Red Sox CEO Responds To Growing Free Agency Backlash

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On Saturday, Red Sox president and chief executive officer Sam Kennedy addressed the noise, as transcribed by MassLive.com's Christopher Smith.

Boston has gotten better

“I think it’s just important to look at the facts,” Kennedy said. “If you go back a year ago, this date last year, I believe our organization has taken on close to $500 million in contractual commitments to guys like Garrett Crochet, guys like Kristian Campbell, guys like Roman Anthony. So that’s just a fact. We’ve added $40 million in payroll through trades. That’s just a fact. We cannot and do not try to control social media narrative. We understand that talk radio is ablaze with opinions and ideas. That’s what makes this the best place in the world to be, to live and to operate in baseball...

“There’s a reason why we’ve been here for 25 years doing this,” Kennedy continued. “We love it. And so it comes with the territory. But I just think we have to focus in on the facts. And look, our fans in the end want exactly what we want and we have an obligation to give it to them. That’s getting to October and winning in October. No one is popping champagne over getting to a Wild Card Series. That’s not the Red Sox goal or standard. The standard is doing everything we can to win another World Series championship. We’ve tasted it many, many times and we want more and more for our fans. That’s what they deserve.”

Fair point from Kennedy. There's arguably still work to do and a deal with someone, like Alex Bregman, would quiet a faction of the fanbase. While the club has technically not given out a big league deal in free agency, it has added significant pieces.