John Henry Is Ducking 2024 Red Sox Winter Weekend
Boston Red Sox owner John Henry will reportedly miss 2024 Red Sox Winter Weekend because of a “scheduling issue,” per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam. Winter Weekend is an annual fan event, the 2024 edition of which is scheduled for January 19-20. One part of the weekend puts Red Sox brass on a panel in front of fans to answer questions about the offseason and upcoming MLB campaign.
Putting the best possible spin on this, it’s quite…convenient…that something came up to prevent John Henry from being present. This event happens every year; it’s a little strange it didn’t make the owner’s calendar. To state the obvious, it appears Henry is ducking Red Sox fans.
“Full Throttle?”
Despite assuring fans that the team is looking to be competitive this year, it’s been a pretty ho-hum offseason. Boston fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom (a necessary change) and replaced him with Craig Breslow. They traded LHP Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for infielder Vaughn Grissom, signed RHP Lucas Giolito, signed outfielder Tyler O’Neill, and traded outfielder Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees. That’s about it.
It’s felt especially uneventful after team chairman Tom Werner promised they would be going “full throttle” this offseason. Fans were expecting sweeping changes and big moves. That hasn’t happened. Werner has since walked back his comments.
The Red Sox have finished last in the AL East in three of the last four seasons, and fans are out for blood. There has been much dissatisfaction with the direction of the franchise in recent years (does anyone in charge even know what “full throttle” means?). It was these same feelings of discontent that led Red Sox Nation to relentlessly boo John Henry at the 2023 Red Sox Winter Weekend. Apparently, Henry wasn’t interested in a reprise of that event.
At best, it’s a bad look for Henry to be hiding from accountability. At worst, it means the Red Sox may not be very high on his priority list after all.
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