SoxSport

I hope not Valentine. He was set up to fail this year--though he did help. My impression is he had no authority at all except maybe to piss. He looks pretty down at this point, and won't want to come back anyways. They need somebody who is good with young players. Valentine said today in his press conference he's signed for next year, so he assumes he'll be back. But with the change in direction, I don't know if he's the right guy for the job.

I'm fed up with Papi's act, and would like to see him disappear. It would be nuts to pay him another $14 mil next year--he's proven himself to be fragile, even as a DH, and a big pain in the ass. The guy is afraid to play with a little pain. Screw him. Write prima donna on his locker. Too bad the upper mgt loves this guy--he's one of their problems. They don't want to see him play for the Yankees. Who cares at this point. They'll never pay him $14 mil. Only the Red Sox are foolish enough to pay him that kind of money. But maybe not next year. Surprise. Aviles is another guy they have to move off SS to improve. Will Iggy or Siriaco get a shot? Looks like Valentine will have to shoot Ben first. Aviles is not a good enough hitter to play 1B. Ross is a nice idea. Wonder if he can play there. It's tough for an outfielder to move to the infield, unless they've played IF before. Gomez--4 hits last night. Deserves a serious shot--as does Ciriaco at SS.

Sure. It's always been the pitching. But you look at how this team fails pitching-wise every year lately, and you have to wonder what they are doing wrong--this obsession with pitch counts, coddling pitchers--limiting their innings --like Cook last night--after all the poor guy only had 3 days rest--72 pitches is enough; their lengthy rehab policy--not rehabbing starters in the BP a few appearances; two pitching coaches (!) this year at the same time--it's all so inefficient. Why do their starters freak out after 5-6 innings? Because that's all they are conditioned to pitch for. They have weak arms from not throwing enough pitches. Conversely, the bullpen guys are overworked because they only throw 1 inning after a substantial heatup in the BP. Once again, terribly inefficient. In the middle of this is their cockamamy trainer, who pulls rank with the manager.

Bring Youkilis back. They'll need a hitter at 1B. Ortiz can't stay healthy DHing at this point. Hardly worth $14.5 mil on this team. Loney and Gomez need to play a bit. Unfortunately, Cherington et al had no plan during the season, stubbornly clinging to the status quo. In the process, they gave away Lars Anderson and Youkilis, two first baseman--and now have nobody to replace AdGon. The management has been the team's big problem. Henry finally stepped in and pulled the plug over a glass of wine with Stan Kasten of the Dodgers. He might be the only one left that doesn't have his head up his ass.

The team is better off giving all their young prospects a chance than buying any high priced tickets where they have to give up too much. They have 2 or 3 young pitchers now who look like they can be top of rotation guys. They have a kid Iglesias who could be a top defensive SS, plus Lavarnway who could be a top catcher. Plus Kalish in the OF, who needs experience to blossom. And from what I've seen of Valentine lately, they'll need a new manager who has some fresh ideas--and some authority. Valentine looks burned out.

About a quarter of the $2 billion selling price for the Dodgers was Fox TV cable revenue. The TV profit was built into the price. That's what caused Mark Cuban to walk away from buying the Dodgers. The Magic Johnson group that overpaid for the Dodgers is under a lot of pressure--not unlike the Marlins group. They have to win now. And they have to spend to do it. There is only one way to fill the seats--and that's to win. The Red Sox have been badly mismanaged the last few years in the front office. Their biggest problem isn't beer and chicken--or the clubhouse media soapsuds. Their problem was their huge payroll, filled with humungous long term contracts to players not producing anywhere near their salaries. Well, along came their savior, the LA Dodgers, who were looking to spend on stars in a big way. Henry took care of their problem in about 10 minutes meeting with Kasten, the Dodger President, who will be known in the future as the guy who bailed out the Red Sox. But the Red sox are not out of the woods yet. After all, pretty much the same cast and crew who spent like drunken sailors are being asked to rebuild the team. Risky business, Mr Henry.

Possible, but gutting all your stars is no way to sell. When Harrington was ready to sell the team, Duquette went out and signed Manny R. to a ridiculous contract. I think in this situation the only way they could unload Beckett and Crawford was to package them with AdGon, whom they didn't want to deal. But the Dodger deal was too good to pass up. A once in a lifetime opportunity to unload a shitload of salary.

Those kinds of things don't get to the media in other cities.

Valentine has been managing on the edge recently. Leaving in Aceves too long to get bombed. Then not telling him he wasn't closing the next night--no excuse for Aceves blowing up-- Now he takes Cook out with a 9-3 lead after 72 pitches, and gets bitten in the ass by the bullpen. Frankly, Bobby is no improvement over Tito in game managing. Lucchino should have let Ben pick the manager. The Red Sox are one big battle of egos.

