Truck Day about Theo
Team overjoyed Epstein again available to advise
The quiet Red Sox offseason received a jolt of energy last week when it was announced Theo
Epstein was coming back, in a sense.
The baseball operations leader from 2002-11, who most recently served as an on-field consultant to Major League Baseball, will join Fenway Sports Group’s ownership team as a senior advisor, giving him a hand in not just the Red Sox, but the company’s full portfolio.
“It took a lot of cajoling,” said team president
Sam Kennedy on Monday afternoon during the team’s annual Truck Day celebration. “I knew that he was likely going to have an initial stop before the next stop. And we thought that if we could get him back into the fold, it’d be a great thing for Fenway Sports Group, for the Red Sox, for our other entities within FSG.
“I think it’s a new challenge for him. But as it relates to the Red Sox, it’ll be great to have him available for his counsel and wisdom.”
Epstein won’t be a part of the day-to-day baseball operations, and Kennedy made clear he knows one hire won’t change fan optics; winning will. Yet Epstein’s presence alone could help the Sox — whose commitment to winning has been widely questioned the last couple of seasons — soon return to some semblance of success.
"Any time you have the opportunity to have a sure-fire, first ballot Hall of Famer in baseball be a part of your organization, that’s a good thing,” Kennedy said of his boyhood friend. “He’s interested in entering the ownership ranks. So he made an investment in Fenway Sports Group, and I think it sends a signal that there’s a lot of confidence, belief, and trust in this ownership group from his perspective. But again, we need to do the right things in the baseball operation and get the team back to where we belong.”
Kennedy expects additions
Kennedy will be present a week from Wednesday when spring training officially begins at Fenway South. The Sox haven’t made any huge splashes this offseason, electing to work around the margins instead. Lucas Giolito, who is coming off two down years, has been the only real “name” acquisition.
Kennedy still expects the team to add.
“As the offseason continues, there’s still a lot of unsigned players and conversations going on,” said Kennedy. “So I would anticipate there is still work to be done.”
Asked if the team’s focus will still be on the pitching side, Kennedy said that would be a question for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, who was present at Truck Day but declined to speak with the media.
Building within
While the acquisition of pitchers hasn’t taken the shape many expected, the building of pitching infrastructure certainly has, with pitching coach Andrew Bailey among some big hirings. The Sox also hired Driveline Baseball founder
Kyle Boddy as a special adviser to Breslow; he will assist the organization in its pitching research and development. Driveline has been at the forefront of merging pitching analytics with performance for much of the last decade.
“We’re continuing to build this thing back up to, hopefully, a championship organization,” said Kennedy. “Talk is irrelevant. It’s especially difficult for fans to hear when you’re coming off two disappointing seasons, so we’re confident we’re doing the right things internally. And we need to keep doing those things.”
Happy trails
Roughly 50 fans showed up for the departure of the equipment truck from Fenway around 12 p.m. “It has become a great tradition for some of our most loyal fans,” said Kennedy . . . Former Red Sox reliever Ryan Brasier signed a two-year, $9 million deal with the Dodgers on Monday. Brasier spent 5½ seasons in Boston, but was designated for assignment in May after he followed a tough 2022 with a 7.29 ERA in his first 21 innings of 2023. Picked up by the Dodgers, he found his footing and then some, allowing just three earned runs in 38„ innings (0.70 ERA) and becoming a key bullpen piece. Brasier could earn up to $13 million with incentives on the new contract . . . The Red Sox announced singlegame tickets for June 11-July 31 games will go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday through redsox.com