FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As the president/CEO of the Red Sox, Sam Kennedy is deeply involved in global topics surrounding the team, and he shared a couple of them in his press conference on Tuesday.

For one, Kennedy is gaining optimism that Fenway Park will get the All-Star Game for the first time since 1999 in the coming years.

Fenway is the oldest ballpark in the Majors, but it has undergone major renovations since the last time it hosted the Midsummer Classic.

“Yeah, we are lobbying hard at the Major League Baseball level,” said Kennedy. “I think we're finally coming up in the rotation at some point here. You know, 1999 was amazing. That was just an incredible night, so we'd love to have the All-Star Game back.”

This year’s All-Star Game is at Dodger Stadium and the Mariners are hosting in 2023. MLB has yet to announce the venue for ’24.

“ASAP,” said Kennedy, when asked if there was a specific year Boston would like to be considered. “Just when it's available, when it works for Major League Baseball, we'd love to be considered.”

In addition, Kennedy said the Red Sox would love to be part of MLB’s increased globalization of the sport.

The Sox opened the 2008 season in Tokyo against the Athletics and played the Yankees in London in ’19.

The new collective bargaining agreement states that MLB “will stage games or tours in Mexico, Asia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, London and Paris over the next five years in order to grow the game.”

“I'm privileged to be on the International Committee and we always raise our hand at those meetings to volunteer to play,” Kennedy said. “Kevin Youkilis reminds me that the Japan trip may have cost us back in 2008. But I think, you know, playing in those jewel events is an honor. We got to go to London a couple years ago. It was a terrible series [for the Red Sox], but the experience of a lifetime and we'd like to participate in those events whenever possible.”

Here are some other issues Kennedy discussed in his wide-ranging media availability.

Vaccination status
One issue Kennedy hopes to talk less about this season is the COVID-19 vaccination rate on his team.

The Red Sox were one of a handful of teams last season that didn’t meet the 85 percent threshold. Last September, the Sox withstood a massive COVID-19 outbreak and still made the postseason, falling two wins shy of the World Series. Vaccination status will take on some added meaning in 2022 because unvaccinated players cannot play in Toronto.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts and second baseman Christian Arroyo both said on Tuesday that they’ve been vaccinated since the end of last season.

“I do know that a few guys who were previously unvaccinated are now vaccinated. So it's a good trend,” Kennedy said.

John Henry’s influence
Though Red Sox owner John Henry has kept a much lower profile in the media over the past several years, Kennedy said his boss is as invested in the team and the game as much as ever.

“John Henry spent every waking hour from last fall through last week working on behalf of Major League Baseball, to [help] get a deal done with Commissioner Manfred and with the labor policy committee,” said Kennedy. “He was going 24/7. He was a voice of reason -- at least from as far as I can tell from where I sit -- towards getting a deal done.

“He was also a staunch advocate of introducing some rule changes that can help speed up the pace of the game, encourage some more offense and take the game forward.

“So is John Henry invested in the Boston Red Sox? Yes, that is undeniable. He did a lot of work on behalf of Major League Baseball. And if you take a step back over the last 20 years, and you can without exaggeration say that John Henry and [chairman] Tom Werner and the Fenway Sports Group have been great stewards of this franchise, and that's going to continue.”

Payroll
Kennedy was asked if the Red Sox might consider going over the Competitive Balance Tax threshold this season to add some marquee talent from the free-agent market.

“The way we’ve handled it is we've tried not to talk about specific payroll numbers just because that would be tipping our hand to a very, very, very competitive American League East,” Kennedy said. “And so I guess I'll just point to previous history, and in our time here, this would be my 21st year in Boston with the Red Sox, we've been over the CBT threshold many times; we've been under many times.

“So to the extent that we can keep our competitors guessing, that is a good thing. But what I would say about John Henry and Tom Werner and Mike Gordon is that they're as hungry as ever for a fifth World Series championship, and a sixth and a seventh.

“The club has never been run with a specific financial metric, a bottom-line metric. We've put a focus on our bottom line on being competitive and playing baseball deep into October. We've made mistakes over the years [spending] where we haven't gotten there. So there's no newfound focus on any financial metrics.

“There's always been, I think, a focus on being responsible financially, to make sure that the health of the club is there for the long term. And you look back over 20 years, I think on balance Red Sox fans can be proud of their Red Sox and what we've accomplished. Winning makes you hungry for more and this is a hungry group.”