Why was Cook taken out after 6 innings, 72 pitches, 9-3 lead? Did he pitch any of the 7th?

Hope it's not Valentine. He has outlived his usefulness. They now need a manager experienced with developing younger players. Not what they needed the beginning of this year. The needs have changed.

Right. Kasten-Lucchino. President levels.

The media is saying the Red sox are much weaker without AdGon and Crawford. A case of conventional wisdom. In reality, Crawford stunk last year, was not available 1st half this year; Adgon stunk 2nd half last year and first half this year. And the Sox still were one of the top hitting teams. Neither was a major factor, in my view. Pitching was a much more important factor, and Beckett had a big negative effect this year. I think they were better off not getting AdGon and Crawford. A pity they still don't have Youkilis. He got kicked off first base in a huge Epstein mistake. Maybe they'll get him back next year. Remember when the media annointed the Red Sox when they got Crawford and AdGon last year? Don't listen to them. They follow the money. Now they're gushing over the Dodgers, who are over a barrel financially.

The reality is the initial phone call from the Dodgers came to Lucchino. That tells you something about who is running the show. Cherington and the front office probably had the job of sorting out the prospects, though that writer on the LA Times had the trade personnel on Thursday nite, before it was made. Also, Chad Finn tweeted Thurs nite something big was in the works, and I posted it here. That LA Times guy may have gotten the goods when they were working on it. Hard to see how he would have guessed all the prospects right, except Dejesus-- a minor piece. I think this deal was in the works for longer than meets the eye. All the waivers were done to set up the deal.

Following this story a couple of days now, and it seems to me this is a classic example where the lack of a PR spokesperson really hurts this organization with the fans and the media. There is no single voice available to explain the real situation. Instead, a bunch of different stories from who knows where. The incompetence on the Red Sox starts with the higher ups. The organizational structure was shattered last fall with the firing of the VP/GM and the manager, and changes in the medical/training staff. It was further complicated by a disastrous management search which fragmented the organization into a number of competing factions. At this point, it still isn't clear who is responsible for what. The blamegame points to Luchino and Henry. Lucchino has to be removed from the running the team, and replaced by a VP/GM at Epstein's former level. Somebody with experience enough to make big decisions.PR needs to be overhauled--one voice is needed to the fans and media. I don't think the current organization is capable of getting out of this mess they got themselves into. Changes upstairs are needed. I hope Henry has brought in some outside consultants by now to deal with the chaos.

Good you noticed. He's a SS, but Cherington would have to take his thumb out of his ass to move Aviles from there.

So they suck. Off season, they will change the manager and a couple of coaches. Maybe the trainer. And they'll still suck next year unless they get a front office that can get the right personnel on the field. Which they have failed miserably at this year--and the past couple of years. The Red Sox problem is with Henry, Lucchino and the front office. The media has overlooked that they have lost the top 3 in the FO the past couple of years. You have to think that could be the crux of the problem--or close to it. Plus the lack of leadership at the very top of the organization.

That '67 triple crown season was about the greatest season I've seen a player have. Dick Williams always said that. In the mid 50s , Mantle would have these awesome seasons, too. Hitting about .360 with 40-50 HRs. But Yaz did it in a pennant run, and he was dominant down the stretch.

Sounds reasonable. Also an opportunity for the media to twist the facts a bit and make a non-story into a story.

Whatever the Yankees did, it would have been private and not criticized in the media. The Yankees don't get a lot of media criticism--in case you haven't noticed. The Red Sea parts for the biggest media market.

Maybe the mistake made was in having busses ready to transport the troops, as if it was a must-attend event.

The line was originally penned by James Jones in his book "From Here to Eternity". In the successful movie of the 1950s based on the book about Army life in Schofield Barracks, Pearl Harbor, just before the 1941 attack, Pruitt, the bugler, played by Montgomery Clift, replying to a question about why he should love the Army that's treating him badly, says "Just because you love something, it doesn't mean it has to love you back." One of the memorable lines in the novel and the movie.

That would be John Hart.

Yeah, and Iggy is still festering in the minors. He could have been a real spark if brought up earlier.

What killed this team was hubris in the management--right up the line. Hubris leads to complacency.Complacency has been apparent for several years. Just letting opponents steal all those bases was a sign of complacency. They figured stolen bases couldn't hurt them. The stats show it did. Francona used to give up sometimes if the score was too lopsided against them. Plus he never took early in the season very seriously--it seemed. Another sign of hubris. Even now, the front office in denial is a sign of hubris. They did nothing at the trade deadline because they were sure this was the same team of 4 years ago. They sure were wrong.