Both Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts acknowledged there were issues at times.
Betts says there was “tension” when the team was going through its down times.
“I think [there was] just tension in the locker room as far as if things were down,” Betts said Thursday, via ESPN’s Scott Lauber. “We could have had more fun. Through the rough times, I think those are the times when we could have had a little more fun instead of being down so much.”
Bogaerts says there was some butting of heads and “disagreements.”
“We had a lot of stuff going on last year, to be honest,” Bogaerts said.
Despite the seeming issues, the Red Sox still won the AL East and had the fifth-best record in MLB at 93-69. They were eliminated by the eventual World Series champion Astros in four games in the ALDS.
The issues the Sox experienced certainly do not seem to be serious. In fact, both Bogaerts and Betts say they can step up as leaders to ensure players are having more fun and getting along regardless of how well the team is doing. They believe that can help keep things positive and lead to more success.
The Red Sox did not have a ton of public controversies aside from the Apple Watch matter, but David Price clashed with the media at times, and then there was the odd Dustin Pedroia/Manny Machado incident.
