Red Sox Principal Owner John W. Henry can’t hear you.

The Boston Red Sox community has grown a general dismay towards majority owner John Henry and Fenway Sports Group in the last seven years. Ownership decisions to trade away Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers and their apparent lack of interest in spending money on big name free agents has left fans scratching their heads, as many have called for Henry and FSG to sell the team to someone who cares more about the Red Sox.

FSG did indeed sell an asset this week: the Pittsburgh Penguins, their NHL venture. According to the initial report from NHL insider Frank Seravalli, FSG has agreed to sell the Penguins to the Hoffman family, a Chicago-based investment group.

Sources say @FenwaySportsGrp has reached an agreement to sell the #NHL’s @penguins to the Hoffmann family, a Chicago-based investment group led by David Hofmann.

Official announcement expected in coming days.

Henry and FSG bought the Penguins just four years ago in 2021 for $900 million. Almost as if they were flipping a house, they’ve quickly sold it for a roughly $1.7 billion valuation. Henry and FSG have effectively doubled their money on the investment, and now have cash to burn on some of their other ventures, which include the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC of the EPL, Fenway Park, and NESN, among others.

 

What Does This Sale Mean For the Red Sox?

Obviously it’s far too early to decipher what FSG’s plans are with the roughly $800 million they just acquired, but it could be great news for the Red Sox.

For the last handful of years, FSG has exemplified the “moneyball” tactic as far as their interest in the Red Sox goes: buy cheap and build from within. With this extra money, maybe those years of posturing as a small market team are over.

Every time FSG has acquired a new asset, the Red Sox seem to be their venture that takes a hit, with less money being poured in. So, if we follow the trends, selling assets and acquiring new money should spell something positive for the Sox.

Before this sale of the Penguins was completed, the Red Sox missed out on one of their most sought after free agents, Pete Alonso. Reports came out in the days following his signing with the Baltimore Orioles that Boston had offered fewer years and less AAV than Baltimore did. Maybe, just maybe, Henry was keeping his cards close to his chest before the Penguins sale, and didn’t want to allow Craig Breslow to offer big money to anyone.

We’ll find out in the coming weeks if this is actually good news for Boston, as they look poised to sign a free agent like Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette.

 

FSG Interested in Expanding Portfolio to NBA

There is one path FSG could explore in the coming years that could negate their spending on the Red Sox, and that path is their interest in buying an NBA franchise, which would more than likely be more valuable than any NHL team.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently confirmed that the league is looking to expand within the next few years, to Seattle and Las Vegas. It is very possible that FSG will be looking to enter the market for one of those franchises.

If that does happen, calls to sell the Red Sox may grow louder, considering FSG will more than likely continue their charade with the Sox and not invest money into the team.

Matt Skillings Matt Skillings is a Boston based sports journalist and a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he majored in journalism and communication. Matt covered the UMass men’s ice hockey team for three years for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. He was also a media intern for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two summers. Matt has additional bylines with the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Globe and MassLive. More about Matt Skillings

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