The Boston Red Sox aren't for sale.

That was one of the key takeaways from an interview with Red Sox principal owner John Henry, conducted this past weekend by Steve Buckley of The Boston Herald.

When asked specifically about selling the team, Henry's reply was:

"I’ve not had one partner in 11 years suggest thinking about selling the Red Sox, even though they haven’t received dividends. There’s a great, abiding love among the partners for the Sox. And Tom, Larry and I still look forward to driving into Fenway’s parking lot every day as much as we did at the beginning. Who wouldn’t want to work there? It’s a privilege."

Teams often inspire a ton of loyalty and love among the fans. Owners? Not-so-much.

Henry, who made his fortune trading futures and commodities, has never been the type of guy to elicit a ton of loyalty from the fans.

Red Sox fans would be wise to try and keep their opinions of Henry in perspective. Yes, the Red Sox are coming off a historically bad season. The most noteworthy accomplishments of the past two seasons have been an epic collapse, the departure of their manager and general manager, a last place finish, and the disastrous hiring and firing of Bobby Valentine.

That's a lot of bad news over the last 19 months.

The John Henry era has lasted a lot longer than 19 months, though.

Don't forget about the first eight years of Henry's ownership. It was under Henry that Theo Epstein and Terry Francona were hired. The two World Series titles, David Ortiz, Jon Lester, Mike Lowell, Jacoby Ellsbury, Josh Beckett ( the 2007 version), Dustin Pedroia, and Jonathan Papelbon, were all key parts of the John Henry ownership era.

There was a fantastic comeback in the 2004 ALCS, there was another great comeback in the 2007 ALCS. The Red Sox made the postseason in six of the first eight seasons that John Henry owned the team.

There's more, though. Six franchises are projected to open the 2013 season with payrolls that exceed $150 million. The Red Sox, Phillies, Yankees, Tigers, Angels and Dodgers.

There are some teams on that list such as the Tigers and Angels, who a Red Sox fan could envy. The Tigers in particular stand out as one of baseball's top current franchises.

Would Red Sox fans really want to trade places with the Dodgers, Phillies and Yankees? All three teams have aging players with massive contracts and depleted minor league systems.



What John Henry and company have done since last August is remarkable. The payroll is still high, but the Red Sox are not burdened by the same type of long-term payroll obligations as their peers.

They've also got a minor league system that appears to be on the cusp of providing the major league club with a number of valuable pieces.

The Red Sox haven't played in a postseason game since 2009, and they're coming off a terrible season, but the future does appear bright. If the team is able to return to the postseason and become an annual playoff threat, fans will have to give credit to Henry, who has been very aggressive in correcting the recent mistakes made by the Red Sox in player development and free agency.

Returning the Red Sox to a position of annual prominence in the American League East would be another accomplishment for Henry and his ownership group. There's no question that the franchise is in better shape now than it was when the group acquired the team in February of 2002.

No one wins every year, but Henry has done a solid job of positioning the Red Sox to compete, and that's something fans shouldn't take for granted.

At the end of the day, Red Sox fans are probably better off with Henry at the team's helm than with someone else running things.