Bill Speros says Red Sox owner John Henry sees the team as just an “asset” and doesn't feel the same way about the team as the fans do. Pictured during a press conference announcing the departure of Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora at Fenway Park on January 15, 2020. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The good news is that Red Sox owner John Henry is alive, ambulatory and alert.
The bad news: Henry isn't planning on selling the Red Sox today, tomorrow or ever.
Henry was the subject of a roughly 6,000-word detailed profile/advertising piece/outsourced PR release in the Financial Times that was published online on Friday. The “Beatles-loving college dropout” dedicated his time and presence to the story over part of the past year, answering multiple questions directly via email.
This work is a must read.
“My wife and I live and work in Boston. We are committed to this city, we are committed to this region, so the Red Sox are not for sale. We do not typically sell assets,” Henry said.
The Globe's racial wealth gap and education disparity teams can remain safe.
Henry's use of the word “assets” when asked about selling the Red Sox confirms what has been explained here for years.
To the owner, the Red Sox are just a line on a spreadsheet.
But don't take it too personally: Henry has proven to have a knack for going on new “explorations” when things get in a rut, a quote from his third wife, though his first two wives might corroborate that.
Henry considered selling the football team two years ago but decided against it, and Fenway Sports Group will likely focus on buying an NBA franchise once LeBron James retires.
Wick, help me!
Henry mocked Boston fans for not sharing his ability to completely detach emotionally from the team that so many of them have irrationally loved since childhood.
“Fans expect us to win almost every year, so it's easy to get frustrated and refuse to believe the actual odds are 1 in 20 or 1 in 30,” Henry said.
Translation: Team wins. Team loses. And I eat lunch. (May Lou Gorman rest in peace.)
DraftKings now gives the Red Sox 130-to-1 odds of winning the World Series, rather than 30-to-1. Even by Henry's own standards, the Red Sox are falling short of expectations in 2024 on a 4.33-to-1 scale.
The FT's Balkan Henry stands in stark contrast to what the Red Sox and national media sell daily: Tom Werner pitching “full throttle,” NESN bombarding us with feel-good ads, flashbacks to 2004, and “everything's great” analysis.
Wally never sleeps.
As much as you love the Red Sox, John W. Spock will never love you.
He can't do it.
We also probably won't be speaking to JW Spock after he kicks us off the MGM Springfield stage in 2023.
It is not logical as his own words are being used against him.
Unlike Henry, OG Spock Leonard Nimoy was from Boston, and even tweeted his love for Tom Brady a few months before his death.
Slipping into the Financial Times tribute was the news: Henry had laid out a plan to save golf during the 2023 MLB owners' meetings.
Red flags covered the entire Green Monster. Henry had no interest in what the Red Sox and MLB were doing, and the only meeting he held to address the sports community's concerns was brainstorming ways to keep the PGA Tour from being completely taken over by a 9/11 co-sponsor.
Henry and his fellow billionaires at Strategic Sports Group (SSG), including Celtics owner Wyck Grousbeck, deserve credit for offering reasonable financing options for professional golfers from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, but that won't help the Red Sox.
The FT article confirmed speculation that the millions of dollars Fenway Sports Group pumped into rescuing the PGA Tour came at the direct expense of the Red Sox and other FSG “assets.”
Eleven teams have spent more on free agents this offseason than the Red Sox, who spent $54.9 million more than them. The Red Sox rank 12th in MLB in total payroll. They're selling in San Francisco, but not in Boston.
Instead of going all-in on Jordan Montgomerie, Henry picked Jordan Spieth.
Meanwhile, Wyoming spent $303 million on Jaylen Brown last year and is set to spend another $315 million this summer to retain Jayson Tatum.
Henry's “eyes lit up” when the FT article's authors said they wanted to discuss Strategic Sports Group's $3 billion investment in golf, of which Henry's FSG is a key player.
“He seemed happy to be asked about his exciting new project, but our conversation was cut short by the hustle and bustle of the Red Sox's official season opener.”
That damn baseball team always gets in the way.
Henry may be revered in Cooperstown, if not in the MFA. Under his watch, the Red Sox became the gold standard of MLB. Boston ended New England's 86-year drought in 2004 and made up for lost time by winning three more World Series trophies. Henry, Warner and the late Larry Lucchino transformed Fenway Park into the city's biggest ATM outside of Beacon Hill. This ownership group also put an end to the drab Red Sox past disaster.
(There were no black players on the roster for the 2021 opening day game.)
Henry doesn't owe you anything.
Conversely, you own him even less.
Just like Jersey Street, apathy works both ways.
Bill Speros (@RealOBF and @BillSperos at X) can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com.