Elktonnick

You can give him all the benefit you want but I don't either the fans nor Dombrowski will. I believe Farrell was criticized up in Toronto for the his handling of the bullpen up there as well. If the Sox falter I don't think Dombrowski will hesitate from giving him the boot. In one sense Farrell is in a tough spot with Lovullo sitting there just waiting.

That's faint praise. He can't be any worse now can he?

Take it up with Mr Palmer who repeated the criticism over several broadcasts. I confess I too was skeptical until I saw how often Farrell burned relievers by warming them up and then not using them. Another possibility is the team is collecting the stats and Farrell is simply disregarding the data. There has to be some failure on Farrell's part since except for 2013 he consistently is a sub 500 manager over 5 seasons. While I am not the biggest user of all the sabermetric measures Farrell's BMAR is below major league average.

HR will do damage defensively wherever he plays. But you are correct I think HR would do less damage at third.

I don't think they are done also. I hope they make a move for more pitching. It would be nice , it fact it would be terrific, if they found some way to move Ramirez and possibly Sandoval. But I don't expect it.

First of all I think Jim Palmer is an awful analyst but not because he doesn't know baseball or pitching. He does know his stuff. He is awful on television because he talks too much and treats his audience like they are all watching their first baseball game. But if you can get by that he offers useful insight especially on the art and strategy of pitching. On that he isn't biased. Palmer's criticism of Farrell was that he burns his relievers by warming them up needlessly and not bringing them into a game after they have warmed up. Now some of that is that may have been due to the weak starting rotation but Palmer maintained that Farrell and the Red Sox were not tracking how often the relievers were warming up nor how many warm up pitches they were throwing without entering the ballgame. Showalter and the Orioles have a very elaborate system on that regard. Now that may seem incredible for a team which values every kind of statistic but Palmer maintained that was the case. After he said it a couple of times I began to notice how Farrell was doing exactly that, namely warming up pitchers then not bringing them into the game. Getting guys up then sitting them down only to get up again. Palmer thought this was one of the reasons Boston was burning so many relievers namely overworking them needlessly. It will be one of the things I will be watching very closely this year.

Batting practice perhaps. Palmer is in tremendous shape for a 70 year old

Hey so do I but he is a terrible manager especially when it comes to managing the bull pen. Because I live here I have to listen to O's broadcast when they play Boston. Jim Palmer is very harsh in his criticism of Farrell and the way he handles the bullpen.

Despite the additions the Red Sox need an another starter. Based on his past record, Buchholtz is a huge question mark. Given his past injury I wouldn't be surprised if he won't be a candidate for TJ surgery. I fully expect him to be on the DL before the ASB. Kelly is another major question mark. Apart from the rotation, Farrell's handling of the bullpen last year gives me pause that will continue to mismanage the pen again next year. I have my doubts about Koji and Tazawa's durability. The infield corners are also of great concern. Sandoval was the worst defensive 3rd baseman in the majors last year. One can't expect much better if Sox don't find a way to move him. And then there is Hanley Ramirez at 1st. It is entirely probable that Boston will have the worst 1st -3rd combination in baseball. The pair would probably win stone glove awards if such existed. They combined can easily cost the Sox 10 games. So given all that and the worst manager in the ALE, in John Farrell, the Sox are an 85 win team behind Toronto and Baltimore. The good news is I believe that DD will make every effort to move Sandoval and Ramirez if he can. I also believe that if the Sox get off to a bad start DD will dump Farrell in a heartbeat. As awful as it may sound the only reason he is still the manager was because he got sick . If they can move the Panda and Ramirez and dump Farrell then I think they contend.

I certainly think Ben was the agent of his own demise.

It may surprise you but I also agree. The problem is in execution. Cherrington used very poor judgment that's why he is no longer with the Red Sox.

Why do you think Henry didn't give Cherrington the opportunity?

Kimmi I regret that I used the term sycophant. You aren't a Cherrington sycophant. Your defense of him is more filial. If I didn't know better I'd think you were related.

It is a distinction without a difference. The Red Sox aren't most teams they simply did what they needed to do to get Kimbrel. The point is that if Cherrington were still in charge he wouldn't have gotten Kimbrel nor probably Price that's why he was fired. Henry wanted someone to change the philosophy and do what was necessary to get the team an ace. Regarding Kimbrel. You thought it was an overpay. Are you changing your tune? I answered your question now you answer one of mine. Should Henry have replaced Cherrington with Dombrowski?

