Red Sox owner John Henry says MLB is in ‘tremendous shape’

Red Sox principal owner John Henry dipped his toes into the looming MLB labor standoff in a speech Wednesday night, saying that “cool heads have to prevail.”

Citing the productive talks between professional golfers and the PGA Tour that Henry and investors in the Strategic Sports Group led two years ago, Henry said, “I know for a fact that listening on both sides works. The Tour’s moving forward. Baseball needs to do the same.

“I’m hopeful that 2026 can mark the beginning of a new partnership in Major League Baseball.”

The five-year-old collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players association expires on Dec. 1.

Barring an unexpected resolution before then, the owners — many of whom are believed to want a salary cap, which is a non-starter with the union — are expected to lock out the players as soon as the contract ends.

Five years ago, talks extended into March before agreement was reached and the entire 162-game season was played.

Henry extolled the “tremendous shape” baseball is in while describing the talks ahead as a “huge challenge.”

He singled out commissioner Rob Manfred, who was in the audience at a New York City hotel where Henry received the Sports Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I’ve been privileged to work with Rob and a group of club executives on MLB’s Economic Reform Committee, because both players and clubs have been unhappy with baseball’s economic system for at least the last two CBAs,” said Henry, who also owns the Globe. “We need to work together to find common ground to move the game forward.

“Rob has revitalized the game, but there are significant issues from both sides that need to be addressed. … We can solve the complex issues that exist in baseball today, but it means more listening on both sides than ever before.”

Since joining the Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino group to buy the Red Sox in 2001, Henry and the Fenway Sports Group have overseen four World Series championships.

Henry lauded all of his partners.

Of Lucchino, he said, “Larry Lucchino is no longer with us, but his spirit and his standards live on through us. He always used to say we live in the toy store of life, and that’s how we feel.”

Henry, who was introduced by David Ortiz, drew laughter from the crowd by acknowledging he’s “generally uncooperative” when it comes to speaking with the media.

He went on to cite fans as being at the center of the sports industry and Fenway Sports Group, despite how delivering satisfaction to them remains a quixotic journey.

“We work every day on behalf of fans,” said Henry, who has heard chants of “sell the team” from disgruntled Red Sox fans at Fenway Park this season. “Fans demand excellence from us on the field, and yet only one out of 30 clubs end the season happy, with deliriously happy fans.

“When I arrived to live and work in Boston 25 years ago, I was told if you win the World Series in Boston, you’ll never have to buy another drink in this town.

“It doesn’t actually work that way.

“We won the Premier League again in Liverpool last year, but the next season, you leave all that behind, thankfully, and begin a new quest.

“Like Fenway Park, that never gets old.”