The Red Sox are the "envy of baseball for their combination of financial resources, robust farm system, and a stable leadership triangle" of Owner John Henry, GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell, according to John Tomase of the BOSTON HERALD. Those three "have a vision for the future built around homegrown talent, and they’re not wavering from it." The "temptation after any title is immediately trying to duplicate it," and the Red Sox had "ample opportunity this winter to go all-in." The cost "would’ve been future flexibility, as well as the development" of players like CF Jackie Bradley Jr. or C Blake Swihart. The Red Sox have "undertaken a shift back to the principles that made them a curse-busting World Series champ a decade ago -- build from within, spend smartly in free agency, lock up your cornerstone players long-term without sacrificing future flexibility" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/31). In Boston, Peter Abraham noted filling holes on the roster with "less expensive players will enable the Red Sox to have the kind of roster and payroll flexibility all teams cherish and only a few have" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/30). The BOSTON HERALD's Tomase writes the Yankees "act out of desperation because they have to," as their farm system "ranks anywhere from 16th to 23rd in publications like Baseball America." But the Red Sox "own a consensus top-five organization." The Red Sox have a "long-term plan, and they’re sticking to it," while the Yankees are "applying bandages to a limping roster with $100 bills, and the more expensive that triage center gets, the greater the gap between the two organizations grows." The Red Sox are in a "better place, and they know it" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/31).
TALKING TECH: The Red Sox have signed a multiyear partnership with Boston-based global services outfit Sapient Corp. Sapient will gain signage on the Green Monster at Fenway Park, become the digital strategy partner of club parent Fenway Sports Group, and aid in the development of digitally oriented fan experiences, designed in part to attract younger audiences. Sapient has previously worked with ESPN on digital projects surrounding the X Games. The company joins Foxwoods Resort Casino as new sponsors on the Green Monster (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer). Red Sox COO and FSG President Sam Kennedy said, "We recognize if we don’t connect with the next generation of fans, we are dead." It is "too early to know exactly what steps the Sox will take," but Kennedy said that the team hopes Sapient will "provide insight into what excites its fans ... perhaps using Twitter as a high-tech focus group" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/31).
