Pullin’ The Plug

In recent months, I refrained from commenting on the 2012 Red Sox because this season has been a train wreck on so many levels that there was not much positive about which to speak or write. Some people thrive on drama but not around here. I like to see the oars pulling in the same direction, not waving aimlessly in the air. But that’s how it’s been for most of this season.

Now that the “competitive phase” of the season has ended and the team can play out the last six weeks on a string, let’s look back to find out what went wrong. In March, I pegged this team as a third or fourth-place finisher. I felt that they didn’t do enough during the offseason to change the clubhouse culture following 2011’s September meltdown. Then, they started out the year without their closer (Bailey) and the starting leftfielder (Crawford). Within a few games, Jacoby Ellsbury was hurt and gone for three months. Then Pedroia suffered a thumb injury (twice) that kept him out of the lineup for awhile and ineffective when he could play. Cody Ross fouled a ball off of his foot and was gone for a month. Ryan Sweeney punched a wall and broke a bone in his hand (gone for the season) and Big Papi was out of the lineup for over a month after tweaking his Achilles while running the bases. Will Middlebrooks was hit by a pitch in early August and suffered a fractured wrist, ending his rookie campaign. Through mid-August, the Sox put more total players on the DL than any team at any time since 1987.

But it wouldn’t be fair to blame it all on injuries. The Yanks have had their fair share of injuries and that hasn’t slowed them down. There are other factors in play. Start with the manager. He was the pick of ownership, who overruled the general manager’s selection process. They thought that by hiring a “big name” that he would single-handedly change the clubhouse culture and everything would be all right. Early in Spring Training, the manager caused a ruckus when he questioned Kevin Youkilis’ work ethic. Say whatever you will about Youkilis as a teammate, clubhouse presence or declining skills, the guy always busted his tail. Naturally, the piranhas in the media went running back to the clubhouse to sample the opinions of the players and Pedroia openly questioned the new manager’s effectiveness (“that’s not the way we do things around here”). And the new general manager cut the manager’s legs out from under by backing the players. So, this marriage was on the rocks from the git-go. The manager so alienated the players with his mistimed, divisive comments and curious decisions that there were rumblings in the media around the All-Star break of a fractured clubhouse.

While the manager did a decent job of managing the bullpen, other reports came out of a lack of communication between him and the other coaches. The general manager forced the manager to accept a number of holdover coaches and a new pitching coach, none of whom he worked with in the past. This caused a scenario wherein certain coaches weren’t speaking to one another and/or the manager (who seemingly whiled away the hours alone in his office).

Businesses use “flow charts” to delineate lines of responsibility and establish roles. In a best-case scenario, authority flows from the top down. The owner hires a president who hires a general manager who hires a manager who hires staff. Each in turn delegates certain responsibilities and trusts that the person hired will be accountable and perform the assigned tasks appropriately. But that didn’t happen here. Managers overstepped traditional boundaries to place certain desired persons in positions of responsibility without thinking through the consequences. When the president hand-picked the manager, he denigrated the general manager, who in turn, forced the manager to accept a coaching staff not of his choosing. What’s wrong with this picture? 

So far, the new general manager (a clone of the previous one) has done little to engender confidence under his watch. He largely sat on his hands during the off season, making only token acquisitions. Now that Theo has shuffled off to Chicago, ownership (Lucchino) demanded a seat at the baseball ops table and the perception is that the new GM is no more than a tool/puppet of Lucchino. He was humiliated when ownership rejected his choice for a new manager and installed their own man. Then, he undercut the manager’s credibility by siding with the players in the Youkilis affair. Then, he traded Youkilis away for a bag of used balls in July. Yet he did do a few things right. He only made one small move at the trade deadline by acquiring Craig Breslow from Arizona for Albers and Podsednik (who returned to the Sox less than a month later). He resisted any pressure to deal away prospects in a futile run for the gonfalon. During the year-long rash of injuries he also recalled several players from Pawtucket who filled in quite well for the starters. Guys like Daniel Nava and Pedro Ciriaco were not part of the problem.

The starting pitching was both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, Clay Buccholz really took off after a rocky start to become the ace of the staff. Felix Doubront also pitched quite well early on before being to tire from the workload. Franklin Morales came out of the bullpen and provided the club with several quality starts. But that’s where the positive performances ended.

