DHL Dan CCLXXXVIII - PR Gone Wrong

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank milks the foot in mouth Red Sox theme a little more:

It’s clear Red Sox management still needs to work on its messaging, and other thoughts

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Picked-up pieces while waiting for Celtics at Lakers, TV tipoff 6:30 on NBC Sunday night . . .

⋅ Red Sox (and Globe) owner John Henry chooses not to take questions from media or fans anymore. It’s been six years since the owner last engaged in a full-blown media session (after the Mookie Betts debacle), and he kept his streak alive this past week when he made his annual appearance at the team’s organizational meeting to kick off the first full-squad workout at spring training.

In his stead, the Red Sox rolled out CEO/president/mouthpiece Sam Kennedy, who took questions for a half-hour while Sox chairman Tom Werner had a rare sitdown with the Globe’s Peter Abraham.

After all the words were spoken, we were more confused than ever. Within 24 hours, Kennedy was on NESN, furiously backpedaling on his unfortunate, “If Alex Bregman wanted to be here, ultimately he’d be here” fireball, while Rafael Devers was being asked to respond to Werner’s “just pick up a glove” broadside.