what made me bring that age old argument up again about the optimal objective is that I think the Sox are transitioning from the "all-in, one small window of contention and hope for playoffs to go well one time" mentality to the other one.
if the Red Sox had fallen to the 2013 Tigers as they probably should have, or Kimbrel gave up the whole enchilada in ALDS game 4 last year then Sale was bad in game 5, this would be a much more irate fanbase right now. but such is the fickleness of October baseball.
would you rather have the following odds of winning the WS, based on regular season results / perceived team strength, in a 10 year span (imagine 2016-25 under DD): 12%, 16%, 24%, 12%, 4%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 2%, 5%? that was the DD way.
or what I think the Red Sox are going to try to do now for the 2020s: 5-10% minimum every year, but 15% max?