SoxSport

Melancon should be gone. The others should stay. Melancon will be hard to get rid of, since it might bruise Cherington's ego.

Remember when all the pretty young girls in the country went to Hollywood, to try to become movie stars? Well, maybe you don't remember. Nowadays, those pretty young girls are all getting into TV broadcasting.

They ought to bring their AAA manager, Beyeler, in to manage the Sox next year. I see he's already joined the Red Sox coaching staff for the rest of this year. Good move. He knows all those young players, and has had a hand in developing them with some success. If they want to get the most out of Iggy, Beyeler is the guy to do it. I'd like to see Gomez get a shot, too. Looks like he can hit at the ML level.

Yeah, but no Beckett, no 07 championship. And Hanley has regressed. Youks looks like he has declined, too, after a few seasons of injuries. Switching to 3B didn't help, either. Ells and Pedey are still here, though Ells will be gone at some point. Rizzo got traded by San Diego, so he wasn't a sure thing. Reddick is a low on-base, low average guy who has developed power in the majors. Maybe one of Cherington's mistakes trading him.

Aceves s*** the bed again today. The writers are calling for his head. Instead, they should go after Valentine's head--or what's left of it after a season of frustration. Looks to me as though Aceves has become a whipping boy for what ails the team--which is bad management--right up the line. The guy has been asked to do just about everything this year except maybe clean the clubhouse toilets (I say maybe), and everybody's wondering why he is cooked. In the absence of a closer and setup guy, Aceves was asked to plug the closer hole, which he did in a reasonable fashion--considering he is not a closer. All the while, Bard was still struggling as a starter, if only to satisfy the front office egos who put him there--with disastrous consequences. And then, when it was time for Bailey to start closing again, Aceves was just pushed aside--ignored by the manager.Not told of the change. It seems as though everything the Red Sox have done with their pitching this year has blown up in their faces. They have done little right--no wonder Henry threw up the white flag and is trying to get more management help. They have f**ked up two careers, Bard and Aceves, for different reasons. Bard, one of the best setup guys in the game, was moved to starter; Aceves, the jack of all pitching trades, was victimized by a lack of communication by his frustrated manager. He has now joined the growing ranks of Red Sox underachievers. In the meantime, the Yankees are salivating--just waiting for the Red Sox to release Aceves--so they can grab him back. Henry knows the score. He realizes by now he has a bunch of unhappy players--because his management sucks.

Lucchino's statement that they plan to take a more aggressive approach in advancing prospects is an admission of the failure to do so in the recent past. It is significant to me because it's something I've noticed and commented on as a criticism of the Red Sox the last year or two. That was particularly noticeable with Kalish, whose career was affected by keeping him in AAA two years ago when Bill James had him breaking out in Boston. He got hurt in Pawtucket, and hasn't yet gotten back to where he was.The failure to promote Lav and Iggy pre-season may also perhaps be an example, though both seem to have benefited from a year with Arnie Beyeler--who has managed well enough in Pawtucket to be a serious candidate for the Red Sox job next year. I wish this love affair with Farrell would disappear--he will cost a good prospect, and he was overrated as a pitching coach. The pitching sucked his last two years, and his starters were stolen blind on the bases. The other guy I like for manager is Brad Mills, who kept the Red Sox in good shape coming out of spring training as bench coach. That was clear after he was replaced, and they started the next two seasons poorly with Demarlo Hale as bench coach. Clearly, Tito was a hands off guy, and needed strong coaches to run the team. The other thing I've suggested is a senior VP type to run the team. Cherington's boss right now is essentially Henry, and that's inadequate for a first year GM with a team that is reloading. It is a thin organization vertically. The rehiring of Bill James and others, now we are learning, to help in player evaluations, is another admission that things haven't gone so well for Ben this year with trades and other personnel moves (Bard comes to mind). We know that Lucchino cleaned house of the saber consultants a few years ago to save a few pennies, and it may have cost them in Epstein's big money fiascos. There is also talk of bringing in another senior VP type from the outside to run the team--one suggested is Toronto's asst GM. Henry clearly loves Cherington, but sees the need to replace Epstein with somebody more senior. I suspect he and Werner have brought in management consultants to look at the organization. I hear also they are taking a look at how they handle their pitching--an admission that maybe it just isn't the pitchers themselves that are the problem for the weak arms and the underachieving that characterizes the staff. We've talked about that here, too. It's comforting to see that the top brass of the Red Sox are seeing some of the problems that I (and others) have seen. It's surprising that these perceptions from a distance turn out to be accurate.

I think the question is whether they will contend again as long as Henry owns the team. They still have basically the same management organization that wrecked the team. Henry made a good move selling off his overpaid underachievers, but I wonder if he has the management pieces in place to rebuild. Doubt it. His front office looks junior and overmatched against those of the best teams. They have lost too many senior types to other GM and higher jobs. And they lack a senior VP of team operations--Epstein's old job.

You look at the starters, and none of these guys --almost--have survived the season. The question is why? They should be looking at their training methods, because durability does not define Red Sox pitchers.

I think the assumption is the Bobby V experiment will end after the season. The dynamics have changed. This is a team in total rebuild mode. I'd like to see the PawSox manager get the job. He's done a great job, and knows a lot of the young players who are important for the Red Sox future. He clearly knows how to handle youngsters, and kept his team winning even though his best players were getting called up.

