Joel Sherman

Joel Sherman

MLB

Yankees could learn from Red Sox re-tooling formula

The Red Sox have shown a willingness to do what the Yankees pretty much brush off as even a consideration — being bad.

Obviously, the Red Sox don’t want to be bad. They did not intend that to be the case in 2012 under Bobby Valentine or in 2014 following last year’s championship.

But they have been willing to surrender to try to improve themselves to be better prepared to fight another day.

I believe that is the right thing to do, yet I actually also love that in an age when so many teams are playing for future titles, that the Yankees refuse to ever surrender. Though I do think the Red Sox have demonstrated that a big Northeast team can concede a season without forfeiting its fan base.

Yankees leadership has often declared that the club’s fan base would never accept giving up on a season, that New York would never stand for a rebuild.

Except the Red Sox have shown a rabid Northeast fan base might be angered by failure, but it stays loyal and returns. After all of the “We’re done with them” of 2012, the Red Sox faithful flocked back in full last year. Yes, unified further by the Boston Marathon tragedy. But, nevertheless, re-energized by a winner.

In fact, in some ways, you can argue that losing badly every once in a while reminds a fan base just how sweet winning is. The Yanks, in some ways, are victims of serial success as a significant chunk of their fan base see anything but a championship as a failed season.

Here is something that is almost universally forgotten around here: The Yankees had the best record in the AL in 2012 and 2011 and the second-best in 2010. That is treated in the metropolitan area as — at best — a tasty appetizer. Not nearly enough. In reality, however, that is a great accomplishment unappreciated. Maybe some losing would remind folks that winning a division and making the playoffs is really special.

Red Sox GM Ben CheringtonGetty Images

The Red Sox have taken the success-failure routine to a bit of an extreme. This will be the fifth time in the past 11 years that they fail to even make the playoffs and twice in that period they did make the postseason and never won a game. Yet Boston also has won three championships.

That is because the Red Sox never truly rebuild. They re-allocate. They re-tool. They re-shuffle their deck. Boston keeps big payrolls, albeit payrolls under the luxury tax line.

Already the Red Sox general manager, Ben Cherington, has said that any selloff now is being done with the concept of being title contenders in April 2015. They already have added two good arms from San Francisco for Jake Peavy, who was not going to be retained as a free agent. Now, they have Jon Lester plus John Lackey and Andrew Miller also up for sale.

They are building up what already is viewed as one of the best young talent bases in the sport and — temporarily, at least — lowering payroll. It will position them to be a monster this offseason in trade talks if a Giancarlo Stanton or Troy Tulowitzki or any big player becomes available plus have tons of dough to chase free agents, including very possibly Lester.

In other words, this is not the Astros accepting multiple years of 100-plus losses and then taking victory laps because a national magazine proclaimed they will be the champions of 2017. This is looking in the mirror in 2012, understanding that you are not good enough and accepting the great fortune of the Dodgers wanting to take your financial burdens — Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. It is knowing that while no one is running away with the AL East in 2014, that you still are not good enough and that it is time to think about being the best for 2015.

The Yanks refused to surrender last year when dealing Robinson Cano would have deepened a farm system in need of such an act. They built up again in the offseason, including signing Jacoby Ellsbury when the Red Sox did not want to invest the money and risk of a seven-year deal. They are still chasing now and that might be proper because they have few high-end saleable pieces — David Robertson, maybe Hiroki Kuroda. But there are signs that key parts of their overworked pen might be wearing down and that their backup rotation just might not have the staying power for a pennant race.

In a sport in which too many teams are playing for future titles — did we mention the Astros? — I hate to be critical of a franchise that is always honoring the concept of going for it. But I wonder if the Yanks in the big picture would be better off if every once in a while, they regenerated.

They can stop using the tired cliché that you can’t rebuild in New York. The Red Sox in Boston have shown you can quickly win your fans back with good moves and success.

The Red Sox, in fact, are doing it again as the kingpin sellers of this trade deadline.