In this week’s episode, I sat down with Simon Thomas, Director of Performance & Operations for the Boston Red Sox.

After spending years in elite rugby environments across New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and MLR, Simon stepped into baseball with a completely fresh lens — and that’s what makes his perspective so powerful.

We talked about:

🔹 How the Red Sox build aligned systems that put players first, empower coaches, and connect every department around development.🔹 Why the mental game sets the ceiling in baseball — especially in a sport where failure is constant.🔹 What true culture looks like inside a massive organization, and why “words on the wall” only matter if people actually live them.🔹 The challenge of trust and stability in a system with constant roster movement and daily pressure.