On Sunday, the Boston Red Sox gave the gift of all gifts to dads across New England for Father's Day -- they traded away star slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants for budget relief and a bag of peanuts. Red Sox fans have been none-too-pleased online, to say the very least, and are once again dragging Fenway Sports Group through the coals.
Mind you, the Sox had just ripped off five straight wins, including a weekend sweep of the rival New York Yankees. It's not like Devers' talent was wasting away as the team crumbled around him. Sure, there have been rumblings about the slugger's discontent with the team asking him to give up his spot at third base to be the designated hitter, but the timing was bad, nonetheless.
This is the third time since the 2018 World Series run that Sox ownership has favored the checkbook over championship hopes. They dealt Mookie Betters to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020, let Xander Bogaerts walk before last season, and have now completed the hurtful hat trick with this Devers deal.
Moves like this were the driving force behind the outcry against FSG when the bidding for the Boston Celtics was open in late 2024 and early 2025. Boston fans knew what could be in store if John Henry and co. infiltrated the Auerbach Center.
Wyc Grousbeck was an awesome owner for the Celtics
Not only would the risk of needless cost-cutting increase astronomically with FSG, but the jarring shift in mindset would give fans whiplash. For the past 23 years, Wyc Grousbeck and his partners have been fantastic owners for the Celtics.
They've embraced tradition, shown a willingness to spend, and brought the franchise back to relevancy after a dark period in the 1990s.
I'm not sure there's any trade that I can recall where Grousbeck's ownership group had pressured the front office to dump salary just for the sake of it. Sure, there have been moves where beloved stars have been shipped away for the betterment of the team, but that's just it. It was always about the team and its future.
When Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were traded in 2013, it built an entirely new era of Celtics basketball thanks to the picks relinquished by the Brooklyn Nets. Four years later, when it was Isaiah Thomas who was dealt after a top-five finish in MVP voting, Boston had seemingly upgraded by landing Kyrie Irving. Even when the team traded Marcus Smart in 2023, it gave them a new look offensively with Kristaps Porzingis and ultimately led to the 2024 NBA title.
Grousbeck's guidance has never put me in a situation where I've gotten a notification from Shams or Woj and gone, "Huh? That's it??? That's all they got for (Player X)????"
Which Boston sports owner will Bill Chisholm be?
Of course, FSG did not buy the Celtics. Bill Chisholm did. The North Shore native and his partners acquired the franchise from Grousbeck for a hefty $6.1 billion price tag earlier this year.
Since the deal has been finalized, Chisholm has been ever-present at Cs games. He and his family were regulars at late-season and playoff matchups at TD Garden.
From what's been said, Chisholm seems to have the team's best interests in mind. He's talked about how he's been a lifelong fan of the Celtics and wants to continue to usher in success in the future.
Now, let me preface this next point by saying that the C's were going to have to make drastic changes this summer, regardless of who owned them. The NBA's spending penalties just wouldn't allow them to shell out the same amount of cash as they've been in recent seasons.
There are two paths ahead now. There's the Grousbeck route, which Chisholm seems to be trending towards, and then there's the FSG path.
For all we know, Chisholm could come in and demand that the front office stay below the league's luxury tax line, which is set at $187.9 million for the 2025-26 season. Even if Boston traded away both Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday this summer, the salaries of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White would leave them about just $52 million for the 12 other roster spots before spending into the luxury tax.
Though it's possible to make deep playoff runs without going into the luxury tax (see both NBA Finals teams), it's not easy. That's especially true if you already have two supermax contracts on the roster. If avoiding the tax becomes a primary goal for the front office under Chisholm, then one of Tatum or Brown could be offloaded in a Devers-esque deal.
Again, all signs would point to Chisholm being more of a Grousbeck-type owner, but you never know. As of now, the ball truly is in his court.