The Final Time Around…

From The Final Out To The Opening of Spring Training

At 10:34 PM on Wednesday, October 3, 2012, the Yankees’ Freddy Garcia struck out Ivan DeJesus, Jr. and thus brought an end to the worst Red Sox season in 47 years. On the final game of the season, the Red Sox lost 14-2 at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox ended up with a record of 69-93, having lost their last eight games in a row. It was a historically bad season, their worst finish since 1965. The Sox then had to suffer through the indignity of watching the Yankees celebrate winning the AL East Division crown. The manager will be fired, as he should be. There should be drastic changes with the ball club, as well there should be. Now the players go home to face an uncertain future.

Fourteen hours and fourteen minutes after the final out was recorded the team announced that the manager had been “relieved of his duties”.  It was the first time that a Red Sox manager had been “one and done” since Bucky Harris in the mid ‘30’s. The story of Valentine’s firing had legs for about a day as it was a surprise to no one that he would be summarily dismissed. The question as to who would be his replacement quickly came to the fore. Rumor has it that the Sox were hot after their former pitching coach, John Farrell, who has been the Blue Jays’ manager for the past two seasons and has a year remaining on his contract. Naturally, the Jays’ management is not going to let him walk away to a divisional rival (if he indeed wants to leave) without the Red Sox paying a hefty price in prospects. Farrell’s record from 2011-12 has hardly been stellar; so many Red Sox fans are wondering what’s the attraction? Sure, he was part of the on-field management team in the good old days. He is also more than familiar with members of the front office and understands firsthand what it takes to succeed in a pressurized market like Boston. But (as he discovered in Toronto) there is a world of difference in being a pitching coach and a manager. If the Red Sox are insistent that Farrell is their guy, don’t expect any announcement to be forthcoming soon as the Jays aren’t in the business of doing favors for their rivals.

On October 6^th, the Indians announced the hiring of Terry Francona as their new manager. This was great news as Francona was beloved by the Boston fans as the Red Sox manager and everyone was really irate over the manner in which he was railroaded out of town at the end of the 2010 season. To leak information of a personal nature to the media to justify the firing of the greatest Red Sox manager ever was despicable. Tito now has a four-year contract and the daunting task of helping to rebuild the Tribe back into a winner. He does not have the talent on hand that he had in Boston but, after a year in the broadcast booth, appears ready to take on this challenge. Boston fans will be rooting for him to do well.

During the week of the Divisional Series, the Sox announced that the first two managerialcandidates, LA’s Tim Wallach and San Diego’s Brad Ausmus would be coming in for interviews. Whether the Sox’ interest in these candidates was legitimate or whether it was all a smokescreen was anybody’s guess.

After about a week of rumors and intrigue, the Sox and Jays finally worked out a way for Farrell to come to Boston. The Sox shipped shortstop Mike Aviles to Toronto and the Jays traded righthander David Carpenter along with Farrell and it was a done deal. (A week later, Aviles was shuffled off to Cleveland). There were no lingering negotiations as occurred when Epstein left to go to the Cubs last year nor was there a lengthy managerial search (as happened last year). The execution of firing one manager and hiring another was swift and smooth.  

Farrell’s introductory press conference took place on Tuesday the 23^rd. He said all of the right things and took responsibility for the Jays’ over-aggressive tactics on the base paths last year. Later that night, Valentine appeared as a guest for an interview about what went wrong in 2012 and intimated that Ortiz quit on his teammates. It was ironic that Valentine would say something as foolish as Ortiz was one of the few players on the team that publically supported the manager. Ortiz, in a contract year, went out of the lineup with an Achilles injury in July. He attempted to come back several weeks later but was still limping in the only game in which he appeared. After one game, the team (not Ortiz) decided to shut him down as the season was hopelessly lost. Like most of everything that came from Valentine’s big mouth, this assertion is entirely without merit.

