Opening Day is here! How did the Garrett Crochet extension get done so fast? #RedSox President and CEO Sam Kennedy joins and explains the process! #MLB
Sam Kennedy discusses when we may see Mayer! #MLB
Sam Kennedy discusses when we may see Mayer! #MLB
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00:00to opening day there was some question about whether or not that would wait till the end of
00:04the season. What ended up being the key factor in coming to an agreement with him long term?
00:13You know, look, if you go back to the end of last season, I think we were pretty clear about
00:20ferociously pursuing winning and doing everything in our power to be aggressive, to
00:26lock up our homegrown guys, bring in free agents, and this extension is representative of that.
00:36We feel extreme urgency to win now and to win in the future, and really excited we were able to
00:43get a deal across the line with Garrett. He wants to be here. We wanted him here,
00:49so we're really grateful for that and excited that we've got a lockdown number one ace at the top of
00:55the rotation. In our two decades plus, you know, in the American League East, you need a number one
01:02guy to do what he did the other night, so we're really excited about it. Well, yeah, speaking of
01:07that, I mean, if that deal didn't get done, does he go eight? Because he wanted to go back out
01:14there. Would that have been different if that deal hadn't been done? You know, it's funny,
01:22I did get a lot of text messages like, really, a hundred pitches? Yeah, he didn't want to come
01:28off the mound, and that's kind of why he is who he is, but it was great to see him just attacking
01:37the zone and doing the things that we know he's capable of, and really glad to have that behind
01:43us. It was a long offseason. Boy, kudos to Craig Breslau. What an offseason. It was really,
01:52really productive, and getting extensions done is probably one of the more complicated things
01:59because of the lack of time pressure that you have, and so excited about Christian and getting
02:07those deals done. Really important for us for now and into the future. Sam, you just brought up
02:13Christian Campbell and getting his deal done. What has he shown you guys, especially, I know
02:18it's early in the season, but, you know, he's a young kid. He looks like he has all the talent
02:23in the world. What are some of the things that you're seeing from him as a player out there
02:28that maybe you guys didn't even expect, but you see what he's able to do at such a young age at
02:33the major league level? Well, what he's showing is humility. This kid is unbelievable, and I think
02:41Red Sox fans are going to come to know him. He is, for such an extreme talent at such a young age,
02:49he's got just incredible humility. He wants to learn. He's following the veteran guys. I was so
02:58impressed and grateful to read his comments about our player development system and all the learning
03:04that he's had just in a short period of time. I mean, it's amazing, you know, to come through
03:09one year at Georgia Tech, basically one year at spring training with us, and then hitting the big
03:14leagues and handling it all. He's just a great young man and obviously a super talent. I think
03:22we have to remember just, you know, the league is hard up here, and so we've seen what he's capable
03:31of, and I think that bodes really well for the future of the Red Sox. But what a great young man
03:38and what a humble, humble person. Sam, how is the headspace of Raphael Devers?
03:44You know, Rafi, I mean, talk about a difficult game. It's so hard, and it was great the last
03:51couple days to see him starting to get the swing back and to feel more comfortable up there.
03:58He's going to be just fine. He's our leader. He is very much the face of the franchise.
04:04And, you know, listen, no one wants to win more than he does. He's a champion, and we're grateful
04:12that he's grinding it out. I think all of Red Sox nation needs to support him and get behind
04:18him because, boy, it can be a cool and unforgiving sport, but he's grinding through it and starting
04:25to show signs of being the Rafi Devers that we know. He's going to be just fine.
04:30Sam, it's amazing to me. A year ago at this time, Alex Cora was, we all thought incorrectly,
04:37was entering a WOC year. The future was murky. What's the direction of the organization? I
04:43believe rudderless may have been uttered by me a couple times. And now today, it feels genuinely
04:49like the start of something, and it's remarkable. You mentioned Breslau earlier, but to see where
04:55the organization is in one calendar year is shocking to me, actually.
