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  1. SoxSport
    Just read Youks' remarks in the Globe in a radio interview. Looks like somebody was trying to make him a fall guy--of all people. He's a plugger--like Pedroia. When he falls, the team falls. Having a hernia operation tommorrow. Do you think he ever would admit the switch back to 3B was too tough for him? Not on your life. The trouble with the Sox is they don't have enough Pedeys and Youks. These guys make ridiculous salaries--seen the stock market today? But they are fodder for other people who make a living writing stories or talking about them.
  2. SoxSport
    The only two beer drinkers left next year will be Lester and Beckett.
  3. SoxSport
    Cafardo had a ton of names in his column this morning with the Globe. Maddon's bench coach is a consideration. It depends on who Henry and Werner like. It also depends on what's in store for Epstein. My guess Epstein will be dealt with first-quickly. Then the new manager. I also think the coaching staff will be changed completely. They probably want a clean break--with the clubhouse problems that have surfaced. Under the circumstances, none of the present coaches should be retained.And none should be considered for manager. Here's one hunch. Anybody who can turn Crawford around will get priority. That could mean somebody from Tampa Bay. They have a boatload of money tied up in that guy.
  4. SoxSport
    all the ones that are overweight and out of shape.
  5. SoxSport
    LaRussa ain't goin' nowhere. Neither is Duncan. Better to wait until after the playoffs--to see who's available. It will be somebody with experience, at least bench coach; somebody preferably known and media friendly (more important to management than you think), and somebody who is on the same wavelength as management as to how to fix the Red Sox. Somebody with Tito's interpersonal skills, but who is tougher with the players and more intense about winning, and more skilled with fundamentals and game managing. That's a tall order, but these guys are well-paid. Better than most executives.
  6. SoxSport
    I think Epstein hasn't done that great a job the last 8 years--considering the amount of money he has wasted. Neither championships are completely of his own doing, and the last three years they haven't won a playoff game. I don't think Theo has much of a feel for how to establish a team with chemistry. He has gotten into the "throw money at free agents" mode, simply because the money is there. And he thinks he can change players' positions around like checkers on a board. There are better GM options out there. I would go after Billy Beane or John Hart. Hart is an analyst on mlb.com, and clearly has a lot of smarts. Beane was non-committal in the Costas interview when asked if he was interested in going to the Cubs. That plum may be there for the picking, Lucchino. The question is whether the top dogs (Henry/Werner) have enough balls to pull the plug on Theo. After all, Theo has been left pretty much alone to run the candy store for quite awhile.
  7. SoxSport
    The answer is both. Building within is better, but takes time. Free agents are quick fixes if you have the money, but they are grossy overpaid and coming off contracts years you usually never see again. The other option is trading. Often salary dumping, nowadays. You can get good players that way, taking on salary, but you can't unload your bad ones without eating salary. It's a tough world.
  8. SoxSport
    I don't know what this media bitching about Youkilis is all about. The guy was asked to changed positions a few years ago--became an all-star at 1B--the asked to go back to 3B. At some point in the 2nd half, he broke down with a sports hernia--probably playing with it. Anybody out there ever had a sports hernia? I have, and I can't see playing 3B with one.And he had a slow start coming back from that thumb injury last year. Youks and Pedroia are the two indispensible position guys on the Red Sox. The Sox broke down last year late when both went down, and they broke down again in September this year when Youks went down. The middle of the lineup almost disappeared in September with Youks and AdGon subpar.
  9. SoxSport
    Belichick has a sign in the Patriots' locker room: Don't listen to the media. The players should know the media is entertainment. And they can be part of that entertainment. If you followed the Globe the last week or so, you would know that it's all about today: they changed their story on the Red Sox almost every day. First, defending status quo. Then after Francona was gone, it was-- what about everybody else? The most sensible article was Mazz' one today. He actually had the audacity to question the committment of the owner Henry to win. Makes sense. After all, the problem always starts at the top.
  10. SoxSport
    The problem is the whole organization is at fault, and only Francona is suffering the consequences. There is a whole lot of ass-covering going on here--by everyone. Tito was fired--for sure.
  11. SoxSport
    Salty faded in September, but that was understandable for a first year regular catcher. They only carried him and old Tek the whole season. VMart could have come in handy. Epstein's fantasy team was better last year with Vmart and Beltre. All this talk in Boston about catchers who can't throw out runners is BS. They have been stealing on the pitchers, who don't hold runners on as a policy. It's part of their poor or misguided fundamentals problem. Maybe a new GM is in order who doesn't coddle starting pitchers. Cripes, they even wanted Buchholz to go down to Florida and throw 10 pitches before joining the roster the last game.
