Twitter69-93
5 Oct 2012
With the firing of Bobby Valentine yesterday, the Red Sox finished up 2012 with their worst record since I’ve been a fan of the team (or since my birth). Any it really felt as bad as you might think. It was a hopeless, miserable season and it really felt like that from day one.
I’d like to take credit in predicting the outcome of the 2012 season when Bobby V was hired, but that was really a lay-up. Seriously, he wore a mustache made of eye-black strips in a dugout, seriously.
Given the Punto trade this summer, providing the Red Sox with great salary flexibility, and having no manager, the Red Sox are a tabula rasa. GM Ben Cherington has his hands full given that the 2 best free agents are both highly dubious choices for Boston in Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton. So the farm system and creative trades will probably be the primary source of a re-load.
Here’s my 2012 opening day line-up:
cf – Ellsbury
2b – Pedroia
3b – Middlebrooks
dh – Ortiz
1b – Mike Napoli
rf – Ross
lf – Kalish
c – Lavarnway
ss – Iglasias
Not a great line-up by any means but probably the best we can expect next year. I fully expect both Ortiz and Ross to be re-signed and the Red Sox might just take a flier on a mid to high level FA in Napoli. Why Napoli? He has a 1.075 OPS against the Red Sox, so taking him off the opposition’s team is a good first step. Secondly, he has a 1.107 OPS at Fenway. Just a guess though.
More important is the progress of the minor leaguers. It would be nice to think that Jackie Bradley Jr. might make a late season appearance and perhaps even Bryce Brentz.
The Rotation is also in need of major help, what with Matsuzaka a free agent (thankfully) and the Punto trade relieving us of Beckett. 2013 might look like this: Lester, Buchholz, Doubront, Morales and, and…
Of course there is the issue of the next manager. John Farrell is the leading candidate but he only won a few more games than did the Red Sox, so why is he the best choice? I’m not saying he isn’t, I’d just like to hear why they think he is.
More to come.
Oct 06, 2012 @ 09:15:00
Andy -while there is lots to discuss about the offseason in front of us as Sox fans, I haven’t given the Sox too much thought for a couple months, at least.
Not going to for a while going forward either. They honestly don’t deserve it. Owners underperformed, management underperformed, coaches and players underperformed. You likely didn’t get top level talent back for a top level 1B and a potentially mid-top level OF with the trade to the Dodgers. Got some financial relief, that is all.
I’m fine with missing playoffs, fine with losing in playoffs, fine as long as there is true effort from the top (owners) to the last guy on the roster.
None of that seems to have happened.
I’m engrossed with potential in NBA for the Celtics, the Braves …oh wait, screw job there, and enjoying my offseason from the lake
Oct 07, 2012 @ 19:40:46
Andy,
I too suspect that the Sox have a few years of rebulding to do, but having the Ortiz back in the lineup will certainly help. Pitching? Yep, that too will be a problem that needs to be addressed.
The owners now have the salary headroom to go out and buy some decent talent so they may be able to field a decent club next year. They HAVE shown a willigness to spend in the past, but like any Yankees fan can tell you, bucks don’t guarantee a WS ring.
About those (ahem) perpetual sellouts? I suspect that streak will come to an end and that some of the recently minted fair weather fans will simply move on.
Oct 08, 2012 @ 10:26:47
BL, you are right, it is about way more than just tweaking things and making a few good FA signings.
This pile of crud requires a complete culture change. Larry Lucchino has definitely lost his fastball, whether for good or he just needs to change his arm angle remains to be seen. He is seemingly oblivious to the quickness of today’s media and the sheer volume of outlets. His lame attempts to sell the sell out streak as an example are quickly and forcefully derided on the air of talk shows, on twitter feeds and other places. People, en masse, are making fun of him and the Red Sox.
Now being made fun of isn’t necessarily a determining factor in winning baseball games. But it shows that if a president is so out of touch in one part of his job, perhaps he is out of touch on the baseball ops side too.
I don’t know what the answer is but I do know it’ll take some special people to identify the problems, fix them and get back to winning games.
Oct 08, 2012 @ 10:28:55
And Mitchell, how dare you doubt the sellout streak?
Just because 50% of the fans at Fenway apparently like to view the game from somewhere other than their seats shouldn’t make you a doubter.
Oct 08, 2012 @ 12:23:54
remember the beer lines at fenway are horribly long, that is where those empty seaters are
Oct 08, 2012 @ 15:23:11
Andy – LOL. Yeah, I know I am SUCH a cynic sometimes, my bad.
Oct 08, 2012 @ 19:53:22
BL – Yep, I do believe you are right about those beer lines. Yep.
My selfish interest is: now I might have a chance to get decent seats (tiny as they are) to see the Bombers at Fenway.
Falcons look good, enjoy !
Oct 09, 2012 @ 08:12:40
good scary thing about the Falcons. They haven’t really played as well as they should yet.
Opportunistic defenses win games. The Falcons seem to be flying all over attacking the ball.
back to fenway – I remember always having to go through the beer line twice because of the two beer limit. Get two, circle back to the back of the line, drink while in line, then get two more and go to the seats.
Oct 09, 2012 @ 22:21:50
Jeez, BL. Between filling your tank with beer and then having to empty your tank a few innings later – how much of the game did you actually get to watch?
Oct 09, 2012 @ 22:25:44
luckily back in the day the tank was high capacity