Get through the most recent Red Sox losing streak with these seven questions.
We’ll hopefully be able to stop talking about the Rafael Devers trade incessantly at some point. I would adore doing so! Not yet, though.
During last week’s post-trade videoconference, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made the intriguing assertion that the Devers did not fit the culture the Red Sox are attempting to create.
Breslow stated, “If we didn’t believe this trade was best for the organization, the vision, the beliefs, and the culture that we’re trying to create, we wouldn’t have made it.” In my opinion, culture is always significant, but it becomes even more significant when young players are entering the major leagues. We carefully consider the atmosphere we create to support these players and make sure the messaging is appropriate so that, in three, four, or five years, when another generation of young, exciting talent enters our Major League team, they have set the standard and it will be simple to pass on.
We’re not talking about toddlers, but Devers’ actions might serve as a bad example. Even though Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, and Roman Anthony are too young to rent a car, they are mature men. None of them have behaved in a manner that would imply they are not at all professional. Coworkers frequently characterize Anthony, the youngest of the three who recently turned 21, as mature above his years.
The hypocritical tone that permeates this standard-setting statement from Sox leadership is even more annoying.
The Sox appear to have dropped their long-standing unofficial rule against signing players who have been suspended by Major League Baseball for breaking the league’s policies regarding sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse under Breslow.
There formerly was a place where the Red Sox could hang their baseball cap. Dave Dombrowski made it clear that the Red Sox would not approach reliever Roberto Osuna in 2018, when the bullpen needed reinforcements as Boston was fighting for a deep playoff run. The Blue Jays were offering Osuna to desperate teams during his 75-game suspension for domestic assault.
Nearly 20 years before MLB and the players’ association implemented the joint policy in 2015, the Red Sox were the first team to ever punish a player for such reasons. In the years that followed, only the Mariners ever administered such a penalty.
It was particularly noteworthy that the Red Sox once adopted such a strong position on these alleged off-field matters, given that on-field misconduct has long been regarded as far more serious.
The postseason rule is the best illustration. Players who are suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs are not allowed to play in the postseason that year. The Red Sox’s new closer, Aroldis Chapman, won a ring with the Cubs just months after serving his suspension, demonstrating that players punished for breaking the league’s rules are allowed to return and compete on baseball’s biggest stage.
To put it another way, MLB believes that doping should be punished more severely than hurting people.
Devers is the one who doesn’t fit in with the new Red Sox culture.
When Mookie Betts was still owned by the Red Sox, he was adamant about entering free agency. He inked a 12-year agreement less than six months after being traded to the Dodgers.
Although he was open to moving to second base in San Diego, Xander Bogaerts had no desire to do so in Boston.
Devers now. He was working out at first base in San Francisco less than two days after the Red Sox traded him off, allegedly because he refused to learn first base in the middle of the season.
Players often try to make a good impression when they join a new team, but this trend also highlights the Red Sox’s history of treating their finest homegrown players disrespectfully and harshly.
The move came hours after they had swept the Yankees at Fenway to increase their winning run to five games, the most of the season. Their all-out effort and enthusiasm in that Mariners series opener seemed to send the message, “Don’t worry, we can do this without that guy!” They also won their first game without him.
Between the Seattle finale and the San Francisco opening, they won two straight after being shut out the night after.
Then they suffered five straight losses. They have the lowest OPS and strikeout percentage since the transaction. They scored 4.8 runs per game on average while he was there. They are scoring 3.1 runs per game on average without him.
The Red Sox are 40-42 going into this homestand.
Despite manager Alex Cora’s constant insistence that they simply need to improve, the cruel reality is that they haven’t improved in years.
The Red Sox aren’t the club they should be for a number of reasons, including years of low payroll, a farm system that hasn’t consistently produced top talent, and the recent departure of their best hitter.
However, you must eventually inquire about the coaching staff. There are a number of problems with the 25 Sox that have existed for a number of years. For instance, the incessant mistakes and very high strikeout rates.
I would have said buy last week. I am unsure this week.
This is this team’s duality. They can play as a cohesive unit at times, but then they quickly revert to their worst selves. At a startlingly rapid rate, the metaphorical pendulum has swung from good to bad and back again.
Inconsistency is the 2025 Red Sox’s most enduring characteristic. Additionally, clubs are not prepared for a deep playoff run if they consistently take one step forward and at least one step back. They’re probably not going to get in at all.
During a Diamondbacks game against the White Sox earlier this week, an alleged fan started yelling derogatory remarks about Marte’s mother, who died in a car accident in 2017, bringing the Diamondbacks infielder to tears.
The offender has received an indefinite ban from all major league facilities, but the episode has generated a great deal of discussion on how the public views players, especially after the Supreme Court in 2018 overturned a federal law from 1992 that forbade single-game wagering. 38 states and the District of Columbia allowed sports betting as of 2024.
People were already becoming more ruthless due to the popularity of social media and the opportunity to hide oneself online. The game is on a whole new level now that fans have a real stake in it.
Jordan, the wife of Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock, expressed her support for Marte on her Instagram Stories on Wednesday.
This is not acceptable. Athletes are also human. Above a Sports Illustrated image of Marte being consoled by his teammates, she wrote, “Not pieces you bet on and earn the right to taunt and degrade.” Pro athletes are among the toughest men I know. Consider that to be your son, spouse, or friend.
The direct messages she and her family received this week were then displayed on a slide she added:
I hope a 100 mph line drive gets you in the mouth.
You are a scoundrel and a rat.
(homophobic insult) I hope I could torture you until you die.
You are worthless, so hang yourself (expletive).
Notably, a message about betting: I pray your son dies because my under has become over.
