Let's Grade the GM on the Off-Season

[seabeachfred]

No proof that it was anyone else. It is just conjecture ( as some here like to say) that it wasn't. Don't we have ownership's statements that the Lux tax wasn't an issue. Regardless it is still all about outcomes. This team now on paper is worse than the team that ended the season. Their main competitors are better or at least no worse.

 

All I can say is for those who gave him top grades, I wish I had you giving me grades in my school days, I'd have graduated SCL.

 

First of all Elk, those two jokers who gave Cherington an "A" grade for his off season accomplishments will not come out of the fog and admit who they are for the simple reason they would be embarrassed all to hell to admit it. They will either say they didn't vote or they gave Cherries a higher grade. I gave a D+ and only because of the two relievers he got us. The guy is tentative in every thing he does and I see him as a weak-kneed second rater as a GM. His arbitration offering to Ortiz was the height of lunacy since no other team would have come even close to giving him the $14+ million he got from us. To be perfectly honest I don't feel I have to give Cherington any more time to form my opinion of him. He's a second stringer all the way, four bags of turd in a one pound package.

[Elktonnick]

First of all Elk' date=' those two jokers who gave Cherington an "A" grade for his off season accomplishments will not come out of the fog and admit who they are for the simple reason they would be embarrassed all to hell to admit it. They will either say they didn't vote or they gave Cherries a higher grade. I gave a D+ and only because of the two relievers he got us. The guy is tentative in every thing he does and I see him as a weak-kneed second rater as a GM. His arbitration offering to Ortiz was the height of lunacy since no other team would have come even close to giving him the $14+ million he got from us. To be perfectly honest I don't feel I have to give Cherington any more time to form my opinion of him. He's a second stringer all the way, four bags of turd in a one pound package.[/quote']

 

I agree that he is indecisive. He may be an excellent special assistant who may do great staff work putting together option papers for his boss to make a decision. I question his judgement. I don't know if he can grow into the job. We will see how the year will turn out before he gets his final grade.

[User Name]

This thread is a riot.

[Bellhorn04]

This post by Pumpsie Green on the other thread deserves to be copied here.

 

"Ben didn't have the resources to plan for the bad. Had Henry opened up his wallet we could have obtained a decent SP. He didn't, and we didn't. And no one is going to trade for any of our mediocre farm system player in exchange for a good ML SP. Hard to blame Cherington for the makeup of this year's team. I blame Epstein because he is the one who upon leaving raped the team."

[Emmz]

LOLLL I gave him an "A" just so I could read a bunch of old grandpas pooping their pants over it.

[jung]

It is interesting to see how the voting to date is spread. There are a number of B and C+ votes. Then a big gap in numbers till you get to quite a number of D votes. Even the D+ has not proven very popular as yet.

 

I have a hard time giving him a grade higher than maybe a C. To me the Ortiz Arbitration offer was a pretty big blunder when you consider how much money effectively it took off the table for a pitcher.

 

In my view as soon as Arbitration forced teams to consider giving up draft picks for Ortiz, interest in him which appeared to me kinda' light to begin with effectively went to 0. That still says to me that the Sox really badly misread the interest in Ortiz and could have easily matched whatever other teams might have offered him presuming they truly wanted to keep him. Eventually I do not think it unreasonable that Ortiz would have even taken offers that he originally rejected once reality set in and he realized how he was being valued in the marketplace. I am on record as thinking the Sox would have been better off going in a different direction anyway. However I still consider misreading Ortiz market value as a major mistake.

 

Letting Scuts go is still effectively a mystery until we actually see how this whole LT Cap thing works out. Even if Iggy does come up this year, wouldn't we have been better served starting the year with Scuts and Aviles and no Punto giving Iggy another half season in the system? If we basically let Scuts go for nothing then I think my vote gets down to a D+ or a D.

[Elktonnick]

This post by Pumpsie Green on the other thread deserves to be copied here.

 

"Ben didn't have the resources to plan for the bad. Had Henry opened up his wallet we could have obtained a decent SP. He didn't, and we didn't. And no one is going to trade for any of our mediocre farm system player in exchange for a good ML SP. Hard to blame Cherington for the makeup of this year's team. I blame Epstein because he is the one who upon leaving raped the team."

 

All good excuses for failure and mediocrity. Those who get Ds always have excuses for their failure or incompetence. As Tom Hanks said in "A League of Their Own" "Crying! Crying! There's no crying in baseball!"

[Elktonnick]

LOLLL I gave him an "A" just so I could read a bunch of old grandpas pooping their pants over it.

 

We gramps wiped many a bum in our day! Just wait to you get up there! Besides one of the perrogatives of old age is the right to be cranky!

[a700hitter]

Think Jacko' date=' think carefully and you will be alble to pick out which two gave the A's out. I'll give you a hint----one was a man and one was a woman. I would bet my garage on that.[/quote']It looks like you were right that one of the A's was a woman.