Ben Cherington and the Sox’ brain trust went into the offseason with a laundry list of holes to fill in the lineup, as they needed help at catcher, first, short, two outfield slots, a legitimate starter and help with the bullpen. It was a tall order but the Sox had plenty of money to build a new team.

From the outset it was clear that the Sox would not commit to long-term deals such as with Crawford and Gonzalez. They were burned badly on those contracts and were not about to make the same mistake twice after unloading $250 million off the books last August. They approached the free agency market with caution, as they were willing to pay market values (or slightly above) for 2-3 year deals but nothing further in length. The Sox believe that they have an abundance of young talent that should be ready for prime time in 2014-15 and want work their way back to competitive status as the kids are slowly integrated into the lineup. They’ve basically put all of their chips in on this strategy, so it had better work.

On November 2^nd, Ortiz and the Sox agreed to a two-year extension that ought to make Big Papi a happy camper. Let’s hope that Ortiz is fully healthy when camp opens and does not suffer any debilitating injuries.

On November 10^th, the Sox signed veteran backup catcher David Ross from Atlanta on a two-year deal. Given some of the problems behind the plate with Salty and Lavarnway, it was good to see the Sox bring in a steady veteran presence.

On November 19^th, the Toronto Blue Jays stunned the baseball world when they acquired Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio, John Buck, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and cash from the Miami Marlins for Anthony DeSclafani (minors), Jake Marisnick (minors), Justin Nicolino (minors), Henderson Alvarez, Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria and Jeff Mathis. This blockbuster put the Jays in the catbird’s seat in the AL East while Marlins’ ownership was condemned for yet another crass salary dump. The Marlins brought in some talented players for the first year in their taxpayer-built new ballpark and traded away the heart of the team after only one year. It’s true that they received a boatload of prospects in return, but how long can MLB allow this travesty of an ownership to continue in business? Everybody knows that it’s a cruel joke to the fans in South Florida. The Marlins then spun off Escobar to the Tampa Bay Rays for another prospect less than two weeks later. Loria and Samson are simply despicable owners. There will be a lot of empty seats at that shiny new ballpark next year.

On November 21^st, the Sox came to terms with power hitting leftfielder Jonny Gomes from Oakland on a two-year deal. It seemed like a bit of an overpay for Gomes but he does hit lefthanded pitching well and is known around baseball as having a “great clubhouse presence” (for whatever that’s worth).

On December 3^rd, the Sox signed catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli from Texas to a three-year, $39 million contract. Whenever Napoli played at Fenway for the Angels and then Texas, he was an absolute beast. Napoli would be the first legitimate right handed power bat in the Sox lineup since Manny was traded away in the summer of 2008. He would be counted on to hit 30-35 homers. The deal was not made official because his physical revealed hip damage. Neither the Sox nor his agent had much to say about the delay for weeks and there was a question whether the deal would be consummated.

The Sox also signed speedy outfielder Shane Victorino to a three-year $39 million deal. While Victorino is not a power threat, he is a plus defender and will be assigned to patrol Fenway’s spacious rightfield. He has some pop in his bat and stole 39 bases last year. This signing most likely spelled the end of Cody Ross’ time in Boston.

On December 13^th, the Sox signed innings eater righthander Ryan Dempster from Texas on a two-year deal. They hope that Dempster can give them 180-200 innings but he’s a career .500 pitcher, so don’t expect any great shakes out of this guy.

On the 17^th, the Blue Jays made another solid move when they acquired National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey along with Mike Nickeas and Josh Thole from the Mets in exchange for Noah Syndergaard (minors), Travis d'Arnaud (minors), Wuilmer Becerra (minors) and John Buck. With this move, the Jays are the heavy favorites to win the AL East title. The Jays traded away their best prospects to Miami and the Mets in a bold “GFIN” strategy. It had better pay off or else heads will roll north of the border…

On December 18^th, the Sox came to terms with righthanded set up ace Koji Uehara from Texas. Uehara is one of the top set up specialists in the majors and had a 1.75 ERA with an 0.639 WHIP in 37 outings last year. This move represented a major boost to the bullpen.

