a700hitter

The managerial search is no big deal. Take your pick from a pool of idiots and dunces and find one that can handle tjhe press. It's not a critical decision. It rarely is. A new manager is not going to come to Fenway and crack the whip on a bunch of veteran stars. It ain't gonna happen. The days of Dick Williams, Leo Durocher and Billy Martin are long over. Get a FO yes man who can make out a lineup, count pitches and give some vanilla answers at the post game press conference. That's who they are looking for and that's who they will get. There are plenty of them available. It's no big deal.

I have read that there will be no Luxury Tax limit for 2012. Is that accurate?

... Or maybe Ellsbury has matured as a hitter and he will continue to perform at very high levels. How are you so sure that he will regress. He's just hitting his prime years. If you are going to get Beltran, that would be a big replacement bat, but he will probably be more costly than Ortiz.

His plan subtracts the 2 most consistent bats of 2011-- Ells and Ortiz and replaces them with Kalish and Lavarnway. That would be 2 big bats departing. I didn't notice him bringing in a big replacement bat.

For a guy who doesn't want to blow up the team, you did just that. You got rid of the team's 2 most consistent hitters- both All Stars- and replaced them with a AAA player coming off spinal neck surgery and another guy with about 12 major league AB's. This would not be an improvement. This team would be fighting with Toronto for 3rd place. What would you consider "blowing up" the team-- a real bomb? LOL!

R.I.P. Champ.

The precise reason why Drew was so frustrating to fans was that he was so talented, much more so than any replacement player. Due to that fact, it was upsetting that he shut himself down for extended periods of time for minor ailments. If he had played through the minor injuries, his numbers might have suffered, but he was better at 70%. Than anyone we had on the bench.

You have to be a pretty damn good player to get 22% of the ballots in a HOF vote- not just a good player. Torre was a a star player, not just a good player. He wasn't an all time great, but he was a star.

They are going to let him come to the realization that he can no longer play. It's the right thing to do.

To be positive about the team after 2011 would constitute denial. Last off season, I was very positive about Theo and the organization. Memories are short.

People like to focus on the bad stuff. In a performance evaluation, you can tell people 9 good things and 1 negative thing, and they always focus on the negative thing. I have criticized Theo without hesitation, but I have acknowledged his good points as well, hence a balanced grade of B minus. I will criticize Ben without hesitation too, but I have nothing against him either. So far, he's doing a great job.

If I had a nickel for every time I called a Yankee fan an ass or told them to shut up, I'd be retired and that would be just for the times that I said it to family members. Do you really think a B minus is a terribly unfair grade for Theo?

He probably doesn't want to work for a team that is in such a state of disarray.

Such anger at me for critiquing the former GM. BTW, I am still hearing about Buckner and Bucky and Boone. I live in NY. 2004 didn't make it stop. Thanks Theo for adding 2011 to that mix. Now I am enjoying questions about which year was the bigger collapse 1978 or 2011. ... and the answer is...2011. Thanks again Theo for the biggest hurt put on the fans.

You buy into E1's hype that anyone who criticizes Theo must hate him or that any criticism means that the guy is a zero. LOL! I am aiming for some perspective in viewing him. The iconic facade needs to be stripped away before you can objectively judge him. B minus is a fair grade IMO.

The Red Sox stopped being miserable jokes in 1967. After that, they always had exciting competitive teams (with the exception of the Hobson managerial years). The Yankees on the other hand were jokes until 1974. In the late 60's and early 70's, Dick O'Connell the best Red Sox GM ever, produced stars at an astonishing rate and their teams of the mid and late 70's were exciting powerhouses that had to compete in the same division with 2 other powerhouses- the Yanks and the Orioles. The 1978 team won 99 games-- more than any Theo team. They won Division titles in 3 out of five years from '86 - '90 back in the days when there were only 2 divisions. I don't consider 1 division title in 9 years to be an accomplishment befitting iconic status. I am not bashing Theo, just putting him in perspective. In his swan song season he managed to produce the biggest joke of a debacle by any Red Sox team in history. In 45 years of rooting for this team, I have never seen anything like it. Theo became a cult figure in New England, but his resume doesn't back it up. Just putting him in perspective. Not bashing. There have been plenty of GMs who have been far worse - too many to list here..