FredLynn

DiceK is ours for one more year, but he isn't expected back until August. I doubt we will see him on the mound for us again.

The good players cost a total of $39.55M; the bad players cost a total of $325.30M. That is not a good track record.

Wikipedia defines ace as follows: In baseball, an ace is the best starting pitcher of any team THIS YEAR, statistically, Beckett was much better than Lester. I would consider Beckett to have been our ace this year, though I don't regard either guy as a top tier pitcher in the class of Sabathia or Verlander or a few others. Those are the guys we need to take the pressure off Beckett and Lester.

Another thing about Scutaro that is not true about many other players on the team: he is willing to go out and play when he is not 100% healthy. Solid guy; not spectacular, but solid. BTW: Iglesias may never be ready for the majors if he cannot hit the baseball far better than what he has shown so far. Scutaro may be here for a while.

I think thats probably true: the GM has to rely on his scouts for young talent. Epstein must have had some good ones, and the Rays have better ones. Still, big ticket FA acquisitions I am certain get approved and worked out by the GM. It is in that arena that I have a problem with his results.

Look, I am not disputing Epstein's record with draft picks. I admit its pretty good. What I am saying is that a GM that misappropriates nearly a third of a billion dollars of his budget is not a very good GM.

That is not factually correct. Beckett was the ace of the staff this year, if we had an ace. Beckett: 13-7, 2.89 Lester: 15-9, 3.47

Justify that. What realistic moves could be made to make us competitive for a WS ring next year. I don't see it. Too much deadwood, too many bad contracts, and not enough talented starting pitching in the FA market this year.

The only way Epstein made good for the team is by a combination of his draft choices, trades, and the "finds" he obtained. The problem is that the "finds" are so far outnumbered by his "busts" that it makes his record here ludicrous. Its over an 8:1 dollar ratio in favor of busts. In a smaller market he would not have had the opportunity to get any "finds", or far fewer, and those he thought were finds were likely busts anyway and would bankrupt his team. What exactly has he done for the Red Sox since 2007? Cameron? Lackey? Crawford? Our minor league system? Nope. All of these are in sad shape. Even his prize acquisition, Gonzalez, failed to come through this year against all the good teams except Texas. In short, he has done NOTHING for us lately. Thats why the owners let him leave.

You are right. That was opinion, not fact.

Bowden was a first round pick, the 47th overall pick, in the 2005 draft. They got Shields in the 8th round, I believe. Friedman is a much better evaluator of talent than Epstein ever was. Michael Bowden Michael Matthew Bowden Position: Pitcher Bats: Right, Throws: Right Height: 6' 3", Weight: 215 lb. Born: September 9, 1986 in Winfield, IL (Age 25) High School: Waubonsie Valley (Aurora, IL) Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1st round (47th pick) of the 2005 amateur draft. Signed June 24, 2005. (All Transactions) By the way, Epstein picked Craig Hanson ahead of Bowden that year, at #26. That sure worked out well.

NYY record since 2004: 771-525 (.595 ball, or 96 wins season ave) Boston Red Sox record since 2004: 744-552 (.574 ball or 93 wins per season ave) The Yankees have missed the playoffs once since 2004; we have missed the playoffs three times. Even the Rays have played more playoff games than we have over the past five years. There is no cogent arguement that we have been as successful as the Yankees since Epstein arrived, even though we have two rings to their one. Epstein had little to do with Ramirez and Beckett being on the team, the two key components of both rings. Friedman and Beane are both far better GMs than Epstein IMO. They have a long track record of developing great pitchers. If you like I can review for you how those staffs have done over the past several years compared to our home grown pitchers. Its not close. With one of our first round picks, Epstein chose Bowden; Friedman chose Price with one of his, for example. The ONLY reason the A's and Rays are not multiple ring winners is the money available to their GMs. I realize that this logic will not persuade folks like you, and thats fine. Believe what you like. Lets see how he does with the Cubs.

No, there is nothing I can say that will convince you of this. You and Forsythe and a few others here. Thats why they are called opinions, not facts. I gave you the reasoning behind my opinion and you gave me the reasoning behind yours. You will never convince me Epstein is anything but a mediocre GM, and I will never convince you of that either.

