Anyone can read the article linked above.
The quote concludes a specific section of the article. That section begins with a brief history of Henry's entrance into sports ownership and recaps the early Sox years, including authorizing unpopular moves like signing Mueller and trading Nomar. (Which echoes the earlier themes in the article of removing emotion from trading, and looking for trends/hidden value.) It then points out Henry wasn't content with 2004 and still wanted to win. It then discusses Liverpool and a similar competitive mind-set. That section concludes with:
As FSG grew and diversified, the perception that it is made up of business people first and sports fans second has gained traction. Henry disputes this. Having spent "a lot of time" with fellow sports owners over the past couple of decades, he says "most of them feel responsible to their communities to bring championships." And during Henry's tenure, the Red Sox have won four World Series, the most of any baseball team this century. Liverpool also ended its dry spell of 30 years without a league title. Yet fans always want more, and Henry knows the numbers are stacked against him. "Because fans expect championships almost annually," he wrote to me, "they easily become frustrated and are not going to buy into what the odds actually are: one in 20 or one in 30."
JH is being disingenuous here, less than 1% of fans expect championships almost annually. Everyone knows how hard it is and how much luck you need to win a championship in any league is. So that's starting out on a complete bullshit note. If that was true, no one would have become a Red Sox fan from 1919-2003. Fans become frustrated when it doesn't appear that their team is giving an honest effort in
trying to win. It's the same thing with movies and other entertainment, when people know that you're mailing it in, or not giving it their all, that's when fans squawk. Who wants to spend any amount of money on professionals who don't give a shit?
Unfortunately, since there is either no comments from up top, or mixed messages (and I'm sorry but "Full throttle" is going to be etched on Warner's grave); fans are going to think what they're going to think. By being vague you give both sides the impression that they're right in interpreting the message.
And even if what he says is true, that fans expect a championship every year, what's wrong with that? Don't you want an engaged fanbase that is constantly trying to push your GM, POBO, other owners into getting the best? Because right now the fans have little to no interest in the team. Fenway Park has become Baltimore/Atlanta/Philadelphia/New York north that's over run with fans. And hey, maybe Henry doesn't care about that; New York money is as green as Massachusetts green, but to be upset that fans are passionate (and we can quibble on this, but I'd say that fans that are angry with how the Sox have been run since 2019 are passionate) is a dumb take. To further antagonize them with statements that no one ever said/believed is ridiculously dumb. And Henry writes these comments so he can't even say that he was misquoted.
BTW, his quote about "most of [his]" fellow sports owners feeling responsibile to their communities to bring a championship is a fucking laugh. Jesus Christ, that is total and complete bullshit. Most of them DGAF, we all understand this.
It seems pretty clear that the Henry quote is used to dispute the meme that FSG is a business venture only that does not care about winning championships. That the goal is actually to win championships. But success changes expectations, and fans become frustrated.
That's not limited to Red Sox fans. Nor is it an insult.
He does refer to the Red Sox as an "asset" in that piece. That doesn't really jive with what he's talking about.
The point is that frustration shouldn't control strategy. See later in the article:
He also took issue with the obsession over his and Werner's remarks about "expensive" ballplayers and going "full throttle". The latter had "overshadowed every other word, paragraph and interview of the winter because it reaches so deeply into the false belief that many fans and media have that you should mortgage the future each year for the present." Creating a sustainable future for the Red Sox was, he argued, more important than any given year's payroll. "You have to base acquisitions and dispositions on the future, not the past," he said. "That is unpopular generally."
Of course it shouldn't. No one is disputing that, I don't think at least. No one was saying trade Mayer for a third starter. No one suggested putting Kyle Teel in a deal for a backup third baseman. Again, he's building really dumb strawmen here out of things that no one believes. There was some talk of trading some prospects for ML pitching talent. And that's becuase the Sox are flush with decent prospects--or so we're lead to believe. For example, trading a Nick Yorke for a MLB ready player might be a good idea. Especially when Grissom, Devers and Mayer blocking his path to the Majors (at least for now, who knows if any of those guys get run over by a bus).
Last week someone listed the Rule V eligible players that the Sox have. It was a pretty decent list and I would rather Breslow trade some of those guys now for assets rather than potentially lose them for nothiing in December.
