I was the one to suggest this yesterday and I agree with many of your points. My suggestion was to bring back the red piping around the current logo, akin to what they had back in the '50s. The logo is still effectively the same, the brand image is still the same, everything is still recognizably "The Sox"... just with a little added color and definition.
I get people may still view that as change just for the sake of change, or throwing out a recognizable logo, but I contend that it changes *just enough* to mark a new era while still retaining the Sox brand and identity.