WEB EXTRA: Red Sox CEO On This Year's Team, And The Yankees

WBUR’s Bob Oakes asked Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino what fans can expect from this year’s team.

LARRY LUCCHINO: I think this year’s team is worthy of the fans’ support. The quality of the team, the depth of the team, are very attractive elements of it. And so also are the personalities and the style of many of these guys. We mentioned Dustin Pedroia. Talking about the rock-solidness of Jason Varitek; talking about the fire and spice of Jonathan Papelbon; the electricity of Jacoby Ellsbury; the steadiness of a Mike Lowell. And there are some young rising stars that are fun to watch. Jed Lowrie’s gonna be fun to watch. Justin Masterson.

This is a team that’s worthy of the fans support, and unless I miss my guess badly with our fans, they will recognize how worthy this team is of their support. And all we can really hope for is that we remain healthy, because health is a critical component to the success of a team. And if we remain healthy, I think we have an excellent chance to be playing October baseball, which is our goal every year.

Did the Yankees overspend this season — between their new players and their new stadium in the Bronx?

I said earlier that the Yankees have spent like the U.S. Congress with, I think, $441 million. But, “overspend,” I won’t characterize it that that way. You can form your own opinions. And we won’t know for sure until the season is played and we see exactly what kind of performance they’ve gotten from some of these players and how it’s affected the economics of their new ballpark.

They’re in a different situation than most clubs, because they’ve been out of the playoffs for eight years — they’ve been out of the championships for eight years — and they have a grand “Eighth Wonder of the World” opening in the Bronx.