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What's happening here is media overexposure to the manager search process. This stuff needs to be done under wraps. But that isn't possible these days in a major market. It's unfortunate the newbie GM Cherington is being painted as a fall guy here. But the job of picking the manager isn't the GM's job--it's the guy one level above him. In Chicago, Epstein signs off on the manager, not Hoyer. Hoyer has to talk to the media, but his boss Epstein is calling the shots. Same deal in Boston. The GM is mainly concerned with player personnel and drafting. It's Lucchino's call, and it looks like Henry wants Valentine, as has been reported all along. The clincher may have been LaRussa's World Series success. Valentine is in the same mold, and had very good Pythagoreas numbers with the Mets/Rangers--I've seen quoted in other news groups. That convinced me he's a pretty good manager. He also has a reputation as an excellent game manager. I'm also reading Minaya is in the cards as some kind of GM assistant--probably head of the Latin America effort. He may also be a connect to Beltran, whom he signed as Mets' GM.
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In most organizations, the person who hires (and fires) you is two levels above you. In the Red Sox organization, it is Lucchino, not Cherington, who is two levels above the manager. Cherington may be doing the groundwork for the manager search, but it's probably Lucchino's call as to who manages. This is the way organizations operate. These things tend to get overlooked in the media.
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Just posted in the Herald insider: Cherington said the club had decided "the possibility existed for the club to speak with another candidate with more major league experience." A club source has confirmed the Red Sox are speaking to Bobby Valentine about being the Red Sox manager. Sorry I can't copy and paste on this damn windows 7. There is a also a story in the NY Post about this today. The Globe said very early in the process Valentine was a favorite of Henry.
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Good question. I pick stuff up in the Globe, Herald, Yahoo sports, tradeRumors and other chatgroups. I saw Hazel storm off Millar's show--her final appearance.
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I don't see them in the running for Buerhle or Wilson. Too much $$. To stay below $160 mil, they will have to get somebody on the cheap. And to get another decent RHd OF bat, they may have to let Papi go. Epstein's spending spree the last 2 years--especially Crawford--has limited their options unless they want to go into Yankee luxury tax territory.
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I think the 5th starter after Aceves is fluid. There is Wakefield lurking, and you hope they can break that cord. Bard is in the picture as 5th starter, but they would have to sign a closer. My guess is Bard as closer has been in the cards for a long time. They were not going to pay big bucks to Pap with Bard the cheap closer in waiting.
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Looking at Millar and Damon, you know how they won in '04. The word is Millar introduced Tito to Hazel. Henry dropped a very big clue when he said on WEEI that he was not in favor of signing Crawford. That said a lot about Epstein.
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Looks like Cherington got overruled. He has been exiled to Cuba.
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There are too many blondes on the sidelines--most of them bleached. The network sports producers have a stilted, condescending view of what the public likes to see. Plus they feel obligated to have a woman in there somewhere. I actually heard a woman in the booth calling play-by-play in a Big Ten TV game last week on the Big Ten channel! Would you believe that? She was an older woman who had some sort of coaching experience.That's the kind of woman they should be hiring, not these movie starlets on the sidelines. Put them in the TV booth like the men, calling the games. And keep the number to 2, not 3. 3 guys in the booth talk to each other too much, which detracts from the game.
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Rosenthal is a regular on the Hot Stove show on MLB cable. I think he's one of the best pundits in the business. Has a lot of contacts. I think less of Heyman, who is a NY hack (ex Yankees beat writer), but Heyman's stock has risen since he got the story about Hoyer moving to Chicago from the Padres.
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I'm reading the Red Sox are still holding out for a major Cubs player. They are looking for a Garza or a Castro, or some other regular.
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Prediction: Bobby Valentine will be the next Red Sox manager. Valentine and Lucchino were together at a function in Hartford on Nov. 3rd. Just read that in the Globe this aft. The Sox ownership has apparently gone over the FO heads. They want a manager with major league managing experience who has some clout. Sveum was not given an offer after a meeting with Lucchino and Henry. It's clear Henry wants a name manager with experience, and Valentine appears to be the only one out there available. Interesting that Henry, who is the no.1 sabermetrics guy on the Red Sox--an expert according to the Moneyball book--prefers a LaRussa-type manager at this point. My view is saber belongs in the FO with the GM and his staff--picking the right players. The manager has to be able to play chess.
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Yeah, Hazel threw her notes up over her head and walked off the set in disgust. The two clowns, Millar and his sidekick, didn't say a word. I heard something about her going to a new job in Toronto. I say "clowns" in a positive way--these guys are fun to watch--Millar is a piece of work. He's better at this than playing baseball. Tito clearly has a lot of baggage, and there's no team that is going to touch him as manager this year. He's just doing more ass--covering, saying he doesn't want to be manager this year. Yeah, he didn't want to manage in Boston, anymore, either. And Epstein didn't want to GM there. Who's kidding who.
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Just read Abraham's article about Sveum. I had a feeling yesterday the ownership was not quite on the same page as Cherington regarding Sveum. I read something about "more interviews are possible." My impression is that Cherington, as a newbie GM, is on a short leash, and Lucchino is probably running the show on major decisions. Now the big letters in the lead at the Globe imply Sveum prefers the Cubs, but the small print in the article says Lucchino and Henry prefer someone with more major league managing experience. Translated, that could mean Valentine, as Cafardo has suggested. Apparently, Henry likes Valentine.
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The impression I got from the Globe today was she was almost let go last year. I have a feeling the Sox ownership did not appreciate her dallying with the players--and possibly the manager. You wonder if Tito's fooling around occurred before or after his marriage breakup. No doubt his marital baggage plus his losing control of the team put him out of managerial contention this year--in spite of what he says. If they want a woman for that job, she should be married and ugly. And not blonde.
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I guess Sveum's "baseball IQ" was just too high for him to be a good 3B coach.
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Heidi was implicated with Tek last year and Tito this year. Hazel Mae got bounced, too, on Millar's show at MLB cable. There were rumors about her and Tito. Maybe the message is if you want to hire a girl around ballplayers, she better be married and ugly.
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I think Tito's problem is he had been bench coach for Beane's As, and was wedded to moneyball. He probably was getting micromanaged by the FO, and constricted himself too much on the field. It appears this won't change with Sveum, so I doubt the game managing will change much.They said Sveum is coming in for a 2nd interview, but they are now also saying there won't be anyone else for a 2nd interview. So why interview Sveum twice?
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It's a tough call on what is actually going on--since the media doesn't talk about the inner workings of these dealings. And they might not even have the straight story. Pap didn't get an offer from the Sox. It's easy to figure he thought they didn't want him (probably was correct). The way to send a message to somebody is to ignore them. My guess is the Phillies suddenly became a player for him when their ownership turned down Madson (or was it, turned down Boras--also the agent of the infamous J.D.Drew who is poison in Philly). Organizations usually judge performance of their own based on the last three years. Pap has sucked two of the last three years. So has Papi. My guess is Papi goes, too, unless nobody wants him and the Sox get him cheap. Beltre, by the way, doesn't count, since his 3-year performance was on different teams.
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Somebody mentioned Boras. Boras was Drew's client when Drew refused to sign with the Phillies. Remember that? Fast forward to Madson, another of Boras' clients. Amaro, the Phillies' GM makes a deal with Madson, then brings it to ownership which turns thumbs down and signs Pap for more money. Amaro was not around when Boras screwed the Phillies about Drew. But the ownership was.