Mookie sense:
Red Sox owner John Henry struggles to find the right words, or context, to explain the offseason’s blockbuster trade.
The Boston Globe is among the properties controlled by John Henry in his vast business empire, but he committed an act of journalistic malpractice Feb. 17 in Fort Myers, Florida.
The Red Sox principal owner was guilty of burying the lead. Henry waited until the final paragraph of a two-page prepared statement before cutting to the root cause of the trade that sent Mookie Betts to the Dodgers.
“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,” Henry said.
So, there it is. One of the richest franchises in baseball opted to travel the path often pursued by its cash-strapped peers. No extension for Betts prior to reaching free agency – similar to those signed last offseason by Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts – led to the departure of a generational talent.
David Price also made his exit to Los Angeles. Outfielder Alex Verdugo and infielders Jeter Downs and Connor Wong came to Boston. And that leaves Henry, despite his four championships and ending the seemingly interminable 86-year wait for a World Series title, as one of the least popular people currently walking the Back Bay.
Saving the real Betts rationale for last wasn’t the only misstep made by Henry as he faced the assembled media at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers. Let’s take a look at a few other questionable passages from his first official remarks of the spring.
Before Tom, Sam or I ever dreamed of owning a major league baseball club, we were baseball fans, like you.
Henry is part of a triumvirate that oversees the Red Sox along with club chairman Tom Werner and president Sam Kennedy. They often seek a common voice on such important organizational matters.
The verb tense used here was interesting – “were baseball fans.” As in, not currently. And yes, running a franchise requires a different thought process.
But any festering disconnect between Henry and those who inhabit Fenway Park’s bleachers throughout the summer should come as no surprise based on this seemingly unconscious slip of the tongue. It’s one more small fracture in a relationship that is being stretched to its breaking point.
My heart would have broken if Stan the Man had ever been traded – for any reason.
Henry grew up on a soybean farm in Illinois and was part of a
MADDIE MEYER/GETTY IMAGES generation of kids who listened to baseball on the radio. The Cardinals were broadcast on the mighty KMOX, an AM station whose reach extended throughout the Midwest. It wasn’t uncommon for folks in Canada and
Mexico to pick up the signal on a clear night.
That made several St. Louis players among the most popular of their era, and Stan Musial was one of them. The Man is one of the great hitters in baseball history and a one-club icon, playing only with the Cardinals from 1940-63.
Betts no longer has the chance to be such a player in Boston, and it was ultimately Henry who had final say.
Some of you no doubt felt the same way in 2004 when we traded Nomar, who like Mookie was a hugely popular, homegrown player.
This is an apples and oranges comparison at best. Nomar Garciaparra was 30 entering the 2004 season and had posted a sub-.900 OPS in each of his three previous campaigns. The shortstop underwent wrist surgery that cost him all but 21 games of the 2001 season and had also battled issues with his Achilles tendon.
Betts is 27. Only Mike Trout has been more valuable since 2016 in terms of FanGraphs wins above replacement (WAR). This is a premier player in baseball squarely in his prime, not one who was already showing signs of decline.