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester (until quite recently) are the primary culprits for this year’s early demise. With Beckett, it’s hard to say whether his problem is physiological or being too stubborn to use his head. In the past four years, the velocity of his fastball has steadily decreased. He stated last year that becoming a father has changed his dedication to the game. Big deal; millions of men become new fathers and it doesn’t affect how they provide for their families one bit. This guy gets paid so much money that he’s lost touch with the reality facing ordinary working dads. There are fewer things worse than an overpaid, overstuffed stubborn buffoon who lacks a drop of humility. It’s a waste of time trying to get through to someone like that.

There has been a lot of wear and tear on his pitching arm and he has already made his one customary trip to the DL this year. After last year’s fried chicken and beer fiasco, it would’ve been reasonable to expect the “Texas Tough Guy” to come back determined to prove his doubters wrong so as to atone for last year’s sins. But he came back more defiant than ever. While on the DL with arm issues, he also found a way of playing 27 holes of golf. When questioned about it, he defiantly stated that he could do whatever he wanted on his day off. When a banjo hitter like Ichiro takes you deep twice in one game, it’s time to start thinking about adding something new to the repertoire because the ol’ fastball can no longer do the trick. As a result of humiliating and lackluster performances, Beckett ranks at or near the bottom of every pitching metric.

Jon Lester’s issues are a complete mystery to figure out. He was one of the few players who expressed shame and regret over the way last year ended and promised to come back with a new attitude this year. It didn’t quite work out that way. First of all, Lester needs to quit staring down the umpire every time a call at the plate fails to go his way. It’s a sign of immaturity and it poisons the well because umpires are human and they hold grudges against someone who is trying to “show them up”. Lester’s issues have been mechanical and in his head. When he fails to be perfect, he becomes emotionally upset and his mechanics suffer. Maybe it’s a case of three different pitching coaches in successive years but it wasn’t until mid-August that he got things straightened out.

Then there’s John Lackey. He had elbow surgery during the offseason and is out for the year. But that hasn’t stopped him from being a clubhouse presence at home – and on the road. After the way last year ended, Lackey is the last guy who should be hanging around the ballclub, especially on the road. An argument can be made that he should be getting treatment from the training staff in Boston but why is it necessary that he accompany the team on the road? While on a recent trip to Cleveland, Lackey was spotted by the media stuffing beers in his pockets and “double-fisting”. After everything that went down last year, Lackey is absolutely clueless. He should’ve been immediately sent back to Boston with instructions that he would no longer travel with the team. Did that happen? Take a wild guess…  It’s just another example of the inmates running the asylum.

Daisuke (in the final year of his contract) made a brief appearance before going down in June with a pulled muscle in his neck and was banished to Pawtucket. He may have already thrown his last pitch in a Red Sox uniform. When he was healthy, he gave the Sox a lot of innings but his slow delivery and nibbling on the corners of the strike zone gave fans and managers fits alike. He will not be returning to Boston.

Then came August: With the ballclub in full “one step up, two steps back” mode, a large contingent of the team allegedly attempted to stage a palace coup against the manager. According to a story that came out on Yahoo.com Sports by Jeff Passan, the players were irate over the manager’s decision to keep Lester out there on the mound to get whacked to the tune of 11 runs. A person unknown (allegedly Shoppach) texted ownership (allegedly using Gonzalez’ phone) to demand a meeting with ownership, who acquiesced to the players’ demand. A meeting was set up at a swanky New York hotel (where the Sox were playing at the time). 17 players supposedly showed up and Pedroia and Gonzalez were allegedly among the most vociferous. When news of the meeting was “leaked” by “a snitch”, ownership tried to spin it in a positive light claiming that they routinely engage the players in roundtable discussions. (I’ll buy that…NOT) Pedroia and Gonzalez claimed that the fault lie entirely with the players before clamming up. There is no transcript from the meeting to determine whether ownership told the players to “shut up and play” but shortly thereafter the manager was given the dreaded vote of confidence. This whole sordid episode made the national media rounds and made the team the laughingstock of baseball.

The ownership then tried to blame the media. Look, everyone knows that baseball and politics are bloodsports in New England. It’s not like playing in Kansas City or Orange County, where the media don’t actively attempt to create controversies. But this time, the media are not at fault. The complete dysfunction of the team has created a scenario where stories are handed to the media on a silver platter. You couldn’t make some of this stuff up if you tried.

These sorts of actions are reflective of a group of people who lack leadership and direction. It’s chaos over there on Yawkey Way, just like in the good old days when Buddy LeRoux attempted to hi-jack ownership and then back in late 2001 when a very deranged player threatened to kill the manager. Perhaps Mr. Henry has his fingers in too many pies these days with Liverpool FC and Roush Racing but it looks like his yacht has no rudder at this point. It’s never been a question that this ownership group has been stingy; it’s just that they unwisely invested their money on certain assets (Lackey and Crawford) when their respective medical reports indicated they were at high risk for elbow and wrist injuries.

