I don’t think I am as articulate as Ed Cossette or Bob Ryan or Bill Simmons so I am not going to try and put into perspective what this all means. They have all done so wonderfully. Instead, I will try and figure out some tangible ways this season will affect the culture of the Red Sox going forward.

A central mainstream media theme amidst the Red Sox championship coverage has been to ask “what now”? While I think the suggestion that somehow we New Englanders have lost our collective identity is just mind-numbingly inane, I do not think that to simply ask “what now?” is so out of line. And so I have been giving some thought to what this all means for the Red Sox front office, for the current team and for fans.

Red Sox Front Office

I believe the World Series will have two effects on the Red Sox front office. First, there will be some personnel leaving. I think the two prime candidates are Josh Byrnes and Larry Lucchino. While this is blatant speculation on my part, I have to think that there will be some GM offers out there for Theo Epstein’s right-hand man. As far as Lucchino is concerned, he is not one to stay in one place and having achieved what he set ou tto do here, I think there is a possibility he will seek out other challenges.

The second effect will have a permanent and lasting impact on the way the Red Sox conduct their roster construction process. There is no longer the need to match the Yankees blow-for-blow in the free agent market or to win any sort of P.R. war. Now, the Red Sox will simply be able to conduct their affairs as they see fit. Maniacal obsession with another team can lead to knee-jerk decision-making. The Red Sox no longer have to worry about the Yanks beyond the fact that they represent competition. The Sox can simply try and field as good a team as they can. This can only be a good thing.

The Current Red Sox

It’s hard to say what the World Series title will do for the players that otherwise it would not have. Certainly many of these players will experience a new and likely permanent level of celebrity that they probably could not have fathomed. But I really do not think that Theo’s decision making process will be affected. There will be no contracts offered simply to reward an individual for his work. If the Sox believe a contract will make sense throughout the life of the deal, they will make the offer accordingly.

The Fans

Maybe folks can lighten up a bit. Don’t kill the manager for a particular decision. Don’t call for your second baseman’s job after a five game slump. Don’t label players unfairly. Manny’s dumb, Lowe’s a head-case, Pedro withers, yadda yadda yadda…just put an end to all of it. The chief byproduct for which I hope is that baseball becomes more of the focus. No more curse crap, no more waiting for the other shoe to drop, no more nonsense from the press about how Boston “choking” was a matter of when and not if. I would much rather talk about whether or not Bellhorn creates enough runs to justify playing over Pokey (he does) than I would discussing whether or not Pedro was tough enough to beat the Yankees. The peripheral storylines have vanished and baseball will become the focus. I hope.

The Red Sox are just another baseball team now, only they have deep pockets and a supremely competent front office. We might have to get used to this.