It's Very Misleading To Compare Liverpool's Spending To The Red Sox's
Boston media set its ire toward FSG
The Red Sox made an out-of-nowhere blockbuster trade, and everyone’s trying to figure out why.
Boston traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello. There’s been a lot of reporting about the trade and inside details, but it essentially boiled down to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow letting personal feelings about his beef with Devers get in the way of baseball. And there seemed to be buyer’s remorse when it came to the All-Star third baseman’s 10-year, $313.5 million contract.
The Red Sox reportedly weren’t actively shopping the 28-year-old, but there were other teams in the mix and how much salary Boston would take dictated which team Devers would be shipped off to.
Fans are justifiably upset and are awaiting the day Breslow is fired, assuming the Red Sox fail to make the postseason for a fourth straight season.
But then there are those taking it a step further. Bill Simmons posted a screenshot of an Athletic story about Liverpool’s club record signing, Florian Wirtz. The Ringer founder simply captioned his post with, “Hmmmmm…” But even Boston radio shows highlighted the difference in philosophies when it comes to how the Red Sox and Liverpool, sports teams owned by Fenway Sports Group, are run.
Are the Devers trade and Liverpool’s summer spending related? I’m going to guess, no. If you actually read Chris Weatherspoon’s article, it goes into detail about the strong business Liverpool has done. Weatherspoon estimated that the club’s return to the Champions League and twentieth domestic title should mean it topped £700m in turnover revenue. A new TV rights cycle and a new kit deal with Adidas will mean more money coming into the club.
The spending this summer also came after Liverpool lost £57.1million pre-tax in 2023-24, the worst financial result both of the FSG era and in the club’s history. The John Henry-led ownership group hasn’t changed the way it’s spending. It still tried to run the club sustainably, and it’s gone head-to-head with fans over controversial and unpopular changes throughout its ownership tenure.
Liverpool’s Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong signings likely mean that someone like Darwin Núñez will get sold. Club legend Mohamed Salah was instrumental to Liverpool’s Premier League title campaign, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Reds decided to part ways with him.
Looking deeper, Liverpool’s spending is a lot, but isn’t as high as the other “Big Six” clubs. There are ebbs and flows to Liverpool’s transfer spending. This year just happens to be one where it can be aggressive. It’s also a unique aspect of how to build a contender in the Premier League.
For the Red Sox, they are in fact, looking at teams like the Tampa Bay Rays. They don’t want go over tax limitations and want to build a contender similar to what the Atlanta Braves did. The problem is that Boston is a big-market club. Liverpool is competing with other private equity and foreign-investment clubs. The Red Sox don’t face that same level of competition, which is why they’re model is unacceptable.
Fan attitude also comes into play. Liverpool fans are passionate about their club and came up with unique protests to voice their frustations about FSG’s business practices. Those proved to work, and winning quelled frustrations.
Red Sox fans will complain, but Fenway Park is still a draw, and people will still watch the games. American sports fans tend to just eat up the costs and business tactics that billionaire owners throw out. It’s a different attitude compared to European fans. And it’s not hard to understand the defeatists’ attitude. Oakland fans lost the Athletics despite their chants. But until FSG actually feels pressure from fans, the Red Sox’s business model won’t change. And if Breslow is able to pull something out of his ass and build a winning roster, fan frustation also will be silent.
Thank you for reading until the end! At the end of every post, I want to add something fun, and so since I’m a K-pop and pro wrestling fan, I’ll recommend a song or match for you to check out. They sometimes will be related to the post, but sometimes they won’t. My recommendation is Itzy’s “Girls Will Be Girls.”