Returning after the All-Star break (and having played well since), Carl Crawford now wants to shut it down for the year and have elbow surgery, which was recommended by the famous surgeon Dr. Andrews. He should’ve had the surgery earlier on when he first complained of elbow pain in May. Having the surgery as soon as possible would enable Crawford to get back on the field next year without missing that much time. The team then decided that Crawford should have the surgery, scheduled for August 23^rd.

On the same day of the Crawford announcement came the news that the pitching coach (McClure) had been “relieved of his duties”. The following day, another scathing report in the Globe revealed the depth of dysfunction between the manager and coaching staff. According to the report, the manager didn’t speak with the pitching coach. The bench coach didn’t speak to the manager and several coaches didn’t speak with the manager. How could this be possible for highly paid professionals to behave in such an immature fashion? Who’s to blame for such dysfunction?

It would be easy to assign blame using a pie chart but the reality is not so simple. There’s a lot of blame to be spread around from starting pitching to underperforming starters to “snitches” and players bitching about their contracts to a manager who can’t help continuously putting his foot in his mouth to the lack of communication among the staff to an ineffective GM to a meddling president to a clueless owner. The blame is swirled around in that toxic soup. How do the problems get fixed for 2013?

Moving On To 2013

First of all, the manager and entire coaching staff should not be retained. Regardless of the team’s final record, the staff failed to conduct themselves as professionals by the failure to communicate. Each of them had a responsibility to communicate to themselves and the players. They knowingly failed. The GM needs (to have full authority) to hire a new manager and staff who will work together on the same page.

The Sox’ management has long been enamored with their former pitching coach, John Farrell, who will be entering the final year of his contract to manage the Blue Jays next season. The Jays have struggled during Farrell’s tenure as manager and may possibly be available at the end of next season (if not sooner). If the current manager is not kept, it will be very interesting to determine who the next field boss will be. No one will take the job on the basis of a one-year contract.

Whoever the new manager is, he should have the ability to pick his own coaching staff. Unless they want a repeat of this year, the GM should at least work with the new manager in cooperatively picking a staff rather than forcing him to accept a group of coaches with whom he can’t work or communicate.

During this offseason, the general manager needs to be empowered by the president to be bold and dynamic in the manner in which he re-makes the ballclub. He will have approximately $30MM in expiring contracts coming off the books and that will provide considerable payroll flexibility to hire the right players for the team. There are only two players (Buchholz and Pedroia) who should be considered untouchable at the Winter Meetings. Everyone else (including Gonzalez) should be on the table.    

The president of the team should be the face of the franchise. He represents the Red Sox brand and should be active in promoting the brand rather than meddling in the day-to-day activities of running the ballclub. As we have already seen, his meddling has already resulted in a big piece of the dysfunction which haunted the club this year. Day-to-day activities are the job descriptions of the GM and manager and staff. If the president is not out working with business leaders in the community then he should be selling bricks. He should delegate authority and stay out of the daily management of the club.

A recent poll came out in the Herald that indicated that the Sox are no longer the favorite pro sports franchise among New Englanders, having been surpassed by the Patriots. Despite the team’s current misfortunes, this news is somewhat shocking, given the team’s long-standing tradition in the local culture. It should be a priority of the president/ownership to determine why the Sox have fallen in the eyes of the public and what steps ought to be taken to restore the team’s luster.    

In their never-ending quest to field a perennial contender, ownership/management failed this year. Part of the problem is the internal struggle between baseball ops and marketing with regard to “feeding the Monster”. The baseball ops crew doesn’t care about television ratings or how many tickets are sold and their (phony) sellout streak. The other side of the equation doesn’t care about the quality of the farm system; they’re all about maximizing revenues and public interest. Sometimes (as Epstein learned) principles are compromised to make the biggest splash in free agency without regard to how such players will fit into the overall scheme.

Although the team did extraordinary due diligence on Carl Crawford’s background (reportedly hiring a private detective to follow him around), they had no clue about how to effectively plug his bat into the top of the lineup. The Lackey signing appeared to be more of a spur-of-the-moment thing with little regard as to how his attitude would poison the clubhouse. But the Monster had to be fed and the organization has reaped a lot of buyer’s remorse on both players so far.  

There is a divide among the overall audience. There is the transient “Pink Hat” crowd that comes to Fenway as an event and happily sings along to “Sweet Caroline” at the bottom of the eighth despite the Sox being beaten 10-2. Then there are the knowledgeable, ultra-loyal diehards (most of whom cannot afford the price of a ticket) who resent the interlopers. Ownership doesn’t care if the patrons don’t know the difference between a baseball and a pumpkin so long as the house fills up every night.

