Fallout

It’s often said that the fuel that drives New England is a mixture of politics, sports and revenge. The Red Sox are a 12-month, never ending soap opera. In the aftermath of the Red Sox' historic September meltdown, it was inevitable that heads would roll. Terry Francona either resigned prior to his option not being picked up or he was pushed out the door by ownership. There was a report (hit piece/smear journalism) in the 10/13 Globe that the team thought that Francona may have been "distracted" by family issues and prescription drug use. Was it enough that ownership was able to get rid of their manager without trashing him on the way out the door? Apparently not. It's almost a tradition that any player leaving town (e.g., Nomar, Vaughn) gets the flame-thrower treatment after having been traded. This ownership group is despicable. Francona was the best manager of the Red Sox that we have witnessed in our lifetime. He covered for his players, was articulate and a stand-up guy in all respects to the point of falling on his sword for the team and this is the payback he receives?

When things go horribly wrong the first reaction is to find someone to blame, rather than identifying the problem areas and fixing them. Someone always has to be the scapegoat. Anyone who watched those games in September will identify the problem as the inability of the starting pitchers to provide quality starts. The media reports portray a clubhouse that seemed out of control, (guzzling beer, eating fried chicken and playing video games) but how much of this is really new revelations? Anyone who ever read Jim Bouton’s seminal work, “Ball Four” will tell you that booze and baseball have been joined at the hip since the advent of the game. Baseball players have been pampered and entitled (jerks) seemingly forever and fans really never see 99% of what goes on behind the curtain. The same thing applies for the dealings of the front office.

In an attempt to dispel speculation that the ownership group was behind the leaks about Francona the principal owner of the team showed up unannounced at a popular radio show two weeks ago and talked for over two hours about the state of the team. Fortunately, the hosts did not throw cream puff questions in his direction but held his feet to the fire on a variety of issues. To his credit, Mr. Henry indicated that ownership was not the source of the leaks about Francona and he promised a top-to-bottom investigation of all of the problems that were published in the Globe article. (Let’s hope he doesn’t appoint a blue-ribbon panel). It got so bad that a news story was published citing “unnamed sources” that players were drinking beer in the dugout during games. The Sox swiftly issued a press release condemning the story.

Farewell, Theo

Theo Epstein has now jumped ship as well, signing a five-year deal as President of the Chicago Cubs. Since we can’t see behind the curtain, we’ll never know the truth why he wanted to leave his hometown team. There were “rumors” of friction between him and Lucchino, but, looking outside in, no one can say for sure. We’re just outside observers with no clue about the inner workings of the club and the relationships. Like Francona, Theo was the best GM the Red Sox had short of Ed Barrow, who brought the team several championships almost a hundred years ago before bolting to the Yankees. Maybe Theo’s time in Boston ran its course as well. Based on some of his later high-priced free agent acquisitions, there was a lot left to be desired. We wish Theo all the best with his new team, because taking on the Cubs is a unique challenge. They’re at least 2-3 years away from fielding a competitive team. If anyone can rebuild the Cubs into a championship contender, Theo’s the guy. No one blames Epstein for choosing to leave; it’s just the timing that leaves something to be desired. Things with the Red Sox are presently a mess and the honorable thing would have been to set things right before departing. There’s a notion of honor that seems lacking on his part.

As is typical of dealing with the Red Sox, nothing is ever easy. Since Theo had a year remaining on his contract, the Sox weren’t going to let him walk without exacting a pound of flesh. They had granted the Cubs permission to speak to Theo and he was immediately offered the president’s position. Theo also wanted to take some of his trusted aides along with him to Chicago and negotiations between Lucchino and the Cubs became “increasingly contentious”. The Sox demanded the Cubs’ top starter and were rebuffed. Since the Cubs’ minor league prospects did not seem terribly appealing to the Sox, there was a lot of squabbling over which players the Cubs would surrender. Negotiations between the two teams dragged on for over two weeks before it was announced late Friday night (10/21) that he had resigned his post in Boston and would immediately assume the post of President of Baseball Operations with the Cubs. The matter of “appropriate compensation” would be determined at a later date.

