base, however negative, is, its own way, a positive.
The problem comes when the fans stop paying attention altogether, when they're too angry to care one way or another. One more season in the AL East cellar could make that a more permanent problem.
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This March, the World Baseball Classic returns for its fifth iteration.
The idea behind the tournament -- sort of a World Cup of baseball -- is to better market the game internationally and expand the game's appeal. This spring, 20 countries will compete and no doubt, there will be some thrilling games and incredible individual achievements.
The WBC will be good for the sport. But it also figures to create havoc for a number of teams, not the least of which as the Red Sox.
As for now, seven players are tentatively committed to the tournament: Kiké Hernández (Puerto Rico), Rafael Devers (Dominican Republic), Masataka Yoshida (Japan), Alex Verdugo (Mexico), Nick Pivetta (Canada), Ceddanne Rafaela (Netherlands) and Kenley Jansen (Netherlands).
As many as four others are under consideration, including Triston Casas (Puerto Rico), Christian Arroyo (Puerto Rico), Jarren Duran (Mexico) and Rob Refsnyder (Korea). Trevor Story (USA) had committed to playing last year, but that was before he was sidelined with an elbow injury that required surgery.
All together, the Red Sox could have 11 players taking part in the tournament, with nine of them -- all but Duran and Rafaela -- essentially ticketed for the team's Opening Day roster. That's more than a third of the projected 26-man major league roster.
For some, the absence from camp won't be costly. Devers doesn't need four-hour round-trip bus ride to Tampa to show Red Sox management what he can do. He's well established, as are some others on the list.
But Yoshida will be making the already difficult transition from Japan to MLB, and could use the time to get familiar with his new team, new teammates, and new culture. Casas will be going into camp as the presumptive starter at first base and has just a month in the big leagues to his credit. Arroyo could be battling to become the starting second baseman and Duran is hoping to inject himself into the mix and erase his disastrous 2022 season.
For several of the players, then, it would seem they could better spend their time in camp, getting acclimated to either a new environment (Yoshida, Jansen) or new or different position (Hernandez).
"It is,'' acknowledged Alex Cora, "a tricky situation.''
All of which points out the problem with the WBC. On its face, it's a good marketing idea. The more baseball can appeal to fans throughout the world, the better of it will be. Anything that can spread the MLB brand world-wide should be fully explored.
But as ever, there are issues with the timing. Holding the tournament weeks before the start of the MLB season is fraught with problems, not the least of which is the possibility for serious injuries occurring and torpedoing the chances for some clubs to compete just ahead of Opening Day.
Because the MLB season is so long -- stretching from the start of spring training in February until the completion of the World Series in early November -- there's no logical time to stage the event. After the World Series? By then, players from non-playoff teams have been idle for five weeks. And for everyone else, there's the fatigue factor. After six weeks of spring training, six months of the regular season and another month of postseason play, how many players are up for a multi-week commitment?
MLB could do what the NHL has done with its occasional Olympic involvement and shut down the league for a few weeks. But with 162 games to play, TV commitments and such, baseball is not about to cede the attention in mid-summer when it has the sports stage to itself.
So, every three or four years --this year's tourney was supposed to be played in 2021, but COVID took care of that -- the regular season gets disrupted eve before it starts.
It's far from optimum, and the Red Sox are about to find out how costly it can potentially be.
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It's Prospect Ranking season, and the Red Sox are not surprisingly, faring better than they have in some times, with the upgrades made to their pllayer development system.
Baseball America placed five Red Sox players in their Top 100 Prospects list: SS Marcelo Mayer (No. 10), 1B Triston Casas (No. 29), INF/OF Ceddanne Rafaela (No. 71), OF Masataka Yoshida (No. 87) and OF Miguel Bleis (No. 88).
Presumably, RHP Brayan Bello would have been part of this list, too, but with 13 games and 57.1 innings pitched last year, Bello lost his rookie eligibility, and thus, his prospect status.
Also, the inclusion of Yoshida on the list is frankly ridiculous. Yoshida is 29 and has played professionally in Japan for seven seasons. Why should the Red Sox get any credit in his development when they merely outbid other interested organizations last month?
Still, the addition of Rafaela and Bleis, two highly athletic players, are positive additions. Rafaela is versatile enough to be a well above-average defender at two positions (shortstop and center) while Bleis is a potential five-tool player who, at 18, still has a long road ahead before even getting closer to the big leagues.
Even with the questionable inclusion of Yoshida, the five Red Sox players put them among the leaders for most players from a single organization. The Baltimore Orioles lead the way with eight, including an amazing three in the top 15. Next up are the Cleveland Guardians (seven), followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays, all of who placed six players on the list.
As much progress as the Red Sox have made, they're still behind two other teams in their own division: the Rays and Orioles.
It's worth noting, too, that as much research that goes into compiling these lists, they're inexact. For every new addition to the list for a team -- like Bleis and Rafaela this year for the Sox -- there are graduates who go on to contribute to the parent club. And some of those graduates, like Duran, serve as reminders that being labeled a top prospect is no guarantee of future success.
Next week, MLB.com will unveil its own list, and other sites/publications (The Athletic, ESPN) are sure to follow.
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The Red Sox will get right to work when it comes to adjusting to some rule changes for 2023.
In spring training, the Sox will install pitch clocks in every bullpen at jetBlue Park, allowing pitchers to get accustomed to having to work at a faster pace.
"There's not a lot we can do with the pitch clock until game situations,'' said pitching coach Dave Bush. "I'm sure the games are going to be a mess (at the start). I'm sure there's going to be all kinds of frustration for hitters, pitchers, coaches, umpires, everybody. So we're going to try to get prepared for it before spring training games start. so we'll have time in the bullpens, for our live BPs, where we have a pitch clock out there that guys can start to get used to looking at it.
"We had a lot of guys come up from Triple A last year that talked about it, and most of them said that after a couple of weeks, it really wasn't that big a deal. I would imagine we'll have some of the same learning curve where you're frustrated at first, or it's unusual and then we figure out the rhythm of giving signs and getting back on the rubber. I don't expect that it's going to be a real big deal once we get going.''