The Boston Red Sox should use one of their newest players' reasoning for signing with the club as a reality check.
Ranger Suárez was asked on the NESN broadcast on Tuesday, after his first spring training start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, about his decision to come to the Red Sox.
"It was an easy decision for me, coming to an organization in the last 20, 25 years that has won four times," Suárez said via translator. "Four world titles. It was an easy decision for me and I made the decision with my family. It was really easy for me to come here."
The Red Sox should wrap their heads around that quote, because to the untrained eye, it might have looked like Suárez was signing with a team that had a lesser reputation for success than his old one. He'd been to four straight playoffs with the Philadelphia Phillies, while the Red Sox only made it once in that stretch -- last year.
But there are still players walking around the big leagues with rings won in Boston. None are still Red Sox, and that irks plenty of fans, but the 2018 season truly wasn't that long ago. And this century, as Suárez told us, no club has raised the Commissioner's Trophy more often.
It's a friendly reminder to the Red Sox that if they get to the playoffs this year, they had better not play the "no one expected us to be here" card again. They just brought in a group of veteran players that expects to be there, and they'd better get themselves there if they want to sell to the fan base that they're moving in the right direction as a franchise.