SoxSport

I think there's good reason for optimism, but I'm concerned about Vs relationship with the front office and the conflicts with personnel. I think V wants some young blood on the team and isn't getting his way.

It's a problem only because they make it a problem--the closer is put in a position where the game is lost if he blows the save. That makes him important.

Read the Globe blame poll. The readers have the bullpen and the ownership at the top--by a large margin. When a player sucks--it's the player's fault. When a team sucks--it's the management's fault.

Just another mediocre, experienced player with no upside that Ben and the front office seem to be content with--while their hot shot prospects win games and gain experience in Pawtucket. The Red Sox roster is filled with such players these days--guys with little or no upside.

I think this might be the real situation.

First of all, don't trust anything about the Red Sox that comes out of the NY media. They will print anything to make the Red Sox look bad. The V-Aviles story is a total fabrication--based on the reaction to it. Further, it's hard to find a reason for Aviles to have a conflict with V. Aviles clearly was the anointed SS in ST, so he had no reason to be unhappy. This is just the NY media trying to stir up trouble. Remember they had the Red Sox coming hat in hand trying to get ARod back from the Rangers after the deal fell through? Pure crap. Second, it's hard to judge V's performance to this point. I think he blew that 2nd Yankee game taking out Doubront too soon, but that's just one thing. What's hurting him may be that he doesn't have all the personnel he wanted. He has had to compromise with the FO on issues like Lavarnway, Iglesias and Bard. At least based on the stories Cafardo has written. He probably wants Bard as closer in the absence of Bailey. It could be we are seeing a Bobby V who doesn't have all the pieces he wants--because the FO is having their way on personnel issues. That's a Henry/LL problem.

The Globe poll this morning on who's to blame: 24% say the bullpen 23% say the ownership. Not so nuts, pal.

...which makes you wonder about the state of the management on the Red Sox. Bard must feel like a bowling ball.

Cafardo says this morning the players aren't getting enough of the blame: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2012/04/23/red_sox_players_arent_catching_much_flak___and_they_should/?page=2 I don't know if I would agree with this. He says some of the players should have changed after last September. Well, how do you do that with guaranteed contracts? You can't eat big salaries, and you can trade them either. What you could do is maybe change the face of the lineup by bringing in young upstarts like Lavarnway and Iglesias. But management chose not to do that. They basically went with the status quo. So whose fault is it? When a team goes bad, the fault is usually at the top. It starts with Henry and Lucchino, and works its way down to the front office to the manager and the coaches. They make the decisions and set the tone. The local media has chosen to take sides--picking on the players and Lucchino, and recently on the manager, Bobby V. There has been little criticism of Cherington and the front office, nor of Francona when he left. Though the Globe did publish some private stuff on Tito's medical history, which probably had nothing to do with his managing downfall. Cafardo's column seems to shift the blame back onto the players, which was an original Globe theme. But it's not the players who decide the roster, and who plays where. And it wasn't the players who didn't immediately plug the closer hole with the obvious choice--Bard--which they are coming around to finally. And it wasn't the players who lost the Yankee game Saturday by taking the starter out too soon.

I'd like to see Tito target the front office. They were pulling the strings when he was manager.

Interesting that V is the so-called "media" guy. But V is getting a lot of scorn in the media while Ben and the front office are flying under the radar.

Tito has too much baggage to get another managing job--at least right now. But he's got a nice fat media job right now, so what does he care.

I wouldn't blame V for where they are right now, but I do blame him for the needless loss yesterday. He took Doubront out too soon. As I said in another thread, Nolan Ryan wants his starters to do deep into games--complete games if possible. If V is in Texas, he doesn't take out Doubront. There are good reasons why the Red Sox pitching has sucked the past couple of years. Look no further.

Have you seen Tazawa pitch? He has some of the best stuff and location on the staff right now--that I've seen.

Sorry I can't be optimistic about this team because I think there's a management clash going on between the front office and Bobby V that LL/Henry don't seem to be willing or able to handle. They created it, and they will have to solve it--or the Red Sox are as good as dead this year.

Cafardo in a Globe video this morning echoes the sense that Bard needs to close right now. They lost their bullpen anchor when Bailey went down, and the front office failed to recognize the need to move Bard to closer before a lot of damage was done.

You always want to pitch lefties against the Yankees. The asymmetry of Yankee Stadium, with the short right field porch, has always been their secret weapon to success. They stack their lineup with left handed hitters. In Fenway or anywhere else, you want to throw LHP against them.

The Globe says tonite Henry visited the clubhouse after the game. One of the things discussed was a changing of roles in the pitching. V said it was not out of the question that Bard would go back to the bullpen, i.e., as closer. The walls in those luxury boxes are very thin.

Youks real value is as a first baseman. I think he's too old to play 3B, but still could have some value playing 1B. But they won't get anything for him unless he starts to hit. And if he hits, they need his RHd bat.

Byrd will be just another in a list of mediocrities they are filling their holes with.

Yeah. Seems like there's no difference so far between V and Tito in the handling of pitching. They seem locked in at 100 pitches for the starter and then to the crappy bullpen. That policy is bound to make a crappy bullpen even crappier. The pitching policy looks like it's dictated by the front office. Always had the feeling that Tito was just a mouthpiece.

The problem is they have key injuries--and the replacements suck. The bullpen is in disarray because they haven't fixed the closer hole due to Bailey's badly timed injury. They also continue to overuse the bullpen --as a matter of policy. Today was a typical example. Dubront goes another inning, they probably win the game. Coddling your starters and overusing a mediocre bullpen is a recipe for disaster.