  12. SoxSport
  13. SoxSport
    I don't think Youkilis belongs in that group. Youkilis is almost as important to the team as Pedroia. Last year's collapse was coincident with Youks and then Pedroia getting hurt. This year, the September collapse coincided with Youkilis being injured again. Youks and Pedey are the heart and spirit of this team--whatever is left of it. Youks has a sports hernia right now, and you wonder if the move to 3B was too much for him. And with AdGon's shoulder bothering him, you have to start 2nd guessing the deal Epstein made for AdGon. His 2nd half stats dropped dramatically, 10 HRs, OPS .893. Incredibly, those two much bally-hooed preseason pickups, AdGon and Crawford, seem to have backfired on them. Messed up their chemistry.
  14. SoxSport
  15. SoxSport
    No doubt the Rays have benefitted from their position in the draft. They also draft pitching very well. The kid who just threw the shutout, Moore, was drafted about 28th. The Red Sox since the Yawkey days have always stressed hitting over pitching. That has been their downfall over the years, in my view. Even now, their drafting doesn't have the same emphasis on pitching as Tampa Bay's. Epstein has traded away young pitchers for hitters (Masterson and Kelly), choosing to spend big bucks on FA pitchers like Lackey. He might have been better off not renting VMart for Masterson, and not trading for AdGon. Now he has both AdGon and Youks hurting. Theo hasn't done a lot right the last couple of years.
  16. SoxSport
    It goes way beyond that. There's plenty of blame to go around. The manager, however, is usually the one to get the axe first.
  17. SoxSport
    Translated, that means we don't see anyone better who's available. The Rays, by the way, made suki-yaki of the Rangers tonite, 9-0. Shoppach, .176 hitter, 2 HRs. Dirt Dog Damon, HR. This team is on a roll--shades of the Giants last year.
  18. SoxSport
    That was pretty obvious this year. It's a sign that the team management had become complacent about winning. I'm talking about the front office, too. If they had winning in their gut, Pedey would have had that C on his uniform at the start of the year. And they might have had the stronger clubhouse leadership they lacked. This club has deeper management problems than Tito. Epstein is way overrated. They won his first year in 04 with a team largely built by his predecessor, Dan Duquette. And they won in 07 because they made a trade for Beckett and Lowell when Theo was in his gorilla suit somewhere. A deal he wouldn't have made--even though Hanley R. turned out to be a good player (who could wind up back in Boston next year, by the way). Don't think the FO doesn't remember the gorilla suit. If they had a good alternative to Theo, you might see him go as well. They probably don't.
  19. SoxSport
    I think they missed Youks. No doubt he's a plugger. But switching to 3B may have been too much for him at his age. Another miscalculation by Epstein, who did not make things easy for Tito this year with all those lineup changes. Clearly, Tito had problems handling it.
  20. SoxSport
    They won a couple of championships. You have to give them credit for that. Yawkey never did. Remember the 07 Series against Colorado? Tito pushed all the right pitching buttons--pitching only the 3 or so bullpen guys who were effective. I think complacency set in the last two years. Injuries last year suggested a lack of conditioning. This year, there has been very little team play. Guys were up there hitting away every at bat, regardless of the situation. Tito's laissez faire approach got away from him. He could have used a few of the old dirt dogs. Pedey and those guys pushing in contract years weren't enough.
  21. SoxSport
    I don't remember. Just a lot of general stuff about managing. Plus a few good words about Tito. You got to think ESPN had him interviewed for a reason, though.
  22. SoxSport
    I just saw Valentine interviewed on ESPN. Some of what he said you could interpret as an audition. He also said nice things about Francona, which you would also expect.
  23. SoxSport
    Francona is leaving because they aren't picking up his option. Because Tito has long service with the team, he probably is being given some rope here--to make it look like he's decided to leave. After all, Henry and Werner know it isn't all Tito's fault. There's a lot of blame to spread around the organization. I would expect all the coaches to go, for one. For another, you wonder if Epstein is being let off the hook. He is also a part of the problem--though it's more complicated to let him go.
  24. SoxSport
    Apparently, Francona is out officially. That's the word on mlb.com I'm hearing Valentine's name in a number of places. He seems a good fit in terms of team needs. Smart, experienced, disciplined, fundamentals oriented, good with media (a part of the media, actually). I would suspect the coaching staff will be cleaned out, as well. The new manager should bring in his own people, though the GM has a hand in that, too. Some of the other guys mentioned don't have the experience to handle the Red Sox clubhouse situation right now. These are a bunch of talented guys who have been given too long a leash--for too long. Try handling that without prior managing experience in MLB.
  25. SoxSport
    Apparently, the word came from above a few hours after that press conference. Looks like there was a Lucchino plus owners meeting that did not include Epstein. Epstein is not in the clear yet. In most vertical organizations, you are fired by those two levels above you. For Francona, that would be Lucchino. For Epstein, it would be Henry and Werner.
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