SAD NEWS:He will not play again…

BOSTON — From time to time, sports fans bemoan the media’s tendency to focus on the negative. It’s a fair criticism from people who are simply looking to derive some joy out of the success of their favorite team or teams.

With that in mind, then, let’s try to take stock of any positive developments coming out of Fort Myers, with the Red Sox getting to work on their season.

OK. We can start with … Ceddanne Rafaela. He’s competing for the starting center field spot. That’s cool. And then you have … oh! Netflix. People love them some Netflix. And the Red Sox will be on Netflix later this year, and again next year. Pretty neat. What else, what else? The weather forecast looks good. That’s a solid 10-day out there. Plenty of sunshine, high 70s. Nice.

You get the idea. Coming off two straight last-place finishes, and following an offseason with no meaningful signings, the outlook on the 2024 Boston Red Sox is about as low as imaginable. And when you pile up everything come out of Fort Myers right now, it becomes difficult to comprehend how an organization that used to be the class of MLB has fallen so precipitously.

John Henry made an appearance at camp on Monday, but refused to talk to the media. According to one account, he laughed at even the possibility of having to speak to the people covering his team.

That’s not new, per se, as Henry stopped talking to the media years ago. Last year, he chose to face the fans at the team’s winter weekend festivities, but after getting relentlessly booed at that event, he opted out of appearing this year.

In the old days, star players in Boston didn’t need to plead with the front office and ownership group to spend on the roster.