LEADERSHIP VOID?
Red Sox lacking clubhouse presence
As Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel move closer to the major leagues, who will they look to for leadership once they arrive?
That’s a question the Red Sox need to address. Because that position remains vacant.
Rafael Devers? He’s a talented independent contractor at this point, his mood contingent on how he’s playing.
Devers shows up ready to play, he plays hard, he plays hurt, and he generally plays really well. He’s more of a leader by example, which is fine.
But more is needed in a big market, especially when you’re the highest-paid player on the team.
Here’s a small example from the last road trip. All the Sox players, coaches, and staffers wore football jerseys for the trip from Detroit to New York.
Most of the players represented their favorite team. Others purchased jerseys worn by movie characters. Even Masataka Yoshida, who has no interest in football, broke out a Patriots jersey.
Everybody participated . . . except Devers.
A few days later, Devers blew off reporters after a loss against the Mets. That he inconvenienced two writers who waited in the clubhouse for an hour isn’t the issue. It’s that the team had hit a low point and it was time for the best player to stand up and say something like, “We have to play better, it starts with me. We’ll come back tomorrow.”
The fan base wants to hear that and so do the other players. Instead the message was essentially, “I’m more upset I went 0 for 4.”
It has nothing to do with communication. His English is just fine.
Pete Abraham today Globe
