Red Sox Report: GM Cherington Drops The Ball
Friday, May 18, 2012
“It’s on him when he’s ready.”
Those were the words of Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine when asked when the rehabbing Kevin Youkilis would be back with Boston. Valentine intimated that Youk will join the team either in Philadelphia this weekend or in Baltimore early next week meaning a decision on what to do with Will Middlebrooks will be forthcoming.
I suppose there isn’t much of a decision to make since general manager Ben Cherington, who was completely out of line, already said that Youkilis would not lose his starting job due to injury. Here are Cherington’s exact words: “If [Kevin Youkilis] returns in a week and is ready to go, he plays third base. He’s been here. It’s great that Will [Middlebrooks] has come up and done a good job and we like him a lot and he’s a big part of our future. But Youk’s on the DL and he didn’t lose his job because he got hurt.’’
Let’s examine the facts here.
First of all, it is true that Will Middlebrooks was promoted from Pawtucket because Boston had a need when Youkilis went down. However, Youk was struggling badly before going on the DL and Middlebrooks has performed exceptionally well in his few weeks with the team which has given rise to the current debate.
Truth be told, Middlebrooks has started to level off a bit from a production standpoint. After his torrid start in his first few games with Boston, he has gone 6 for his last 36 (.167 avg). It would appear that teams are starting to develop a scouting report on the talented rookie making life more difficult for him at the plate.
There are many other factors at play here too.
Despite his hefty salary ($12 million), Youkilis is still considered to be a tradable commodity for any team in the market for a power-hitting right-handed stick. Such teams would only have to absorb about half of that figure and are not committed to him financially beyond this season. For that reason, it would behoove the Red Sox to get him some at-bats in Boston to prove that he is a.) healthy and b.) can still be productive.
If that is the plan, then it would do Middlebrooks much more good to go back down to Pawtucket to play every day as opposed to collecting dust on the bench in Boston.
But here’s where Cherington was not only wrong, but way out of line.
First of all, he is right about the fact that a player cannot lose his job due to an injury. But what he failed to acknowledge is the fact that a player can lose his job if he is not playing well or the person behind him is playing better. Both of those things were true here.
But Cherington’s biggest transgression was, once again, usurping his manager’s power. Who plays and who does not play should be up to the manger, not the general manager. And, given the perception that Boston’s clubhouse is a place where the stars are pampered and where the so-called inmates run the asylum, you would think that Cherington wouldn’t just had Youkilis his starting job back. What’s wrong with making him think that he might have to earn it back? I’m sure that’s something Bobby Valentine would be supportive of but it doesn’t matter. Cherington blew it!
Kevin Youkilis went 1 for 2 with a double, a walk and a run scored for the Pawsox Wednesday night in Durham. He took Thursday off and will play third base for the Pawsox on Friday. If all goes well, he should be back with the Red Sox this weekend in Philadelphia or in Baltimore early next week.
NOTES:
-Like Clay Buchholz did in a loss Wednesday night, Felix Doubront continued Boston’s string of solid performances by the starting rotation. That’s 7 straight solid starts for the team which is (6-1) over that stretch. Doubront pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed 6 hits and 2 runs, only one of which was earned. He walked 4 and struck out 7.
-It was also another good night for the Boston bullpen which has been rock solid over the past few weeks. Rich Hill, Scott Atchison, Andrew Miller, Vincente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves combined to pitch 3 1/3 innings of 1-run baseball to preserve the win for Doubront.
-Marlon Byrd (1st) and Cody Ross (7th) each homered in the win at Tampa Thursday night. Ross had 4 RBI on the night tying him with David Ortiz for the team lead in that category with 27 for the season.
-Ortiz said that he expects to play first base in at least one of this weekend’s three interleague games in Philadelphia. Because the game is being played in a National League ballpark (Citizen’s Bank Park), the designated hitter cannot be used by either team. It is likely that incumbent first baseman Adrian Gonzalez will be give a rest on the day that Ortiz is inserted into the line-up.
-Diasuke Matsuzaka had another shaky outing for the Pawsox Thursday night in Durham. Dice-K went 6 2/3 innings allowing 7 hits and 5 runs, 4 of which were earned. He didn’t walk a batter while striking out 3. He also gave up 2 homeruns. Before Boston’s floundering starting rotation got into a groove about a week ago, many wondered if Matsuzaka could be some type of savior for the rotation. He appears to be nowhere near ready to fill that bill.
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