Sam Kennedy: ‘Red Sox Have Been Aggressive’

Is pretending to be a wolf the same as crying wolf? President Sam Kennedy has been adamant since the team’s season-ending press conference in October 2024 that Red Sox fans have been patient enough, and that the team is ready to be assertive in its pursuit of free agents and goal to win the American League East.

Yet the team has signed just four players this offseason, save for a slew of depth signings of young players who may never make the Major Leagues, much less contribute any time soon. Two of the signings —veteran pitchers Aroldis Chapman and Walker Buehler, signed on year deals. Infielder Abraham Toro was signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Pitcher Patrick Sandoval was inked to a two-year deal, but is recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to pitch for Boston until after the All-Star break at the earliest.

The team is returning the same left-handed heavy lineup, and has made no signings to improve its lackluster defense. Despite the lack of free agent activity — the team has followed for five years, Kennedy insisted on Monday that the team has been “extremely aggressive.”

“The approach Bres (Craig Breslow) took was one of extreme aggression, extreme urgency,” said today Kennedy in a report by  “It has been great to see the aggressive approach and the sense of urgency within baseball operations to improve.”

Kennedy’s claims of an aggressive approach do not sync with reality, and his continued adamance that the team is a major player for free agent talent has long been an insult to the fanbase.

The Red Sox have been loosely —very loosely, connected to throughout the winter with nothing but their few fringe signings to show for it. In fact, the Red Sox are currently spending less on this year’s team than their 2024 that finished 81-81 and outside of the playoffs for the third straight year. The 2025 lineup and defensive positioning is, save for a question mark at second base, exactly the same.

“We get criticized for our messaging on that front (free agents) and we understand that,” said Kennedy, “It’s hard to navigate the short term and the long term. The only way to really follow up on that and have credibility and trust from our fans is to win baseball games.”

The latest episode of Kennedy’s disastrous commentary comes on the same day Baseball Prospectus predicted them to in the American League East in 2025 with just 77 wins.

The Red Sox’ first formal full squad workout is scheduled for next Wednesday in Fort Myers, Florida.

Jay Pritchard covers the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball and sports media for Heavy.com. More about Jay Pritchard