05:03Well, as the president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox, I really appreciate you calling the
05:09franchise rudderless just a few short months ago. It's really appreciated, Chris. Thank you.
05:15Anything for you, Sam.
05:17We appreciate that. Look, on a serious note, we went out and brought in Craig Breslau,
05:28a player, a pitcher with the Red Sox who has been a part of championship teams.
05:35Part of bringing in Bres was to bring in a mindset of knowing what it's like to be in that clubhouse
05:41and how important winning is and what it means to be a winning player. I think the table was set
05:50for this past offseason when we sort of wouldn't take no for an answer with Alex Cora, who
05:58we really wanted to extend. He's one of the best, if not the best, manager in baseball,
06:05certainly in Red Sox history. We went out and extended him. This is where he and his family
06:09wanted to be. That set the stage for a very aggressive offseason. Like I said, we haven't
06:16accomplished anything. We're coming off of a 500 season. John Henry, Tom Werner, and Mike Gordon,
06:24our whole group, have a mandate for us to be as aggressive as ever. We're continuing to build.
06:30We have to have young talent in that clubhouse. Then marrying them up with free agents or guys
06:38that have been around for a while through trade, whatever it may be. This offseason started a while
06:44back. All credit to Craig and the baseball ops team for setting the stage, being really creative,
06:51working 24-7 to get us in a position where we have a roster that everyone's really excited about.
06:58Obviously, we're off to a slow start here. We got to go out and get after it.
07:02Sam, text for you from a diehard. How long will we have to watch Marcelo Meyer ripping dongs,
07:09using their term, in Worcester before he's up here with the big club?
07:18I love Marcelo's comments that he was really disappointed. Back in March, he said something
07:25like he felt he deserved a spot on the roster. Probably does, given how well he played. The
07:32fact that there's not room for him right now is an indication of hopefully the competitiveness of
07:39the club. My hope is that he'll get his opportunity when ready. It's exciting to
07:47think about what we've got down there at Worcester still with all the young talent up here. He's a
07:52special player. It's fun to watch him this spring, fun to watch him in Mexico. I'm sure he'll be
07:57contributing at the big league level sooner rather than later. All good things come to
08:04those who wait. We'll see what happens over the next couple of months. Sam, just back to Devers
08:09for a minute. When you look at the struggles that he had at the beginning, obviously, it's good to
08:13see that he's figuring it out. Was it more of a mental block or was it a physical situation he was
08:18dealing with? I think it's hard to know. He's such an elite hitter. He's so talented. I just
08:30think it's probably that he got off to a slow start because of the lack of reps in spring
08:38training. He's coming back from injury, obviously. He won't make any excuses. It's definitely a
08:45better question for him. It's probably inappropriate for me to even attempt to answer.
08:51He's going to be fine. We need him. We need that thunder in the middle of the lineup. I'm glad he's
08:56starting to figure it out. Does he seem happy? I just ask you that because we hear from fans who
09:06are like, hey, he was disgruntled during spring training or whatever. It's good with him.
09:14Well, yeah, it's hard to be happy when you're struggling. I got a text from my mom
09:21after he got that first hit. It's so great to see Rafi smile. It's hard to smile when you're
09:28scuffling, right? He was scuffling. Look, he's going to be fine. It shows you just how important
09:38the Red Sox are throughout New England. I felt like 14 million people sort of taking a sigh of
09:45relief that Rafi's putting the bat on the ball. It's incredible. It's who we are. It's in our
09:51blood. He'll be just fine. All right, Sam. Well, looking forward to today and looking forward to,
09:58I'm sure, running into each other over there today at some point. I don't know if you and
10:02John have an extra seat in the suite today. Your bar stool's ready for you, Greg. Come on,
10:10get over here. I know you've got to watch at least an inning or two, though. Well,
10:13I generally like to say hello to the two greatest bartenders in the history of bartending,
10:18the Johns upstairs. Both of those guys, they are extraordinary. And then I will look forward to
10:24seeing you there today. It's a great day. All right, we'll see you this afternoon. Thanks, guys.