The recently revealed news that Red Sox President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Lucchino will be relinquishing his roles was predicted for some time, though the actual announcement seems to have caused a myriad of reactions. On one hand, there is an opinion that Lucchino’s time has come and gone, with the recent failures of the team seen as a mandate for change. On the other, longtime observers of the inner politics of the Red Sox hierarchy note that Lucchino’s departure means that a very strong and valuable voice is departing.
What is indisputable is that Lucchino was one of the most unique people in any front office across baseball. After all, taking nothing else into account, he is still the only man to ever amass World Series rings from multiple teams as well as a Super Bowl ring.
Digging deeper, it’s clear that Lucchino possessed one of the most valuable skill sets in baseball. He was a man to run baseball operations on a day-to-day level, while at the same time taking to his job from the rarefied air as an owner. The fact that he wasn’t a “principal owner” (a role occupied by John Henry) meant the 69-year-old Lucchino was almost placed in perhaps a better position as a result.
He provided a buffer between the John Henry-Tom Werner ownership and the baseball operations group. As has been characterized in many places over the last decade, this dynamic produced results the likes of which hadn’t been seen by the Red Sox in 86 years.
Push back against ownership directives, as the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy noted, was one of Lucchino’s most valuable traits. And as a co-owner himself, Lucchino was able to stand on (almost) equal ground in the back-and-forth.
Fittingly, the Red Sox have no plans to fill his role as CEO when Lucchino is gone. And that clearly makes sense, since no one is truly able to fill his shoes.
Across Major League Baseball, there are strikingly few comparisons to be made. Probably the best is Laurence (Larry) Baer of the San Francisco Giants. Like Lucchino, Baer is president and CEO. On top of that, he’s a co-owner who is also deeply rooted in the day-to-day operations. And also like Lucchino, he’s helped the team win three World Series titles in his time.
When Lucchino is formally gone from his position at the end of the season, the Red Sox front office will resemble a majority of other MLB teams much more closely. Not insomuch as that Boston won’t have a CEO (the exact positional names differs from front office to front office). It’s more to do with the following: The divide between ownership and baseball operations will be much more pronounced and consensus will be more easily reached. Whether that’s a good thing for the team’s on-field success remains to be seen, though it should be noted that the St. Louis Cardinals’ front office has harnessed this system quite well.
What’s certain though is that Lucchino’s departure means that a fundamental change in how the Red Sox do business and build the team is inevitable.
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