But if it’s true that wins were a priority, why weren’t the Sox more aggressive in adding more offense to the lineup in the offseason? Why did they wait until the end of spring training to add a situational lefty in Danny Coulombe? Why does the lineup remain unbalanced with both Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida in uncertain roles?

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Calculations by the Associated Press had the Sox with an Opening Day payroll of $194 million, 12th highest in the sport. They had the highest payroll in 2018 and ’19, and were sixth in ’22. They have been out of the top 10 since.

As we enter the third full week of the season, it feels as if this team was designed to be a little better than last season, not to chase a championship.

The Sox haven’t been very good at messaging for a while. Telling fans who pay among the highest ticket prices in the game that they’re going to prioritize winning “in the present” is insulting. It’s not like they cut the prices when they were rebuilding.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ With “sell the team” chants becoming part of the soundtrack at Fenway Park, Sox fans aren’t the only ones upset with Fenway Sports Group.

A Liverpool FC fan group, Spirit of Shankly, is organizing protests inside and outside Anfield stadium over FSG’s decision to raise ticket prices over the next three seasons. The group also has suggested fans spend less on concessions and souvenirs inside the stadium, and delay renewing season tickets to further send a message to FSG.

FSG maintained ticket prices in eight of the previous 10 seasons before announcing the hikes.

Liverpool also has disappointed its fans on the pitch this season. The Reds are fifth in the Premier League after winning the championship last season, and are in danger of not qualifying for the Champions League.

▪ Tyler Samaniego struck out three of the first four batters he faced without allowing a run in his major league debut Wednesday. He was the first Sox pitcher to do that.

Fireball Fred Wenz fanned three Tigers in his debut on June 4, 1968, but the second two strikeouts came after two walks. It took Roger Clemens six batters to get his first strikeout on May 15, 1984 (Cleveland’s Mike Hargrove on three pitches).

It’s far too early to say how Samaniego will work out for the Sox. But he was a player they targeted in the five-player trade the Sox made with the Pirates in December. Johan Oviedo and Jhostynxon Garcia were the biggest names in the swap, but the Sox were very pleased to land Samaniego.

“He was a guy that was very intriguing,” manager Alex Cora said. “Besides being a lefty, he has good stuff. This kid, when we pulled the trade, he was a guy that we really wanted. He pounds the strike zone, and it’s an uncomfortable at-bat for lefties.”

Samaniego’s manager at Double-A Altoona last season, Andy Fox, gave the lefthander a big endorsement. Fox was on Cora’s coaching staff from 2022-24.

▪ Isiah Kiner-Falefa is unquestionably a good player to have on the roster because of his defensive versatility. But the infielder had 11 at-bats in the first 12 games and is making $6 million this season.

His longtime agent, Matt Hannaford, made an excellent deal.

▪ Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela have now received their Gold Gloves twice. The first time was at a banquet in New York in November. Then Rawlings requested an on-field ceremony at Fenway Park, which happened on Wednesday.

Rafaela had already given the trophy to his mother, Rechilena. So he had to get it shipped from Curacao to Boston and then it will be sent back.

“I wanted her to have it,” Rafaela said. “She’s why I made it this far in baseball.”

▪ It doesn’t seem possible, but Double-A New Hampshire (Blue Jays) scored 10 runs on one hit in the second inning at Portland on Tuesday.

It went down like this: walk, walk, wild pitch, strikeout, sacrifice fly, walk, walk, walk, hit by pitch, wild pitch, walk, hit by pitch, wild pitch, walk, walk, wild pitch, two-run single, strikeout.

Hayden Mullins, Jorge Juan, and Cade Feeney all pitched for the Sea Dogs during the inning. They threw 69 pitches, 24 for strikes. Mullins actually struck out the side in the first inning on 12 pitches.

New Hampshire won the game, 12-7. It was 23 degrees at first pitch and the teams combined to walk 19.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social‬.