NESN announced that it will broadcast 24 Red Sox spring games, including 12 from JetBlue Park. However, fans and Boston insiders don’t seem impressed with the broadcast. They are calling out the lack of local broadcasters. However, what’s more surprising was Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy, known for his famously cynical takes, backtracking from his criticism of the Red Sox broadcast. That left the Red Sox owner, John Henry, with a field day.

“Historic,” Henry replied via X to Shaughnessy as the latter backtracked from his earlier criticism of the Red Sox broadcast.

The Boston Red Sox owner is barely active on social media. His last X post was in June 2021, when the 76-year-old billionaire congratulated STAT News for being one of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.

Shaughnessy is a columnist for the Boston Globe, the publication that Henry has owned since 2014. Ever since his association with the Globe, Shaughnessy has barely apologized or taken back his comments. Not even after asserting the Boston Red Sox as a “bunch of frauds,” who would not win when the team was down 3-0 during the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees.

No wonder it seems ‘historic’ to John Henry.

The story starts after Boston sports radio figure James Stewart complained about the lack of local broadcasters in the Red Sox-Pirates spring game.

“Today I learn a lot about Mitch Keller and the Pirates. Ben Cherington is doing well. He won 3 rings with the Red Sox. I know it’s a pre-season/spring training trend and has been for years. But pay your local broadcast teams to do broadcasts that connect with your local,” Stewart remarked.

The game was broadcast from LECOM Park, the Pirates’ spring training home. And the announcer booth only had faces from Pittsburgh. Result?

Stewart got to know more about how Mitch Keller and Ben Cherington are doing in the Pirates than what’s happening with the Red Sox. This complaint drew Shaughnessy’s attention, who called out the Red Sox’s broadcaster, NESN, a television network that is 80 percent owned by Fenway Sports Group.

“Greedy Cheap NESN. Red Sox fans deserve so much better.”

However, it took Shaughnessy a few hours to realize that the flexibility of not sending local broadcasters to every spring venue is allowing NESN to televise more spring games than ever. And it’s an MLB-wide practice followed by all franchises and nothing exclusive to NESN.

“I am told this is industry-practice across MLB these days – allowing teams to televise more spring games. Fair’s fair. In this instance, NESN is neither greedy nor cheap. My bad,” Shaughnessy reversed his comments.

Even though it’s a trend, it comes with a cost.

The chances of recovery from the Spring Games are low, considering the low viewership and turnout. Hence, to keep costs under control, NESN chose not to send local broadcasters to all spring venues.

And in the face of huge criticism against the Red Sox for not investing enough in the roster, this definitely comes as a relief for John Henry.

The Red Sox’s lack of offense depth could be their Achilles’ heel in 2026

The Red Sox lost Rafael Devers last year and Alex Bregman in free agency, leaving their hot corner vulnerable. The team has chosen to field Caleb Durbin at the third. However, fans are skeptical whether Durbin’s 11 HRs from the last year could fill the shoes of Bregman.

Durbin has impressed both with his bat and with his defense during spring training. He is hitting .394 in 33 at-bats through Tuesday and has 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. But he is a “lite” version of Alex Bregman.

He offers elite strikeout avoidance (98th percentile) rather than Bregman’s elite power. A-Breg averaged 4.5 WAR with 25 home runs over three seasons and excelled playing in Fenway Park.

The Red Sox also had prospect Marcelo Mayer for the hot corner. But he struggled there.

Mayer was hitting .250 in 24 at-bats with a home run and 2 RBIs.

As per SI’s Karl Rasmussen, “The loss of Alex Bregman leaves the Red Sox without a clear answer at third base. Marcelo Mayer and Caleb Durbin are expected to get reps at the hot corner. But the team’s failure to retain Bregman was a big loss, both offensively and defensively.”

In the offseason, Boston was rumored to be interested in a few marquee names like Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger, and Kyle Tucker. But nothing happened in reality.

Right now, Mayer will start the season at second base, while shortstop Trevor Story and first baseman Willson Contreras will fill out Boston’s infield.

So, even if the Red Sox front office is comfortable with their broadcast, their offense could be their Achilles’ heel this year if they don’t perform to the expected level.

The first leg of the regular season would prove if they could make the doubters backtrack, just as Shaughnessy did regarding their offense.