[Emmz]

It looks like you were right that one of the A's was a woman.

 

Except he totally thought it was VA and User, but didn't want to say it.

[Muggah]

Not true here is what LL actually said,

 

Lucchino: Sox will 'fly by' luxury tax mark

 

 

Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino told Evan Drellich of MLB.com (via twitter) that his team's 2012 budget "will be the highest budget in Red Sox history," and said that the team was committed to spending well beyond the 2012 luxury tax threshold of $178 million.

"I suspect you're going to see that we're going to fly by the luxury tax," Lucchino said.

 

Lucchino also said that "there has not been a situation" where the financial commitments of the Fenway Sports Group to the Liverpool Football Club has ever impacted the available resources to the Red Sox.

 

WEEI 2/10/12

 

That is consistent to what I posted. Moreover, it gives Ben the latitude and resources to do better then what he did. The fact that he didn't falls on his head.

 

Solid D in performance and an F in comportment for not accepting responsibility.

 

 

Be careful when posting facts for these folks, Elk. They hate it.

[Emmz]

We gramps wiped many a bum in our day! Just wait to you get up there! Besides one of the perrogatives of old age is the right to be cranky!

 

This is true.

[VA Sox Fan]

Except he totally thought it was VA and User' date=' but didn't want to say it.[/quote']

 

Bingo.

 

You are a damn trip Emmz! Your reason for your A grade made me really LOL!

 

I haven't voted, as usual.

[Emmz]

Be careful when posting facts for these folks' date=' Elk. They hate it.[/quote']

 

Do you have to be a boner in every post you make, Mug?

[BigPapiEnFuego]

This thread makes me want to jump off a f***ing bridge

[FredLynn]

This post by Pumpsie Green on the other thread deserves to be copied here.

 

"Ben didn't have the resources to plan for the bad. Had Henry opened up his wallet we could have obtained a decent SP. He didn't, and we didn't. And no one is going to trade for any of our mediocre farm system player in exchange for a good ML SP. Hard to blame Cherington for the makeup of this year's team. I blame Epstein because he is the one who upon leaving raped the team."

 

And you copied it here because.......?

[Muggah]

I agree that he is indecisive. He may be an excellent special assistant who may do great staff work putting together option papers for his boss to make a decision. I question his judgement. I don't know if he can grow into the job. We will see how the year will turn out before he gets his final grade.

 

The simple fact that he actively strives to mimic his predecessor in everything from speech patterns to wardrobe should be reason enough for people to understand that he brings nothing new in the way of style or philosophy to the job. And just in case a few folks here need a reminder---the incompetent jackoff he's modeled himself after just got through driving this organization full speed off a cliff.

 

I can understand a hardcore ballwasher feeling optimistic and stretching their grade to a C, but anyone going above that really needs to ask themselves whether or not they legitimately understand the game in 2012.

[a700hitter]

Except he totally thought it was VA and User' date=' but didn't want to say it.[/quote']Ah, but right for the wrong reason is still right.

[Muggah]

First of all Elk' date=' those two jokers who gave Cherington an "A" grade for his off season accomplishments will not come out of the fog and admit who they are for the simple reason they would be embarrassed all to hell to admit it. They will either say they didn't vote or they gave Cherries a higher grade. I gave a D+ and only because of the two relievers he got us. The guy is tentative in every thing he does and I see him as a weak-kneed second rater as a GM. His arbitration offering to Ortiz was the height of lunacy since no other team would have come even close to giving him the $14+ million he got from us. To be perfectly honest I don't feel I have to give Cherington any more time to form my opinion of him. He's a second stringer all the way, four bags of turd in a one pound package.[/quote']

 

well put, Fred. As usual.

[FredLynn]

All good excuses for failure and mediocrity. Those who get Ds always have excuses for their failure or incompetence. As Tom Hanks said in "A League of Their Own" "Crying! Crying! There's no crying in baseball!"

 

LOL...as much as we agree on most things ELK, I have to disagree on this one. Cherington was given nothing to work with. I doubt he was even calling many of the shots. Since there was no choice called "Incomplete", even for the preseason, I had to give him a generous C. You cannot make bricks without straw, as my ancestors once said.

[BigPapiEnFuego]

I'd like to see the people who voted A, and hear their reasoning behind it, but I'm guessing that was all just trolling anyway. This board sure has become a parody of itself lately.

 

 

I chose D+. The rotation needed to be strengthened and it was not. We went into last season with what was thought to be one of the best rotations in the game and it imploded. That was not foreseen of course but now that 2 of it's members have been replaced with a set up man and either Aceves or some guy picked out of a dump it's weaker than it was going into last year, and that isn't good at all. I think either this rotation will perform similar to last year, which isn't good, be worse, which obviously isn't good, or there is a small small chance it will be better. But that would be a huge surprise.