How many times in the last 10 years have the Yankees missed the playoffs? Getting into the playoffs gives a team the chance for a ring; not getting in is failure. Cashman is a better GM than Epstein. Furthermore, I do not agree with your hypothesis that its just big market GMs that should be compared. Beane and Friedman are FAR superior to Epstein. Give those two Epstein's budget and the results would reveal that. Showalter was right earlier this year when he said that Epstein would be nothing in a small market. It wasn't politically correct, but it was factually correct. Too bad he apologized.

I guess time will tell about that. His performance here in Boston did not warrant that generous an evaluation. He was a "C" GM IMO...at best. Even had he just saddled us with Lackey and Crawford he would be a "C" GM. He did far worse than just those two.

Thanks for the clarification. Seems that LL might be done after next year, or he might not. It was a good business decision for Epstein to take a position that was open because had the team done next year what they did this year (ie not make the playoffs) he never would have been invited back.

Cherington is a mistake IMO, but I am willing to cut him some slack and give him two years max to produce results. If he starts behaving like his former boss, he is fair game for criticism. It would be far better to completely demolish the management structure and start over with new policies and new attitudes. That won't happen, most likely, but its the smartest thing to do IMO.

You can't correct a problem when the solution is not available. Can you give me $20 when you only have $10? No. So how can he get pitching depth when there was none available? Excuse me, but isn't that his job? To identify and correct personel problems so that the team is competitive? What you have provided is excuses, and frankly, the excuse routine is getting old. I would have liked to see results. If he cannot do his job, its time to get someone who can. Really? A "C"? I mean, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Ortiz, Lester, Buchholz, Bard, Papelbon, Gonzo. And you're giving him a "C" because of some bad FA signings? Wow. You're right: a "C" is being far too generous: Busts SS Edgar Renteria (2004, 4 years, $40 million) RHP Matt Clement (2004, 3 years, $25.8 million) SS Julio Lugo (2006, 4 years, $36 million) RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (2006, 6 years, $52 million plus $51 million posting fee) RHP Brad Penny (2008, 1 year, $5 million) RHP John Smoltz (2009, 1 year, $5.5 million) RHP John Lackey (2009, 5 years, $82.5 million) OF Mike Cameron (2009, 2 years, $15.5 million) RHP Bobby Jenks (2 years, $12 million)

Before the 2011 season began, Theo discussed that he thought the team needed more SP depth, and that was one of their biggest weaknesses. If you don't think he attempted every possible angle at addressing that need, you're wrong The bottom line is that he failed to correct the problem. Thats on him. Period. His only downfall was FA signings, and regardless of those, his other attributes more than made up for the bad signings. Interesting opinion. I would not call wasting nearly a third of a billion dollars on FA busts acceptable in any way, regardless of what other areas he did well in. I would grade him a "C" overall as a GM. Sure he brought us two rings (which we would not have won without Manny Ramirez and Josh Beckett, two guys he had little or nothing to do with obtaining), but his waste of money that could have been spent far more wisely outweighs any success he had in other areas....IMO.

Exactly which position was available within this organization for Epstein to move up in a way he moved up when he joined the Cubs? Isn't Lucchino blocking further advancement by being the club President? Just trying to understand the corporate structure. I think that Henry loved Epstein for whatever reason. If there is a smear campaign when he leaves I will change my mind, but I have read nothing that says otherwise. On the other hand, if someone wasted a third of a billion of my dollars on FA busts, I would be pretty pissed at him.

If we can get someone who will help us in the future, especially a young SP with promise, I trade Beckett in a heartbeat. He is front and center in the clubhouse chaos. I don't really care who our SP are for 2012. We are not going to win a ring next year. Before we can construct a winner we have to demolish a large part of the current team. Fortunately, that is well under way with the departure of Francona and Epstein. That had to happen before any of the players could be changed. Now we can move forward and get rid of the deadwood on this team.

Glad to know who I am keeping company with. You can add IPOT, Muggah, and Brennan to that list...and maybe Elktonnic.

Who would want to accept Lackey, the worst starting pitcher in baseball statistically, for anybody? Whoever takes that trade is taking a step down in talent level. I think that he is going to have to be released eventually. I am more worried about Beckett next year than Lester. I think Lester is still capable of having a good year. This year was not great for him, for sure, but he will be back. Beckett, on the other hand, is a punk with a crappy attitude who is likely to react to all the bad publicity he is receiving. I expect a poor season from him. We should plan to get rid of him after this season in preparation for the 2013 team, the next year that we will be relevant IMO.