Epstein will bring along Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod (former long-time Sox lieutenants) both of whom previously left for San Diego. So it appears as if Theo is in the process of assembling a “super team” to revamp the Cubs from top to bottom. Whether this management “dream team” can build a winner at Wrigley Field is a matter that remains to be seen. Always remember the conventional wisdom of “best laid plans”. When the Tribune owned the Cubs, they hired Andy McPhail away from the Twins to be their President/savior and that didn’t exactly work out as planned. Whatever. Epstein has chosen Chicago and Red Sox fans can now turn the page on him.

What does all of this mean for the Red Sox? Right now, ownership is being skewered in the media as laughingstocks of baseball. Under Epstein’s watch, they built the model of management teams in baseball. Slowly but surely, there has been an exodus of management talent that has left Fenway for greener pastures, whether it was Jed Hoyer, Josh Byrnes or John Farrell, the “brain drain” has been steadily weakening the organization. Players come and go but when the infrastructure becomes weakened by defections to other clubs, the carryover effect can be devastating. Nobody wants the Red Sox to return to the bad old days of inept management.

Fact is that it wasn’t so long ago that the Yawkey/Heywood Sullivan/Buddy Le Roux regimes nearly set the franchise back into the Stone Age. The Harrington Era wasn’t much better. Fenway was a dump back then. With this ownership group, and that of Mr. Kraft’s, fans now fully respect and appreciate how leadership comes from the top and the value of astute management. With all of the changes, the fear is the team will revert to a time of horrid ownership and mismanagement. This generation of fans will simply not stand for a management team that is in any way inferior to what was previously in place. After September’s on the field fiasco, that’s the mandate from an angry fan base.

The Sox named Ben Cherington as Theo’s replacement. Cherington has been in the Sox’ front office since 1998 (one of the few holdovers from the prior management) and is eminently qualified to fill the role. Red Sox fans should not expect a marked deviation from the model that Epstein established since Cherington worked quite comfortably within that system. He first needs to hire a manager who will fit with the top-down approach that was successfully used by Epstein and Francona. So fans shouldn’t expect an “old school” manager who disdains statistical models but a younger guy, probably an established bench coach who is familiar with sabermetrics but tough enough to garner immediate respect from the players. Whoever fills Francona’s shoes has a tough job. Red Sox fans were spoiled while Francona was on the job and he set a high standard that his successor will find hard to attain.

Cherington’s next job is to figure out how to fill out the roster. There are a number of intriguing story lines heading into the offseason. The first question is whether the team intends to continue fielding a potential 95-win team or will 2012 be another “bridge year”? Will they aggressively pursue top of the line free agents or be content with signing “Brand X” guys? The fan base is justifiably angered and will not settle for nothing less than a dedicated commitment to field a championship contender. The core group should remain intact but Ortiz and Papelbon are free agents. Do they stay or go? Also what do the Sox do with Wakefield and Varitek? Is it time to turn the page? What does the management do with Lackey (who had the highest ERA for a starter in team history)? On one hand, it seems inconceivable that he could return. Yet on the other, he’s still owed in excess of $45 million. Does Cherington trade him away for a bag of balls while the Sox have to eat the majority of his salary? NOTE: Cherington confirmed that Lackey will undergo “Tommy John Surgery” on his elbow and will be lost for the year.

Tuesday, October 25th was finally the day in which Theo was introduced in Chicago as President and Cherington was introduced as the Red Sox’ GM. Incidentally, it was also 25 years to the day of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (a day that will live in infamy for Red Sox fans). It was a strange and sad spectacle to see Theo at the podium talking about “we” and “us” in referring to the Cubs. It was kind of like seeing your former spouse gush on about her new romance. None of the reporters held Theo’s feet to the fire regarding the mess he left behind in Boston. It was cream-puffs and bon mots all the way through. Meanwhile, back in Boston, Cherington said all the right things in his press conference. He is bright and articulate and stressed how his background was different than Theo’s as he came up the ladder from the scouting ranks rather than having been groomed for the executive office from an early age.

The talking is all done for now. It’s time for Cherington and the front office to hire a manager and walk the walk in building a championship contender for 2012. As far as Theo goes, he’s old news.