 

I'm fine with the bullpen pretty much, especially if it has Aceves in it.

 

Moving Scutaro didn't make sense, unless there is something I'm missing. For 2 years he was pretty consistent, and I'd rather have that than uncertainty at SS.

 

I'm not even entirely sure what the RF situation is, I'm guessing a platoon situation. Ross and Kalish when he is healthy, right? I'm ok with this and would of rather gotten a SP than a RF so I'm not really gonna complain.

 

The Ortiz situation was blown out of proportion, and I'm not too concerned about it.

 

I'd give him higher if he worked on the Rotation more but that can change during the season, hopefully when it's not too late. Also the Scutaro thing.

[Dojji]

Weren't they rumored to have tried for Garza and Floyd numerous times?

 

Yes they were. I remember the arguments. Garza is not loved here.

[Dojji]

I'd like to see the people who voted A' date=' and hear their reasoning behind it, but I'm guessing that was all just trolling anyway. This board sure has become a parody of itself lately.[/quote']

 

Actually, I think it's recovering nicely from the Mutual Agreement Society it had been for awhile. This place had been a skeleton of itself for most of last year, all of us rising and falling with the tide of the team. The fact that some of us have had the wit, sense and maturity to put last season completely behind us, and some obviously have not, gives us a great springboard to have actual discussions here.

 

As for Cherington, there's not a lot he did that I would not have done. Improvements to the team are not always possible, or feasible. I'm not sure how all you people who are so menstrual about improving the team would have actually improved it if you were in charge, once you consider all the pertinent facts.

 

Cherington cannot override ownership directives, and ownership directives stipuated that the payroll wasn't to increase beyond a certain threshold. If you have a problem with that, put it on Henry's desk, not Cherington's. His job is to make the best use of available resources, and he made some competent moves.

 

Cherington's moves indicate that he seems to think that this roster underperformed last year and should be expected to improve on its own. The one head scratcher is Scutaro, and frankly, I never liked Scoot all that much, I thought he was a very mediocre defender who was worse than the stat sheet showed because of his poor arm.

 

Franklt one of the better things Cherington can do over the next 3-4 years is NOT make big splashes trying to grab one more elusive playoff season. This roster needs to turn over, and with some of the strangling contracts it has to choke down, that will take awhile. It's not a popular opinion, because ownership was spinning moonbeams about a perennial contender for decades, but one too many mistakes between 08 and now has set the mechanism off kilter and more and more radical steps were taken to try to save it.

 

We need to let the minor leagues regenerate for awhile, get some of the guys dominating A ball up onto the team before we make more desperate lunges at the top. If we can win in the meantime, great, but the time to force wins is over for right now, and will remain so until we can generate some young power bats and at least one more bigtime arm to augment what we have.

[mvp 78]

What the heck does that mean. Don't make this personal' date=' it is inappropriate.[/quote']

 

Muggah has made a career about calling out pollyannas, but that's not personal?

[User Name]

Muggah has made a career about calling out pollyannas' date=' but that's not personal?[/quote']

 

Remember, it's only personal if others call them out. Everyone is fair game for them.

[seabeachfred]

LOLLL I gave him an "A" just so I could read a bunch of old grandpas pooping their pants over it.

 

Well if you did I got one half of it right, and will see if the other person who gave Cherington an "A" will come out of the fog and fess up. I do question your reason for doing so because I cannot believe you believe he really deserved an "A". Then I can't get inside your head Emmz. Kuddos for coming out and admitting it though.

[User Name]

In the post which you just quoted it says she did it to get a reaction.

[jung]

I have thought from the beginning of the off season that the problem this team has is more than a one off season problem and efforts to solve it in one season would likely just result in a deeper hole. Besides what I think hardly matters anyway. Clearly the Boss decided to tighten the purse strings at least until the Sox can get out from under the big contracts that are not yielding anything.

 

If Crawford had had a better year last year JH might have been less spend averse but clearly the Crawford signing left a mark. Right or wrong JH is the boss and he calls the tune.

 

If anything JH may have just decided that he is going to be "from Missouri" for awhile. Never might what these players should do. Show me might be his current mantra.

[mvp 78]

Remember' date=' it's only personal if others call them out. Everyone is fair game for them.[/quote']

 

I still think it's amazing how personal they take everything, but don't mind s***ing on everyone else. And they complain about others' maturity!

 

I'd be psyched if this forum became just about baseball, but it's clear some people don't want it to happen.

[seabeachfred]

Bingo.

 

You are a damn trip Emmz! Your reason for your A grade made me really LOL!

 

I haven't voted, as usual.

 

And just for the record Lyn Nay, I knew it was her and not you and I explained to her the reason why. But go ahead and give him an "A" too if you wish. I love to read why you did so.