Too much emphasis on Iggy's hitting. Leave it alone. Same with Lav. Takes awhile to get in gear when you move up a league. It's not that they have Tulo or Johnny Bench waiting in the wings. Same deal with this guy Gomez, who keeps hitting when he plays. They should stick him at 1b and see what he does. Loney is a banjo hitter. So is Aviles, for that matter. OBP below .300. Not a regular on a good team. Nothing to lose on both counts.

You got to admire those hotties they put on the NFL and MLB channels. Dress 'em up in designer clothes, bare legs, great makeup and hair (usually bleach blonde), and give 'em a script where they talk like experts. Great stuff. Better to look at than those boring male analysts--except for the ex-players, of course. You listen to them, and look at the girls.

Iggy is making $2.5 mil per year right now, and they sure as hell better give him a real chance to play SS, or they are flushing a lot of money down the drain. The kid has played well enough in AAA. What's needed is a little patience. He's a great fielder at a defensive position, SS. He needs the kind of patience that made Ozzie Smith a great player. The guy they need to unload is Loney. Good field, no-hit first baseman are useless.

Imagine. The Pawsox winning the IL title with most of their best players in Boston. Their manager should get a serious look for the Red Sox next year.

Gomez is hitting around .300 with some pop. His main problem is his defense at 1B. Defense has always been the question for him in the minors. But he might make a good DH--if the owner didn't love Ortiz, that is. They'll never get rid of Papi. Maybe Henry should teach him how to play soccer. Playing Loney, Aviles and Pods is a big waste of playing time. They should be looking at the kids. Dejesus looked a bit nervous tonite. Booted a little league grounder at 2B. Iggy should be playing innings. You can't learn how to hit sitting on the bench.Lav as well. Cutler is having a terrible night--worse than the Red Sox.

This looks like a highly plausible story. Henry denied all this today on WEEI, but that should be expected. It's much too early to let the cat out of the bag. Besides, the cat probably isn't even in the bag yet.

Screw them. Henry has a bad organization and won't admit it. Wish he would sell the team. They can't possibly turn it around even in a few years because they haven't kept up with improving the team with youngsters, and have signed too many bad free agents. They are just about where the Orioles were a few years ago.

Now is the time to be looking at the farm system. Except the Pawsox are in the playoffs. Still no excuse for not playing Iggy or Gomez. These guys don't exactly inspire confidence in the way they handle their young players. The organization at this point just plain sucks. Crawford must be ecstatic. He'll be able to steal bases again next year.

99,999 consecutive sellout. At least Henry is making money. Wait 'till next year.

All of the Red Sox starters are now pretty much 4-5 innings starters, and the FO needs to ask itself what it is doing wrong that the starters don't go deeper into games. The arm strength isn't there.

The Red Sox need to rethink how they use their pitchers. Doubront and Morales have worn down the 2nd half from overuse? Or maybe from a lack of conditioning? Aceves was abused by Valentine, and hotly reacted--for which he gets criticism. You don't get rid of a guy like that for a bunch of BS. He was one of their best pitchers this year--did everything asked of him except clean the toilets. You have guys like Melancon come over here and pitch like little leaguers. How does that happen? That tells you something about Cherington and the Front Office--but Henry isn't listening, except for rehiring James and other consultants who were wrongly let go a few years ago to save a few bucks--literally.And what about Hoyer and Byrnes? Were they replaced? Who knows.

Iggy gets benched after 4-5 games for going 1 for 17 or so. They don't do things like that in Tampa Bay or Baltimore. When you see what this organization has become, it's hard to see them contending again soon, unless Henry sells the team and there is some real housecleaning in the organization-- right up the line.

Hate to see them overpay Ortiz, but their hitting is pretty weak and it looks like they have no choice. The question is whether they offer him more than one year. I wouldn't, considering he can get hurt just walking around the bases on a HR. Aside from V, who will surely be fired--the FO will get their way this time, though they don't deserve it-- I think there's a 50/50 chance Ellsbury gets traded for a pitcher. They have a surplus of outfielders, and Ells has a weak arm for CF and can't draw walks batting leadoff. Stolen bases are an afterthought on this team. And oh yeah, Boras... V will cost the team $5 million for one year of BS. Take that, season ticket holders and NESN subscribers.

I like Grandy, too, but I think the Yankees will re-sign him. He's too good a hitter in Yankees stadium. And a nice guy. Right now, his numbers are down, and he's not a great OBP guy, so we'll see what he wants. I can't see them re-signing Ellsbury with Boras as his agent. Boras thinks his players are God and deserve top dollar. He sometimes builds ridiculous cases for them. Owners like Henry and the Phillies owners don't like to deal with Boras. That's why they didn't re-sign Madsen. Lucky for them.

Try reading his books on baseball. Paterno isn't baseball. Besides, I don't think he defended Paterno. He was just defending Paterno's rights vs the media, as I recall. But that's another issue for a different thread. Henry is an admirer of James and sabermetrics. A few years ago, the Red Sox decided to save money and unload all their saber consultants, who cost them a pittance relative to their regular staff. Why Henry allowed this to happen is Henry's problem. The result was disastrous--a bunch of bad or unnecessary and expensive free agents. Henry was lucky enough to find a daddy, the Dodgers, who took the load off his back. Now he can start over. Hopefully, the consultants will return and they can build a team that gets walks again. And has no $20 million dollar players.

There isn't enough data to support most of the observations here. Both Iggy and Ciriaco need much more playing time--probably more than one season--to see what they can do. The Red Sox are paying Iggy $2.5million per season. Too bad they wasted most of it this year--but the FO stubbornly saw the team as a playoff contender, and kept the kids under wraps in AAA. Perhaps an early souce of frustration with Valentine.