The Boston Red Sox are having a historically bad season. At 27-39, Boston is 12 games below .500 for the first time in June since 1997, and is on pace to go just 66-96, which would be the second-worst 162-game record in franchise history.
Fans are growing frustrated, to say the least. On Thursday morning, Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy did his best to acknowledge that things haven’t gone as planned during an appearance on The Greg Hill Show, even admitting it’s been embarrassing.
“I think it’s important here at the outset to acknowledge how embarrassing, unacceptable, maddening, frustrating — whatever words you want to use— the past two and a half months have been,” Kennedy said. “There’s no way to sugarcoat it. It’s been awful, especially when you consider the stated goal of building upon what happened last season.”
The Red Sox were coming off a trip to the playoffs in 2025, which ended in the Wild Card round when they were eliminated by the New York Yankees. Based on that, and the young talent coming up in the Red Sox system, Boston was a popular pick to get back to the playoffs.
However, it was a frustrating offseason for Red Sox fans, marked by Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow losing Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs. Then, despite noting the need to add a power bat, struggling to put together a competitive lineup. Now, the Red Sox are fielding among the worst offenses in MLB by runs scored and home runs.
Sam Kennedy Stood by Boston Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow
Getty ImagesRed Sox Chief of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow
There is no doubt that Boston Red Sox fans have had their fill of Craig Breslow. He’s, seemingly, on the hot seat. Despite that, Sam Kennedy publicly stood by him on Thursday and made it clear that there haven’t yet been conversations about firing Breslow.
“Look, I fully understand and appreciate questions regarding Craig Breslow and his job security and all that,” Kennedy said. “But the issue of a change there, just to be clear, it’s not even on the table. He is working as hard as anybody in terms of getting things back on track, but again, words are hollow right now.”
Breslow has been heavily criticized on multiple fronts. That includes for what some believe is an overreliance on analytics. In other cases, it’s been for his communication skills, or lack therof, which have created tension between the team and front office.
This comes in a season where the Red Sox fired World Series-winning manager Alex Cora, franchise legend Jason Varitek, and several other coaches. The move, according to Breslow himself, was because the Red Sox were still a playoff contender and needed to get on track. Except, they haven’t gotten on track.
For the season, Boston is 0-28 when trailing a game by three or more runs. Worse, the Red Sox are 0-36 when trailing after eight innings this season.
“Nobody is free and clear of blame. Having been here 25 years, we’ve had some incredible high highs and some very low lows, but I don’t remember a period really feeling it as viscerally as we feel it right now,” Kennedy said. “It’s been awful.”
Sam Kennedy Admitted the Red Sox May Need to Pivot on the Trade Deadline
GettyBoston Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy
As it stands now, the Red Sox are not completely out of the playoff hunt. That’s a testament to how weak the American League is, though. Still, it’s made the team comfortable enough to posture that they still want to add talent and fix the roster on the fly. It was even reported that ownership was involved in looking for a right-handed bat.
That might be changing now, though. On Thursday, Sam Kennedy would go on to add that without some improvement, they may need to pivot as it relates to the Trade Deadline.
“At the current moment, there are a lot of discussions going on in terms of improvement and how we get this thing back on track,” Kennedy said. “But look, let’s be honest, unless things change dramatically, we may have to pivot here from what our initial planning was. It just wouldn’t be responsible to do otherwise.”
The Red Sox do have some key pieces to potentially trade away. In particular, from the bullpen, which could help Boston hit the reset button.
Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy Admits 2026 Season is ‘Embarrassing,’ May Pivot