If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Unfortunately, that may be the conundrum facing this year’s Red Sox. In a survey of about 30 CRLS students, only 29% said they would watch at least one Red Sox game this season (TV or in-person), a far cry from the 83% of respondents who said they have watched or will watch a Celtics game this season. For the small percentage of people who keep the TV set on for the Sox’s 2024 opening day in Seattle at 10:10 PM following the Celtics’ 7:30 PM game against the Hawks, they will be witnessing the humble beginning of what is sure to be another last-place finish in the division for the hometown team.
This season was supposed to be different; Red Sox chairman Tom Werner claimed in early November that the Sox were going “full throttle” this offseason with new Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and a wad of cash in the back pocket of principal owner John Henry. Four months later, the Red Sox haven’t made any serious investments, and look like a shell of the organization that, in years past, would pay top dollar for elite free agent talents. Apart from Rafael Devers, the Sox have no big-name players, and even he is nowhere near the pinnacle of stardom in the MLB. The survey also illustrated this superstar deprivation, with a mere 28% of respondents being able to name a single player on the team. Numerous respondents uttered the names of former Red Sox World Champions “Mookie Betts,” “Chris Sale,” “J.D. Martinez,” or “David Ortiz,” when attempting to name a player, a sure sign that the team has lost the attention of Greater Boston in recent years. In comparison, 76% of respondents were able to name a player on the Celtics, who have significantly invested in their team and feature Jayson Tatum, one of the faces of the NBA.
Besides completely losing touch with the fanbase, the Red Sox did make a couple of moves this off- season. Their biggest signing was a two-year, $38.5 million pact with Lucas Giolito, a former All-Star who, last year, was the first pitcher since 1899 to allow eight or more runs in one game for three separate teams in the same season. Although the Sox were optimistic that Giolito would be able to regain his 2021 form, he suffered an elbow injury in spring training that will likely prevent him from playing this season. In addition, the Sox shipped off fragile, but occasionally-superb, starter Chris Sale to the Braves in exchange for Vaughn Grissom, further weakening the Sox’ house-of-cards starting rotation. This year is likely to be a slog for the buzz-less Boston Red Sox, whose lack of stars and need for pitching will send the team to the same place it has the last two seasons: the cellar. But for now, the few of us who do care will just have to settle for cheap tickets on SeatGeek in hopes that prospects Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel, and Roman Anthony can bring us a brighter future.
This article also appears in our March 2024 print edition.