Or the conclusion of the article:
He has faced calls to sell each of his clubs. Where he struggles is when to push back. "I don't think people in my position can win publicly - your words are often used against you - so the less I say I generally think the better," he told me. This is not always a recipe for keeping fans happy, which is also part of Henry's job. Happiness, though, isn't something that can be researched, funded and reaped. Henry expects to get flak and supporters of his clubs are likely to keep dishing it. Neither side may ever be satisfied. But he has structured his entire professional life by approaching the market as it is, not how people think it should be. If everything in Henry-land follows a coherent logic, the formula belongs only to him.
As my 13-year-old would say "Womp womp". Poor John Henry's words are used against him! He's aghast that this would happen! [Monty Burns]Why if this was 150 years ago, no one would think of doing that to such a titan of industry![/Monty Burns]
All kidding aside, happiness is something that can be research, funded and reaped: have your organization do their best to put a competitive team on the field year after year after year. We understand, in ballpark (PUN!) terms, how much the Sox bring in (they aren't losing money) and how much FSG is worth (a shit ton). We also know how much it costs to attend a game. No one wants to see the Worcester Red Sox in Fenway Park for 81 games. We understand that injuries happen, so I'm not exactly blaming them for this year, but after three last place finishes in four years it's really rich (ANOTHER PUN!) for Henry to expect fans to be happy about the way things are going and to trust him that he has the perfect way of approaching the market when it comes to building a competitive ball club.
***
Personally I think what underlies all that is just the completely obvious stuff.
-Emotion shouldn't control strategy
-You can't be in GFIN mode every single year.
-You can't hold onto every fan-favorite no matter what.
-In a post-PED baseball world, you can't build a competitive 40 man from FA alone. You need a pipeline of young players/cost-controlled talent.
-The greater playing field among the teams evolves and changes as teams become sophisticated.
(And as to the last, we still have people posting on this board like Moneyball
is a new concept, and we're just going to fleece a bunch of hick GMs who are completely credulous.)
- Right. But no one wanted to see Breslow act like a poet on payday and burn the place down and corner the market on infielders.
- Maybe. The last time they were in a GFIN mode was 2018 and that was five years and a lot of shitty baseball ago. The reason why people glommed onto "Full Throttle" was because fans thought that the FO was going back to being a player in the marker (both free agent and trade) again and when we got Lucas Giolito and Vaughn Grisson back, it was a little underwhelming. Henry needs to understand that when his fellow owner says something, it's going to be taken as gospel.
- Actually, FSG has the money to absolutely do so. But you're right, not everyone is going stay here. Again, I think that everyone knows that. But there are special circumstances Stteb Eikoom is one of them -- but we're not getting into that. I think Henry is still really salty about fucking that up. Again, I don't think that he understands the perspective of the fan in that players aren't just assets to be dealt. People grow attached to them, especially baseball players, especially talented players and if you can a fistful of magic beans for them, it's going to wind up in your obituary.
- Of course. This is not a new way of thinking, Branch Rickey said it when he started the first minor league system back in the 30s. It's only become more true since 1975, the dawn of free agency. Again, there is not one person who wanted the team to be made up of Hessians. But an augmention piece here and there would be nice. Signing Juan Soto would shut a lot of people up and make the team remarkably better next year.
- That is true.
EDIT: one last thing, I am absolutely NOT advocating for this team to load for bear at the trading deadline. This is a .500 team (at best) and they should be unloading everyone that they can. What I am advocating for is a big offseason. I know that the FO and Ownership is metric driven and that's cool, but at the end of the day, this is an entertainment business predicated on taking eyes (and money) away from other entertainment businesses. They need to bring someone in that can create some excitement, light a fire, get EVERYONE (not just us dorks) talking about the Red Sox again.
The worst part of the last five years isn't that they've played awful baseball for the most part (there are some silver linings, like good seats at rock bottom prices) it's just how irrelevant the Boston Red Sox have become. I know that we have our contingent of "Who gives a fuck what Johnny from Burger King has to say" or the laments of the pink hats, but I love baseball and I love the Sox. And I especially love sharing that with other people, talking about the previous night's game, listening to what others have to say, watching people getting excited again.
To me, that's what sports is about: the community, the shared experience.
With these Red Sox, I feel like I'm watching old episodes of the Chevy Chase Show. No one gives a shit and it's depressing.
