In a discussion last week someone said (I think it was MVP) that we had been psychologically scarred by ownership. I though it was true then, and I think it even more true when I read things like this. (not having a go at you here Moon - this is a regular take from lots of people)
Lester was the start, Mookie was the pinnacle. Now everything is seen through that lens - the owners are cheap, they won't want long contracts. But they've done long contracts. We just give our starting pitcher and first year outfielder big ones. We gave an aging 3rd baseman one. We gave our 3rd baseman one. A huge one that will likely not age well at all. Story, Sale, and others that were disasters for us.
But this idea that they dumped Devers is far fetched for me. If he agreed to move to 1st, he'd still be here now. Instead he acted like a f***ing child and threw his teammates under the bus (after we suffered a devastating injury), before immediately declaring he'd play wherever his new team wanted him to play. Whatever about the way we approached it - he was in control of his own actions and he acted like a piece of s***.
It wasn't about dumping the contract because it was $300 (this is just the scarring talking - they wouldn't have given him the damn thing if they wanted to dump it within a year), it's because the highest paid player in Red Sox history was saying a big FU to management and ownership. And when that happens, you cut the cancer out not let it grow and fester.
That people want to immediately tie it to cheapness is the surest sign confirmation bias I've seen on here.