Boston columnist rips non-players for running Red Sox, doesn't talk to ex-player CBO

The Los Angeles Dodgers of the 2010s made a habit of accumulating Boston Red Sox players from the decade prior, and why not? Under general manager Theo Epstein, the Red Sox won three World Series from 2004-13, breaking baseball's most famous championship curse along the way.

One of these players was critical of the "harsh media environment" that follows every Boston sports team, a well-earned reputation. But he told me he appreciated the criticism of Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, a past winner of the Baseball Hall of Fame's BBWAA Career Excellence Award.

"He was fair," said the player, a member of the Red Sox's 2007 World Series championship team. "He only ripped you if you were bad."

Shaughnessy at least shows up, which is more than many of today's internet critics can say. Yet if Shaughnessy interviewed Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow for his Tuesday column about one of Breslow's subordinates criticizing Hall of Famer Jim Rice around the batting cage, Breslow's quotes didn't make the column.

And that's a shame. What begins as a well-informed column talking about how hitting gurus have disagreed about competing philosophies for decades, devolves into a tired us-versus-them trope about "analytics guys" butting heads with former players who never worked with "analytics guys."

Quantitative analysts can disagree with former players. Former players can disagree with former players. Quantitative analysts can disagree with other quantitative analysts. This has been true in MLB for more than a decade.

A valid point, perhaps, is that the Red Sox under Breslow have allowed anyone with a qualified opinion — former player or not — to bring their philosophies to the table and leave room for disagreement.

That's not the point Shaughnessy grasped at, however. His exact point is unclear; the column signs off by asking, rhetorically, "Wonder if any of the Dodgers, or LA analytics guys, ever ask [Sandy] Koufax how he holds his curveball?"

They do, actually. I've observed it on many occasions since Koufax became a regular spring training presence, after News Corp sold the team in 2004.

Last October, the Dodgers became the 16th team in the last 17 years to win the World Series in spite of employing a top baseball operations executive who never played an inning at the major league level. One of the things Andrew Friedman has done well is employ multiple hitting coaches with slightly different approaches, knowing different players respond to different cues. He's also brought back former players from different eras — from Koufax to Charlie Hough to Chase Utley — to talk shop with major and minor leaguers alike.

Perhaps that's what Breslow had in mind when he invited Rice to spring training to be around the Red Sox's talented young hitters. Shaughnessy's latest column is nothing more than a missed opportunity to find out.

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Boston columnist rips non-players for running Red Sox, doesn't interview ex-player running Red Sox

By J.P. Hoornstra | Mar 11, 2025