Dave Portnoy had a 103-degree fever, but it was the Red Sox that made him sick.
The Barstool Sports founder blasted the Red Sox and owner John Henry for their poor performance in the Wild Card Series, where they were swept by the Yankees in two games.
“First of all, if you don’t know [I have like] 103 degree fever,” the nasally-voiced Portnoy said in a social media post. “I was sick as a dog, so watching the game felt like a dream. I was trying to stay awake; I was taking medication. I could wake up a week later and not even know they played the series.”
Boston was beaten in both games, eventually defeating the Bronx 9-2 in Game 2, with Yankees starters Cam Schlitler and Max Fried dominating Boston’s lineup and Boston scoring just two runs total.
After the poor performance, Portnoy took aim at Red Sox owner John Henry.
“The Red Sox can’t score. Their roster and September performance is terrible, but that’s what John Henry wants,” said Portnoy, who is also the majority owner of Liverpool FC, co-owner of RFK Racing and owner of The Boston Globe, of the team’s owners.
“He wanted to be competitive enough to make the playoffs but not really be a threat to win the World Series. They struggled early in the year. They went on a run, but they were built to be a fringe playoff team. Not competing in the division; a fringe playoff team that bounced back quickly, and they did. They could play the Yankees 100 times, but they would lose 100 times.”
Henry and the Red Sox, also led by top baseball executive Craig Breslow, have made a series of bizarre decisions in recent years, including trading Rafael Devers to the Giants in favor of Alex Bregman and then letting Bregman hit free agency without a clear replacement.
“After all they said and done this season, the Red Sox are exactly who we thought they would be,” Portnoy added. “John Henry doesn’t want to spend money trying to compete for a championship anymore. They want to be a team that’s on the fringes of the playoffs, keep a packed house, and if they make the playoffs, they’ll be there for a cup of coffee.”
Boston managed just seven hits in the series against the Bronx Bombers, who easily beat the Red Sox and decimated their bullpen in two games.
Before the trade deadline, Boston made a massive trade for Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, who hit just .222 after being traded to Boston.
At the time, Baseball Trade Value Model called it the worst deal of any team to buy at the deadline and said the three prospects were worth more than the Dodgers were worth in exchange for Tarik Skubal.
The Red Sox enter the offseason with little offensive talent on the free agent market, although they haven’t been too active in free agency in recent years.