I didn't like the way he started shuffling the lineup for no reason the last 10 games, he should have done that two weeks before if he was going to. The issue is one of four we always see with the Sox.
1. You can never have enough pitching. EVER
2. We can draft a glut of young position players but we seem to trade away all our young arms before they have a chance to mature. (Lester, Bard, and Bad Back Clay were all offered in multiple trades.) Once they hit the bigs they are offered in trades for bats.
3. Injuries, injuries, injuries. All teams have them but the Sox need to look into their medical staff and strength and conditioning programs. (Look no further than Jacoby and his misdiagnosed rib issue).
4. Free Agent contracts. The Sox need to stop acting like the Yankees' little brother. The Yankees show interest in a free agent, than we want him too. They need to stop looking at the biggest name player and see who will work out the best in this market. The Sox wanted Crawford to make sure he didn't go to the Yankees or Angels. Forget that he needs to be the biggest fish in a small market pond, he didn't even fit the Sox philosophy or team dynamics. He isn't an OBP guy, there was no logical place in the lineup for him, there was now an over abundance of lefties in the lineup, etc.
Look at Lackey. The Sox always beat up on him, especially at Fenway. He is a fly ball pitcher in a small park. He had injury issues and was always a #2 acting as a #1 in LA. He couldn't beat the good teams with any frequency. Why is he here? Knee-jerk reaction and make a splash. Maybe Theo needs to step down and take his beloved computer with him so some fresh blood can help. Let Cherrington stay as GM and get a small market assistant GM with a good free agent history take his spot.

It is always the coach/managers fault, not imo, but they all get blamed. I remember Cito Gaston got some heat, and he's the greatest manager in the history of the Blue Jays. But, again, that is sports.
ReplyDeleteGood read, and welcome to the blogside aha
Been blogging for years here and there. Gaston was really good, always managed to coax a few extra wins out of his team every year. I think no matter how good of a job you do as a manager, millionaire players (especially if they already have won a championship) get complacent.
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