The Boston Red Sox have not had the greatest season, to say the very least. It turns out their struggles extend to their social media team, who were roasted for a tweet that was posted from the team's Twitter account on Monday.
The @RedSox handle tweeted out the popular "Upgrade" meme -- which shows a person hitting an upgrade button on a keyboard -- but instead "Upgrade" was replaced with "Reset." It was a reference to the team's luxury tax penalties getting reset at the end of this season.
Fans dragged the Sox in the replies, so the post was promptly deleted it. But as everyone knows, what happens on the internet lives on forever, even if it's deleted. So, for those who missed the tweet:
The team's social media people deserve credit, because they rather quickly admitted they made a mistake.
"You ever miss with a tweet? Same," the account tweeted after deleting the meme.
You ever miss with a tweet? Same.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 1, 2020
This of course prompted many people to respond with: "You ever miss with a season?"
Now, let's dig into the purpose of the "Reset" post. The Red Sox traded Mookie Betts in the offseason. Combine that with other moves, and the team is now under the luxury tax threshold entering next season. But (this is a big "but") to the surprise of nobody, the team has struggled this season without Betts (losing ace Chris Sale to injury hasn't helped either). Boston is in last place in the American League East with a 12-23 record.
Sure, the social media team weren't the ones who choose to trade Betts, or shed salary elsewhere, but as the people designated to get angry messages from fans, they're often the ones who receive this hate, especially when there's easy bait like this miss of a tweet.
Following the tweet, fans of course mentioned Betts and were also bringing up the luxury tax, criticizing Sox ownership for prioritizing the wrong things. Trading away your best players isn't usually the best way to have a successful season, so fans are rightfully frustrated and critical.
remember when mookie betts played for the red sox but now he doesnt
— Yolo Swaggins (@YooooloSwaggins) September 1, 2020
Tell John Henry to keep me in his thoughts while he buys his 20th yacht, rightly deserved after saving all that money on not Mookie Betts 🙏
— Evan (@ayvanbaysh) September 1, 2020
You ever miss with an organizational approach, trade away a generational talent for pennies on the dollar to a team that immediately gives him what he wants because your billionaire owner was too cheap to give him what he wanted and then try to tell fans a bunch of BS? You did.
— that guy (@wickedperk) September 1, 2020
Maybe you could get a custom jersey that says Luxury Tax. That always makes me feel better.
— Sarah W(ears a mask 😷) (@toasterposey) September 1, 2020
If Boston fans need a little hope, remember that sometimes a "reset" does turn into a World Series run. During their horrific 93-loss 2012 season, the Red Sox dumped multiple high-paid players at the trade deadline. The next season, they won 97 games and the World Series.