217 million made more sense. Like I said before if he were so hot to play with these future prospects why does have a three year opt out clause.

1. No 2. Yes but so what every team has prospects. Like I said Cherrington was a good assistant but a lousy head guy that's why he got fired.

The Red Sox have a higher projected payroll in 2017 and 2018 than the Yankees. The value of the so called cost controlled players is purely a subjective artifice. These same players were present on the Red Sox roster a year ago and Boston didn't spend big for a nbr 1 starter. Instead they spent big for a much traveled problem child Hanley Ramirez and the worst defensive 3rd baseman in baseball. The difference between this off season and last was John Henry made a decision that the team needed a change in philosophy and direction. He said so many times during the course of the 2015. In truth every team has a certain number of cost controlled players. The major factor in Henry opening his wallet and spending big for Price was his decision to change philosophy and he cleaned house and chose new people to carry out those changes.

I didn't discredit him his boss did when he fired him for taking a Championship team to two consecutive last place finishes.

It is really amusing the lengths that some are going to come up with positives from Cherrington's tenure. The simple truth is both ownership and the overwhelming majority of Red Sox nation thought whatever positives remained from Cherrington's tenure a change in both the senior leadership and philosophy was needed. That's not to say that everything Cherrington did was bad only that there wasn't enough good for him to remain as head of baseball operations.

What is nonsense is your post that all of Dombrowski's accomplishments were because of Cherrington's efforts regarding the farm.. That's what you posted. Actually using your logic it would more accurate to say it was all due to Epstein's efforts. Since all the young the cost controlled players Vasquez, Betts Bogaerts, Swihart, Shaw and Bradley were all signed in 2011 or before Epstein's resignation. Speaking on money being available, Cherrrington's ridiculous contracts for Ramirez, Porcello and Sandoval does more to tie Dombrowski's hands.and restrict his efforts to obtain additional quality pitching. What made Price want to be a Red Sox was 217 million dollars. The other stuff you can believe if you want but if Price exercises his option he'll probably never play on the same Red Sox team with Benvintendi. I understanding you are still mourning over Cherrington's firing and will find any excuse to give him some credit. If it makes you feel better I'll concede that Cherrington did a very competent job as one of Theo's assistants. But when left to his own devices he was just in over his head. Quite frankly, once Luchhino was eased out it isn't surprising that Cherrington met the same fate. Henry decided he needed a new philosophy.

Exactly! What Theo is really saying is what every baseball fan (perhaps minus one) already knows "It's all about the money" . The rest is interview filler.

Here is the partial text of the NESN article of Epstein talking about the Price signing: “I think we ended up kind of a distant third,” Epstein revealed Wednesday night on WEEI Radio in Boston. “I think we were $50 million short or something along those lines, so his desire to maybe be in the National League and his affinity for Chicago, I don’t think it would make up that kind of a difference.” The money is a major difference-maker, but Epstein also yielded that Boston offers plenty of benefits for Price — in addition to the reported $217 million. “There was maybe a natural instinct to think that because he had played so many tough games against the Red Sox and been across the field from them, that it wouldn’t be a place that he could see himself,” Epstein explained. “But if you really look at the elements that are important to him, so many of them are important to the Red Sox — namely, a chance to win, a terrific fan base, a great ballpark, relative proximity to Nashville (Price’s hometown), so it’s a great fit. I think Red Sox fans will love David Price and he’ll really enjoy his experience there.” Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/12/theo-epstein-cubs-ended-up-distant-third-in-david-price-sweepstakes-by-50m/ Gee Theo talks about a lot of things being important but doesn't mention anything about the Red Sox Farm system being a factor. I wonder why?

"All of the moves that Dombrowski made this offseason were only possible because of the state of the farm system that Ben left the team with." That's what you posted. I repeat to say that all of DD'sthe moves were made possible by Cherrington is so silly and disingenuous that it defies description as a serious comment. Point of fact the Red Sox offered 50 million more reasons than the Cubs. Price reportedly wanted to play for John Maddon. But 50 million smackers changed his mind. It was also reported that Price liked DD and wanted to play for him. Both the Maddon angle and the Dombrowski story were nice baseball column fodder but irrelevant, just like the farm system angle. To think that the Red Sox farm system and not the dollars put the Red Sox on Price's radar is a futile and desperate attempt to discredit DD efforts and give BC some credit for Price's signing. Like what has been countless times before "Money talks and BS walks" Get over Cherrington he is gone,

BC was promoted to his level of incompetence. He was ill suited for the job from which he was fired.