I always thought he was talking about the minor leagues for that phrase. But fans leapt on to it as an admission the team wasn’t even going to try. Even though they signed John Lackey to the largest contract given to a SP in franchise history at the time. Fans just seem to cling to anything that the organization will not be trying and instead doing whatever possible to ruin their enjoyment. They spent more money on MLB players during the Bridge Year than they did when going “full throttle,” but yet the Bridge Year persists as a non-effort.
Just another Florian Wirtz situation, I guess…