Incompetence

There is no other way of looking at it. The Red Sox have gotten as incompetent as the Yankees in payroll...perhaps moreso, failing to tap into their farm system and instead hitting the free agent market for short term fixes.
When you look at the 2007 team, it was Dustin Pedroia, not free agent J.D. Drew that carried the team. Jonathan Papelbon, not Eric Gagne carried the team and certainly a smart trade of Josh Beckett dominated where Dice-K languished and wore out the bullpen.
Teams that win World Series can do it on tons of cash flow but consider the Rays. They have a dominate farm system and have an almost laughable payroll compared to the Yankees but are just one game back compared to the billion dollar fund of New York. Do you need brains to hire C.C. Sebastia? No you don't but you certainly need brains to get the Rays to where they are as a team.
Its time that baseball become a game of intelligence instead of a game of money.