Red Sox narrowly avoid list of teams whose owners should sell their organizations

When John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group bought the Boston Red Sox in 2002, it ushered in a new era. They finally broke the Curse of the Bambino, and won four World Series in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018. However, since then, they’ve only made the playoffs twice, and never took big swings on free agents, to the ire of fans. This also put John Henry and Co. in the hot seat by critics as well.

One of those critics is Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller, who made a list of teams whose owners should sell their teams, each in their own categories: “Spends Money, But Poorly”, “Fans Would Love to See It”, and “Actively/Recently Exploring a Sale”. The Sox weren’t on there, but he had them as “Narrowly Avoided the List”.

MORE: Red Sox receive stamp of approval for quick pivot, transactions in 2026 offseason campaign

“‘Every now and then a list will make the rounds online, comparing a team's revenue in one season to its payroll in the subsequent season, with the intent being to see which owners are actually investing in winning as opposed to just trying to turn a profit…Yes, both the Red Sox and the Cubs generally have much higher payrolls than the Rays and the Marlins of the world. But there are some franchises that print money to such a degree that really ought to prevent them from ever going through any sort of rebuild, and these are two of those franchises, usually top five in revenue…Given their market size and revenue potential, many around the game believe they could, if they chose, spend at levels comparable to the Yankees, Dodgers or Mets,” Miller wrote. 

Since 2020, the Sox have gone 442-428, just barely over .500. They’ve made the playoffs twice, where they have a combined record of 7-7, another .500 record. 

MORE: Proposed blockbuster Dodgers trade sees Los Angeles deal Roki Sasaki to complete super rotation with $53 million All-Star ace

And to top it all off, in those five years, the Sox barely passed over the luxury tax, as they only paid $1.5 million in 2025. From 2020-24, they never went over. 

The Sox are predicted to be over the tax this season, and hopefully they stay. Otherwise, a sale being in their future could prove beneficial.

MORE MLB NEWS

Marlins predicted to trade for $12 million All-Star, Batting Champ to upgrade from Griffin Conine, Graham Pauley

Proposed blockbuster Dodgers trade sees Los Angeles break baseball by dealing Roki Sasaki to land $5.7 million All-Star, Cy Young candidate ace

Pirates predicted to trade for cost-effective 17 HR slugger, upgrade from Jared Triolo