Imagine, if you will, a once-great and legendary institution that is simply coasting along in mediocrity, reveling in its past successes and failing to face the reality of today. That is currently the situation facing our beloved Boston Red Sox. Every year they limp along through the season, occasionally showing flashes of competence that inspire dreams of a postseason run, while never truly coalescing long enough for a playoff team to emerge.

We saw that this year yet again, when they were the hottest team in baseball just before the All-Star break, only to struggle against tougher competition upon their return. In the days of yore, they were able to assemble World Series-winning rosters with a combination of free agents, player development and talented managers.

Today, though, owner John Henry seems uninterested in fielding a winning team, content to do just enough so that the fans don’t completely turn on him. Having won a few World Series, he now appears completely happy to just sit there and cash checks, shipping players out of town whenever they get too expensive and rarely getting in the mix for top talent. He’s let Alex Cora continue to manage the team, even though they haven’t made the postseason since 2021.

The Maine Republican Party today is in a similar situation.

The party has been treading water ever since former Gov. Paul LePage left office — the political equivalent to the Red Sox winning the World Series. Indeed, it feels as if he didn’t really leave, since he ran for governor again in 2022 and is running for Congress this cycle.

Like the Red Sox, they rarely work to develop their own talent, and don’t do enough to support them when they show up anyway. They’re clearly not interested in a competitive primary in the 2nd District; they’re willing to simply coalesce around LePage yet again.

While it’s understandable to stick with a known quantity, there’s not much evidence that voters want to see the same people run time and time again. We saw that with the presidential elections in both 2020 and 2024: many voters weren’t enthusiastic about Trump or Biden either time, those were simply their only viable options. By throwing LePage in as the 2nd District candidate, the Maine GOP is acting like the Red Sox when it comes to free agents: sticking with what they have, regardless of whether it works.

With the Red Sox, there’s financial reasons to avoid signing good players. With the Maine GOP, it’s almost as if they’re not only risk-averse but victory-averse these days. Sure, LePage may do well enough to turn it into a real race against Jared Golden, but is there really any evidence out there to back up the theory that he’s the best possible candidate?

After all, Austin Theriault almost defeated Golden in the 2024 election, while Bruce Poliquin and Dale Crafts held him in the single digits. It’s certainly true that LePage did well in the 2nd District in the 2022 gubernatorial race, but the whole district has been trending more Republican in state, local and federal elections overall. Oh, and you know who else has been doing well in the 2nd District? Susan Collins. She got 59% of the vote in Fort Kent in 2020, while LePage only got 51% there in 2022. She did better than LePage all over the district, albeit not always consistently.

Those numbers show that LePage just might not be the best possible choice. Instead, Republicans might be well advised to find someone a little bit more centrist, a little less controversial and, ideally, quite a bit younger. There are still a few people like that around, but they’re not exactly basking in the warm embrace of the Maine GOP these days. In the gubernatorial field, for instance, there are plenty of newcomers, but most of them are older and/or have never served in the Legislature — not exactly up-and-comers.

The Maine Republican Party, like the Boston Red Sox, seems content to simply coast along, rather than trying to develop talent and build a winning roster. They need a complete and total overhaul, instead of sticking with the same staff — and candidates. If they don’t change things completely, and quickly, they’re doomed to eternal mediocrity while Democrats steer this state farther and farther to the left.

Whether it’s in sports or in politics, one needs to constantly innovate and reinvent oneself in order to win. Both the Boston Red Sox and the Maine GOP seem to have forgotten that.