Willson Contreras was only there so he wouldn't get fined.
That was the only conclusion to draw after the Boston Red Sox first baseman twice made the motion of zipping his lips when asked for his opinion on his team's managerial decisions in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees on Wednesday. After going into some detail about how he felt the organization leaned too heavily on analytics, Contreras appeared to realize he needed to stop talking before he got himself into trouble.
What he did say spoke volumes, though.
"It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball," Contreras said, as seen in a video posted to X by @SNYYankees. "The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you need experience and veteran guys to win games. There's a lot of stuff I would like to say, but I'll state it like that."
Contreras was not the only player to express displeasure with the team's decision-making after the Red Sox's 9-2 loss eliminated them from the postseason. Starting pitcher Sonny Gray was removed after throwing just 70 pitches in favor of reliever Erik Miller, who had pitched poorly the day before and proceeded to immediately give up an RBI single to Cody Bellinger. Gray made it known in the clubhouse that he was unhappy manager Chad Tracy opted to pull him.
Lest anyone think we're reading too much into it, Contreras' meaning was not lost on those who heard it in real time.
"Willson Contreras just heavily insinuated there is too much data being used in the Red Sox organization," MassLive beat reporter Chris Cotillo posted on X. "Asked if (the) Red Sox pulled Sonny Gray too early, he twice did the 'lips sealed' motion."
A feel-good season turned on its head with the maddening two-game defeat. The organization spent September committing to Tracy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to lead the way moving forward, yet suddenly some of the key veteran voices on the roster don't sound thrilled with the direction things are headed.