Awkward Betts answers
Red Sox ownership explain their views
FORT MYERS — Things got awkward in a hurry. In the middle of a press conference to announce what might be the most difficult trade the Red Sox will make under the current ownership group, team president Sam Kennedy made a strange decision that’s unlikely to leave the minds of Red Sox fans (or the talk-radio airwaves) anytime soon.
Principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and Kennedy sat in front of about a dozen cameras and two dozen reporters. Henry began with a twopage written statement that took six minutes to read.
In essence, his message was this: Henry grew up a Cardinals fan and loved Stan Musial. If they ever traded Musial, he would’ve been heartbroken. Thus, he understands what Sox fans are feeling. He understands why Mookie Betts wants to test free agency, but did not feel it was in the best interest of the Sox to meet his demands.
Adding salt to the wound, Betts released a minute-long video on Twitter on Monday to kindly thank Sox fans for his time in Boston and announce that “it’s showtime” in Los Angeles. It came off as heartfelt and sincere, and it’s probably worth watching.
The pain isn’t likely to go away soon, but at least Henry was thoughtful and empathetic in his opening remarks.
“We at the Red Sox will remember this as one of the toughest, one of the most difficult, decisions we have ever had to make,” Henry said. “We too love the young man, the great, great smile, the huge heart and the seemingly boundless talent he displayed here.
“We felt we could not sit on our hands and lose him next offseason without getting value in return to help us on our path forward. We carefully considered the alternative over the last year and made a decision when this opportunity presented itself to acquire substantial, young talent for the years ahead.”
The press conference was going about as good as one could expect under the circumstances, which is to say it was not very pleasant nor particularly eye-opening, but at least a reasonable mind could listen to the owners and understand where they were coming from.
Until Kennedy did something so distasteful, it’s no wonder ticket sales are down 15% and season-ticket renewals are down almost 10%.
Kennedy used the press conference as an advertisement. He looked across the room, flashed his smile and tried selling tickets.
The question was simple: Have the Red Sox considered doing anything for the fans or rolling back the ticket-price increase for 2020?
“We’ve taken a very consistent approach over the last four, five years of a very modest ticket price increase,” he said to begin a lengthy answer.
The Sox won 84 games in one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory, fired the president, fired the manager and traded the franchise player, only to increase ticket prices by 1.7%.
“I’m glad you brought it up,” Kennedy continued, “because I mentioned publicly the other day that we are pacing behind in ticket sales. There’s been a big focus on affordability. There’s actually a misconception still in the market that tickets aren’t available, that every single game at Fenway Park is sold out. That’s not the case. There are tickets available for our games in April and May.”
OK, fine. Stop there. Nobody is asking if tickets are available. Excitement around the team hasn’t felt this low in years. People are upset.
“For tier 5 games in terms of our pricing schedule, 60% of those tickets are priced at under $40,” Kennedy said. “We have tickets for students, college kids, high school kids, middle school kids for every single game for $9. So come to Fenway Park for $9, you may get standing room tickets, you may get field box seats or loge box seats.”
It was supposed to be a somber morning. The Sox were saying a difficult goodbye.
And Kennedy put on his salesman hat and continued to ask fans for their money.
“We have affordable family options, $99 for a family of four which includes four tickets, food and beverage,” he said. “We understand the commitment that our fan makes and every single dollar that our fans invest into tickets, food and beverage at Fenway Park goes back into baseball operations. It’s important that our fans understand that connection.”
In the end, the Red Sox might be right about not resigning Betts. Alex Verdugo may turn into a perennial All-Star, as Werner suggested on Monday. And Betts could end up in the long line of overpaid stars who anchor franchises with decade-long contracts.
The owners said it didn’t matter whether or not the Sox signed Nathan Eovaldi or re-signed Chris Sale. They made it clear they didn’t want to go above and beyond to sign Betts, no matter the other contracts on the books. Maybe they’ve learned their lessons with David Price, Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez and Carl Crawford. And they were right to let Jacoby Ellsbury walk to the New York Yankees.
The trade itself could end up being a good one.
But the team continues to fail in their effort to message it.