Red Sox owner Henry: Notion we stopped spending is 'false narrative'

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry used a rare interview to defend his team's spending habits over the last few seasons.

"There's been a false narrative that we somehow stopped spending - completely unsupported by the facts - that we no longer sign free agents, that we are uninterested in or incapable of winning despite our track record," Henry told Sean McAdam of Boston Sports Journal in an email interview. "I saw an article last week about Bill Belichick that posited that he was no longer up to the task. That was ridiculous. It reminded me of the recent narrative surrounding us.

"I don't think anyone realizes there are 30 teams in these sports every year that are all doing everything they can to win. In a particular year some clubs are criticized because they aren't 'going for it' when they are doing every single thing they can short of destroying their futures to win. You always have to keep an eye on the future. And every team (maybe not the Mets) has a budget."

Henry became a target of fans' frustrations after the Red Sox lost star shortstop Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres in free agency. Bogaerts opted out of his deal with Boston and signed an 11-year, $280-million deal in San Diego. He reportedly felt that the Red Sox final offer to him this offseason was like "a slap."

The Red Sox did extend third baseman Rafael Devers with an $11-year, $331-million deal shortly after Bogaerts left. They also spent big last spring, signing infielder Trevor Story to a six-year contract. However, Bogaerts' departure came three years after the team's controversial trade of homegrown superstar Mookie Betts when the sides couldn't agree to a new contract.

Despite a disappointing 2022 season and the loss of Bogaerts this winter, Henry praised the job that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has done with the roster. He's also expecting the 2023 Red Sox to be better than some might think.

"We haven't gotten the kind of results you would have expected for the amount of resources deployed over the last four years with the exception of 2021," Henry said. "We've been building depth, but we saw little depth last year in the major leagues. You should see some depth this year and improvement.

"We have had setbacks with injuries already this season, but we expect to be competitive. We are at a different stage than the Yankees are, than Toronto this season. But we are in much better shape than we were after 2021. It will be interesting."