Red Sox' philosophical ‘approach' constantly changes

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In assessing the state of his Red Sox Wednesday, an annual rite of spring training, principal owner John Henry revealed that the club has determined it was time to change its philosophy.

Finishing last two years in a row and three times in the last four years can lead to some healthy introspection.

"There were a lot of issues,'' said Henry. "I spent at least two months looking under the hood and came to the conclusion that we needed to make changes. One of the things that we've done is that we have overly relied on numbers. There were a whole host of things. We've made significant changes.''

For the last decade, the Red Sox were widely acknowledged to be ahead of the curve in utilizing analytics. It helped win them three World Series.

Now, however, the Red Sox appear intent on abandoning that approach.

What's replaced the reliance on advanced metrics, however, isn't exactly clear. New president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is viewed as a more traditional baseball executive.

But Henry wouldn't articulate exactly what's replaced the numbers. Does this mark a return to more traditional scouting? Or is there another approach the Sox are pioneering?

Who knows?

"I'll just stick with that,'' said Henry when pressed to explain further, "that over the years, we've had great success relying upon numbers. That has never been the whole story. But perhaps it was a little too much of the story, too much reliance on past performance and trying to project future philosophy. That's obviously hasn't worked in the three of the last four years.''

What's scary is that it appears the Red Sox have no philosophy to speak of, or not one that they're capable of maintaining.

Consider:

-- One year, they're crowing that while the New York Yankees try to spend their way to a championship, while they -- the Red Sox -- prefer to go with more modest signings and rely on internal development. The next year, following a last-place finish, they're eager to introduce Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, upon whom they lavished a collective $173 million last offseason.

-- One year, they're insistent that free agent pitchers 30 and over are notoriously bad investments, refusing to competitively bid on free agent Jon Lester. The next year, they're unveiling 30-year-old starter David Price, proud recipient of the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher and the highest-paid player in franchise history.

Even Wednesday, Henry was full of contradictions.

While taking note of his organization's philosophical shift away from advanced metrics, Henry made the point -- one that he also made last August in introducing Dombrowski -- that relying on analytics was actually partly a media-driven myth.

Huh?

The truth is, the best, more consistently successful organizations in the game use every bit of evaluation and method at their disposal to make personnel decisions. Sometimes, that includes using the numbers, and turning to analysts like Bill James. Sometimes, that includes relying on old-school scouting and evaluations.

The more data -- traditional or cutting-edge -- the better.

But the Sox can't seem to strike that balance. On-and-off, ebb-and-flow, the Red Sox philosophy seems to change every time they're asked about it.

Was it analytics that told them not to have a bonafide starter last year? Which advanced metrics suggested that they should entrust a career infielder to left field?

And if "the numbers'' -- as they're now dismissively labeled -- were so unreliable, how is it the Red Sox have somehow developed two cornerstone players (Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts) and, according to Baseball America, still have four of the best 19 prospects in the game?

"Why can't they just be accountable,'' wondered one industry source, "and say 'We're not perfect and we've made some mistakes along with winning three World Series'?"

Good question.

Forget "philosophy,'' maybe, and try a little honesty and consistency.