"Cancer to this franchise’s future": Red Sox fans downcast as ownership doesn't plan to sell team anytime soon

The Boston Red Sox's ownership came under radar after the club cut payroll and hasn't pursued big players this offseason.

Moreover, the club's president, Sam Kennedy, said that the payroll for 2024 will be lower than that in 2023. That led to questions about whether the owners were on the cusp of selling the team.

According to MassLive, though, the Red Sox ownership doesn't have any plans to sell the team anytime soon.

“People ask us that and the cornerstone of Fenway Sports Group are the Boston Red Sox,” Werner said at Winter Weekend here at MassMutual Center on Friday. “And hopefully we’ll be stewards of this for a couple more decades at least.”

Fans were disappointed when the club announced the reduction in payroll in Winter Weekend event.

"These three are cancer to this franchise’s future," one fan said.

"That’s too bad for us," another quipped.

Here are a few other fan reactions on X:

Kennedy understands the sentiments of fans who may think that the Red Sox are not doing much this offseason but assured them that they'd be proud of the club when they start winning games.

“People equate aggressive spending with trying, and I get that,” Kennedy said. “We own that. Because we haven’t matched up on big, long-term contracts, there may be a perception that we’re not trying.

"And I can assure you that we are trying. We are building an organization that Red Sox fans are going to be very proud of. But again, it’s easy to say that. We’ve got to go do it.”

Moreover, Werner said that all the owners are on the same page despite occasional disagreements.

“We’re in lockstep,” Werner said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have an occasional disagreement, but at the end of the day, we have consensus and we support (chief baseball officer) Craig (Breslow) 100%.”

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Boston Red Sox will have a lower payroll in 2024

During the Winter Weekend event, the Red Sox's CEO and president, Sam Kennedy announced that the team's payroll will be lower compared to the 2023 season.

"It probably will be lower than it was in 2023," Kennedy said. "I don't know that for sure. We don't talk about specific payroll numbers. But I want to be clear, the build we're engaged in and have been engaged in will dictate the spend." (via MassLive).

FanGraphs estimates that Boston's luxury-tax payroll for the 2024 season will be roughly $198 million. That's approximately $27 million less than their 2023 commitment.