Red Sox Report: Don’t Blame Bobby!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
It seems hard to believe that the 2012 Boston Red Sox could have as bad of a start to the season as the 2011 team did, but after 3 games in Detroitt it appeared that they were well on their way. Fortunately, the Sox rallied to beat the Blue Jays 4-2 in Toronto last night for their first win of the season. But that doesn't mean that Red Sox Nation isn't looking for its pound of flesh. But if you’re looking for somebody to blame, don’t blame Bobby!
New manager Bobby Valentine has been a bit of a lightning rod for controversy this spring because of his outspoken manner which is quite a contract from his predecessor Terry Francona. There’s also the fact that there are supposedly players on the team not very fond of his managerial style, at least according to Curt Shilling. It doesn’t matter. This is not about him.
This is about a few prima donna players and a front office failure.
Let’s start with the failure of the front office. He may now be a member of the Chicago Cubs organization, but former general manager Theo Epstein did a poor job spending John Henry’s money just before bolting for the windy city.
He wasted $142 million on Carl Crawford because he didn’t believe in Jacoby Ellsbury. He also showered John Lackey with millions of dollars not whether or not he had the temperament, or the stuff, to pitch in Boston. Both players are on the disabled list along with pitcher Diasuke Matsuzaka who was another disastrous signing for the Sox. And we haven’t even mentioned J.D. Drew whose reduculous contract is finally off the books.
But to simply blame Theo would be too easy. It may be what this Red Sox ownership group would want us to do, but it wouldn’t be fair. Because even with those wasted millions of dollars, this team still had a good nucleus of players to build around.
Which brings us to a terrible mistake made by current GM Ben Cherrington and his minions. For the past few years, the Red Sox have had one of the best bullpens in baseball because they had a dominant 1-2 punch in the backend. Flame-throwing Daniel Bard was the team’s primary set-up man who handed the game over to one of the game’s dominant closers in Jonathan Papelbon. Yet, despite their success, this front office in its infinite wisdom thought it was okay to completely remake that backend of the bullpen. Boy were they wrong!
Andrew Bailey’s injury certainly didn’t help matters this spring, but you have to wonder why the organization would mess with such a good thing? Both Bard and Papelbon have an overpowering fastball making it difficult for opposing hitters to make contact against them. That is completely lacking in Boston’s bullpen at the moment.
It would have been one thing to give Daniel Bard a shot at being a starter had they re-signed Papelbon just as it would have been understandable to let Papelbon go elsewhere provided Bard would slide into the closer’s role. But to let Papelbon walk AND move Bard out of the pen and into the rotation was a colossal error in judgment by people whose sole job it is to make such decisions.
And that brings us to the aforementioned prima donna players. Most Red Sox fans know who they are. Josh Beckett heads the list of those who need a serious attitude adjustment with Kevin Youkilis not too far behind.
Beckett’s situation is laughable! Here’s a guy that was the ringleader of the Popeye’s & Bud Gang last September yet he has yet to show a single ounce of remorse for his actions. Instead he pissed off that someone outed him and his teammates. To make matters worse, he let the world know of an apparent thumb injury that he has had for more than a year now which he only now decided to get checked out. Can you say built in excuse?
The Texas Tough Guy isn’t the only one on the team in need of an attitude adjustment. There’s third baseman Kevin Youkilis who had a horrific spring which he has since followed up with a smooth 0 for 12 to start the 2012 campaign. What makes Youkilis’ attitude so annoying is his incessant complaining to umpires after being rung up on strikes. His salty attitude has also been the source of consternation in the dugout where he and Manny Ramirez nearly came to blows a few years ago. He was also the one to publicly question Jacoby Ellsbury’s rib injury two years ago and his decision to rehab that injury at home in Arizona. That, many believe, is why Ellsbury may look to leave the organization once his contract is up following the 2013 season.
If Red Sox upper management were paying closer attention, they would have realized that these two players and their supersized attitudes needed to be shipped out of town. Instead they kept them. And, in the case of Beckett, he continues to be a bad influence on fellow starters Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz.
So outspoken nitwits like Curt Schilling can hammer Bobby Valentine all they want, but they’d be wrong. Valentine didn’t eat fried chicken and drink beer in the clubhouse and then fail to apologize for it, Josh Beckett did. And Valentine didn’t serve up 5 gopher balls in his 2012 debut. That was Beckett too.
And Bobby Valentine didn’t blow saves and lose games in Detroit. Mark Melancon and Alfredo Aceves did.
So lay off Bobby. And place the blame where it really belongs which is on the players and the front office.
NOTES:
-Some poor fundamentals by Jarrod Saltalamacchia cost the Red Sox a couple of runs in the third inning Monday night in Toronto. With Colby Rasmus on third and Yunel Escobar on first and one out, Kelly Johnson hit a chopper in front of the mound that Felix Doubront came in to field. Doubront, not feeling he had a chance at a double play, threw the ball home to get Rasmus who was running on the play but Saltalamacchia failed to block the plate. The Sox’ catcher was standing out in front of the plate when he received the throw allowing Rasmus to slide behind him and score. Jose Bautista flied out to left for what should have been the final out of the inning. But, because that was only the second out, Edwin Encarnacion drove in Escobar with a 2-out single to make it 2-0 Blue Jays.
-Dustin Pedroia belted his first homerun of the season in the 6th when he drove a shot over the wall in left center off of Henderson Alvarez.
-Doubront’s first start wasn’t bad at all. The lefthander went 5 innings and allowed 4 hits and 2 earned runs. He walked 3 and struck out 6.
-Scott Atchinson was also key pitching 3 shutout innings in relief before Alfredo Aceves picked up his first save of the year with a 1-2-3 9th inning.
-The previously winless New York Yankees also won beating Baltimore to improve to 1-3 on the season. Derek Jeter had a 4-hit night for the Yanks who handed the Orioles their first loss of the year. Baltimore is 3-1.
-Tuesday night at the Rogers Centre, Daniel Bard will get his first start for the Red Sox. He will be opposed by Kyle Drabek. First pitch is slated for 7:07pm.
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