It’s OK Not to Trust the Recent Success of the Red Sox
I don’t want to come off as consistently negative about this team—but how else are you supposed to feel? Since the 2018 championship, the Red Sox have been spinning in circles, somehow managing to stumble around the corner of relevance again. And they’ve done it after yet another trade deadline that felt like a carbon copy of the last four: full of false promises, underwhelming results, and weak gaslighting.
Hope is the most dangerous emotion known to man, and no one messes with it more than the Red Sox. Sure, maybe this team’s talent and chemistry are better than they’ve been in years. Maybe Alex Cora finally got the dump out of his pants and won’t quit on his team again after the front office lets him down. Maybe Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello can hold their shit together.
But it’s going to take more than an Astros sweep and beating up on the league’s bottom-feeders to convince me. It’s going to take actually making the playoffs—and looking competitive while doing it. It’s going to take the front office and ownership finally taking things seriously, building on momentum, and improving this roster with real, big-league players.
Until then, the sins of the past half-decade will keep me wrapped in cautious optimism and a healthy dose of cynicism—right where any Red Sox fan with a memory should be.