The Sox then signed shortstop Stephen Drew from Oakland on a one-year, $9 million contract. He is the younger brother of J.D. Drew, who was a lightning rod of controversy during his four year tour in Boston. Stephen suffered a devastating ankle injury in 2010 on a collision at the plate while playing for Arizona and had yet to fully recover in 2011. His range and speed were definitely lacking last year and it’s not yet known whether his injury will be permanently debilitating or he needed more time to recover. The signing of Drew speaks volumes about the team’s confidence in Jose Iglesias’ ability to hit major league pitching. Iglesias is an absolute wizard with the glove but cannot crack the Mendoza Line with the stick.

Cody Ross ended up signing a three-year deal with the Diamondbacks. Good for him, as he resides in Arizona and will be close to family and friends. Ross had a nice year for the Sox and was widely regarded as a great guy to have around. But the simple fact is that the Sox finished dead last with him in the lineup as an everyday player.

Former Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis was not retained by the White Sox and ended up signing a one-year deal to play for the Yanks. With A-Rod scheduled to undergo hip surgery in January (why did he wait so long?), Youkilis will step right into the Yankee lineup and play the bulk of the games at third. He was warmly greeted when he returned to Fenway in a White Sox uniform last year and probably won’t receive the “Johnny Damon Treatment” when he returns this year. Say whatever you want about his personality, the guy always busted his hump on the field.

On the day after Christmas, the Sox and Pirates finalized a deal that sent righthanded reliever Mark Melancon and three minor leaguers: infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr., righthander Stolmy Pimentel and first baseman/outfielder Jerry Sands to Pittsburgh in exchange for All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan, and middle infield prospect Brock Holt. The manager immediately named Hanrahan as the Sox’ closer for 2013. DeJesus and Sands were two of the players that came over from the Dodgers in last August’s blockbuster trade. Their talents appeared to have been redundant with higher rated prospects already in the pipeline. Pimentel was at one time one of the Sox’ top pitching prospects but slipped badly at Portland last year. He had been on the Pirates’ radar for some time (as Hanrahan had been on Boston’s). Melancon simply had one of the worst April’s in recent Sox history but after a trip to the minors rebounded well as a middle reliever. As was the case with Ross, when a team performs as badly as did the 2012 Red Sox, no one in the lineup is safe.

Moving into 2013, the Sox and Mike Napoli had yet to finalize the agreement that was reached in early December. Finally, on January 17^th, it was announced that Napoli and the Sox agreed to a one-year $5 million incentive laden deal.

In off-the-field news, portions of Terry Francona’s long awaited autobiography were published by the media, and he took a few nasty swipes at the owners. Among the juicier revelations included statements that indicated that the team’s marketing efforts and television broadcasts took priority over the quality of the product on the field. He also stated that the owners viewed the team as their “toy”. Every little derogatory tidbit would be magnified by the voracious vultures in the media.

The Sox then had some arbitration-eligibles to deal with.   

On January 18^th, the Sox announced that they had avoided arbitration with the following players on one-year deals:

·         Jarrod Saltalamacchia agreed on a one-year, $4.5MM deal for 2013.

 

·         Joel Hanrahan avoided arbitration with a one-year deal worth $7.04MM.

 

·         Jacoby Ellsbury, agreed to a one-year, $9MM contract for 2013, Andrew Bailey

 

($4.1MM), Daniel Bard at ($1.8625MM), Andrew Miller at ($1.475MM),

·         Franklin Morales at ($1.4875MM) and Alfredo Aceves, agreed to a deal worth $2.65MM.

On February 5^th, the equipment truck was packed up at Fenway before a small crowd before heading south to Fort Myers.

A few days later, a massive snow storm struck southern New England with 2-3 feet of snow. Sunday the 10^th was the reporting day for pitchers and catchers. Two days later, workouts began and the Sox suffered their first casualty as Clay Buchholz strained a hamstring while going from the mound to first in a pitcher’s drill.