Red Sox Owner John Henry Buys Boston Globe

John Henry, one of the principal owners of the Red Sox, has agreed to purchase the Boston Globe from the Times Co. for $70 million.

The deal was first reported Friday night by Peter Gammons, but confirmed Saturday morning by, well, the .

Of course, there are the necessary quotes from Globe staffers about how this won't change a thing in terms of how the paper covers entities owned by its owner:

“We have no plans whatsoever to change our Red Sox coverage specifically, or our sports coverage in general, nor will we be asked,’’ Globe editor Brian McGrory said Saturday. “The Globe’s sports reporting and commentary is the gold standard in the industry.”

The Red Sox are doing well this year, so the Globe's criticism of the team probably won't be a major issue, and it's doubtful that it would get to the same levels of the Dolans owning The normally reserved Henry did once jump onto a radio show in 2011 when he thought the organization was being unfairly smeared, though. Sure, everyone says nothing will change, but the only way to prove that is the actual coverage.

The good—and more important—news, though, is that new ownership should prevent rounds of layoffs like the ones that have been hitting other companies around the country.

Photo: Junko Kimura/Getty Images