WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Partisanship has gripped the Red Sox clubhouse, with factions developing along party lines and teammates divided.

"This is a serious topic," Brock Holt said, and he definitely wasn't smirking.

Just who has the best hair on the Red Sox?

"It's Benintendi. It's Benintendi and it's not even close," Holt said." He wins. It's him."

"Benintendi," said Hanley Ramirez. "He puts a lot of vaseline in it."

"Benny's probably got us beat," Josh Rutledge said.

"I'm not going to say myself," Benintendi said, perhaps acknowledging that he thinks his is the best. "I've got to go with my Flow Bro, Brock."

Flow Bros is indeed how Boston's hirsute headliners, Benintendi and Holt, have been branded by Red Sox social media. Benintendi made waves last year when he decided to trim his locks before the postseason, and Holt kept his hair shorter than usual last season — a decision not appreciated by all corners of the clubhouse.

"Brock's was good two years ago, but not last year," said Rutledge, conceding players can have down years with their hair.

Holt admitted the strain of keeping it long caught up with him.

"Having long hair is not easy. You’ve got to start wearing a hat everywhere," he said. "It gets to the point where it kind of becomes a hassle."

Nevertheless, Benintendi and Holt made a deal this winter to grow their hair out together, though Holt said he's already fallen hopelessly behind the rookie.

"He's got a couple months on me, and his hair grows so fast," he said of Benintendi. "He's going to crush me in the flow game."

Not everyone in the clubhouse believes they can keep the flow going all season.

"You watch: They're going to cut theirs probably midseason," said reliever Robbie Ross, Jr. "They'll go through a mid-life crisis in their minds and think they'll need to cut their hair or something."

"They'll get self-conscious," Heath Hembree chimed in. "We don't struggle with self-esteem, so we're going to be all right."

"That’s it," Ross continued. "We're confident in ourselves. That’s all that needs to be said."

Ross and Hembree each plan to continue growing their hair out as well, though in styles less traditional than their teammates. They have positioned themselves as the alternative choice to the mainstream, and while they're winning converts, their brash methods can bristle. Call them follicular populists, if you like.

"I'll let them have their little credit and have fun with their hair," Hembree said of Benintendi and Holt. "But I know mine is the best in the clubhouse."

"I'm going to go in a completely different direction. I'm going to go with Heath Hembree," said Jackie Bradley, Jr. "He doesn't groom it like other guys might. He just wakes up and is like that."

Informed at least one other person had voted for Hembree, Bradley asked promptly, "Was it Heath Hembree?"

(It was.)

"Oh man, you can't vote for yourself," offered Steven Wright. "Hembree and them, it's getting a little out of control. I'd vote for Brock. He's got a good flow, but it's not like shaggy."

Hembree's hair might be the longest on the team, falling down to his shoulders during games. He usually wears it up in a bun off the field, showcasing some versatility.

"It looks real good, too, when he puts water in it and it's slicked straight back," Benintendi said reverently. "He's got everything working for him."

Bradley knows he might have the ultimate trump card in this debate. But no, he is not tempted to bring back the afro he briefly sported in 2014.

"It's a lot to handle," he said.

The Red Sox clearly don't have a strict grooming policy to restrict the growth of facial hair or the length of a player's locks. But manager John Farrell said there are occasions when the club lets a player know he could look more professional.

"I believe there's room for personality in this game. To say that everyone has to look alike, play the same way, we don't have an organizational policy that says you have to have your hair cut to a certain level," he said. "You'd like to have guys look professional. If things get to a point, yeah, there's been some comments made, but I still think there's always going to be room for personality inside this game."

Just as the starting rotation spoke of internal competition all winter long, might the well-coiffed keep pushing each other all season long?

"Exactly," said Benintendi. "[The pitchers] condition and run with each other, and we give each other tips about hair — which is also conditioning."