Jf was rewarded for those "past years" by keeping his job, and by the way, we finished in last place a few of those "past years".
This team is also younger than any Sox team in recent years. Yes, that makes it harder to manange, but one should be expecting improvement as players move from 22 to 28 or 29 years old, staying somewhat even from 27-33, and maybe some decline from 31 on. We have nobody over 33, unlike teams in the past. If anything, we should have expected inclines not declines.
I get the loss of Papi's bat, spirit and leadership extends beyond just the numbers he put up over the last few years, but 9 out of 10 declines with more than half being serious declines? JF has to shoulder some of the balme- just as he shared in the rewards of 2013 and all those "up years" (that wasn't actually as much as people believed it was).