Somewhere there is a balance that needs to be struck between these conflicts. The Monster won out this year as the park was “sold out” but the on-field product suffered. More telling than the results of the aforementioned poll was the fact that the team’s television ratings on NESN declined.

The Monster may win in the short term but those sorts of gains at the ballpark are not sustainable if the club continues to function as it did in 2012. Those of us who have followed the local sports scene for nearly 50 years know all about the bandwagon jumpers. We can also remember when sellouts at Fenway were the exception rather than the rule. The Sox have enjoyed remarkable growth under this ownership group.

As regards the position players, there are several whose contracts expire and will not return. Ryan Sweeney should go if for no other reason than gross stupidity in light of punching a wall and breaking his hand. David Ortiz should be offered arbitration again and offered a one-year contract. He accepted arb last year then proceeded to bitch about his contract all year. No other team will offer him as much as the Red Sox will. If he chooses not to accept, then let him move on.

Jacoby Ellsbury will be entering the final year of his contract before hitting free agency. He is a Boras client and everyone understands what that means. For him to stay, he would (rightly) demand a Crawford-type deal, which the Sox would be very reluctant to entertain given Ellsbury’s health history. In Texas, Josh Hamilton will be testing the free agent market at the conclusion of this year. If he leaves the Rangers; that would leave a gaping hole in centerfield that Ellsbury could easily fill. In that scenario, Ellsbury could be packaged with Beckett (with the Sox eating a lot of dough) to the Rangers for a package of prospects. Beckett is a 10/5 guy who would surely waive his rights for a return to his beloved homeland.

Certain positions remain all set: First base (Gonzalez), Second base (Pedroia), Third base (Middlebrooks) and leftfield (Crawford). Everything else is pretty much up for grabs. Mike Aviles did a half-way decent job at short but he’s not a long term answer. Waiting in the wings is the slick fielding Jose Iglesias, but there have always been questions regarding his ability to hit major league pitching. Saltalamacchia has power from the left side of the plate but his catcher’s ERA is among the worst in baseball. His understudy, Ryan Lavarnway, lacks the experience to render any sort of judgment.

In the outfield, the team should make a concerted effort to retain Cody Ross. He was well on his way to a 20+ homer season before breaking a bone in his foot. But he also demonstrated the ability to withstand the rigors of playing in Boston. If Ellsbury is traded away then the Sox need a stop gap centerfielder until Jackie Bradley, Jr. is ready for the big time. Perhaps Ryan Kalish can finally step up to be the player that the team envisioned when they elected to keep him over Josh Reddick.

In Memoriam

The Sox also suffered the loss of two-long time employees, whose presence at the ball park seemed ubiquitous. First, public address announcer Carl Beane suffered a fatal heart attack while driving in June. For a generation who was raised on the not-so dulcet tones of Sherm Feller, Beane’s crisp, booming voice was a stark contrast and perfectly fit within the confines of the old ball yard. They’ll have to go a long way to top Beane.

Then, in mid-August, the beloved Johnny Pesky passed away. Johnny did it all for the Sox, star player, manager, coach, broadcaster and all-around great guy and ambassador for the Red Sox. The rightfield foul pole was named in his honor years ago and his #6 was retired a few years ago and prominently took its place of honor along with the other greats up on the façade in rightfield. Maybe somewhere along the line someone may have had an unkind thing to say about Johnny, but you’d never know it judging from the outpouring of well-wishes everytime he stepped on the field in his later years. He was universally loved, and what an exemplary life he led. At the 100^th Anniversary game in April, he and Bobby Doerr were wheeled about on wheelchairs and the outpouring of respect and admiration for these legendary teammates was phenomenal. There was no generation gap with Pesky; he was as beloved by kids and young people as he was by the Greatest Generation, who witnessed his exploits with the bat back in the ‘40’s. It’s sad to see both men leave our midst.

The Sox players failed to show proper respect to Pesky’s family when only four of them showed up for Johnny’s funeral. Sure, it was an off day but the piranhas in the media were outside the church counting heads and the tepid response by the players caused a huge stink in the media and made the players even more unlikeable in the eyes of the public.

The 2012 Red Sox made their bed early on and now have to play out a string of meaningless games over the next six weeks. There will be no miracle comebacks as this team has done nothing to warrant that type of pie-in-the-sky optimism. There’s nothing more to say about this group but, “See ya next year…”

And that’s that.