WANTED: Manager for Red Sox

[Paul Sylvain]

So, the Sox and manager Tito Francona have parted ways. Tito gave the Sox two world championships during his tenure, and that IS to be commended. However, it it's also time for him to move on, as his effectiveness at the helm clearly has been eroded.

Many in Red Sox Nation will disagree with me, but I've long considered Francona to be an average manager who was amazingly lucky. But the flaws in his management style and decisions -- often leaving a pitcher in too the point that the team had a near-impossible hole to dig out of -- became painfully evident this season.

I wish him luck, but I'm not sorry to see him go. Whoever replaces him will also bring in their own coaches and assistants, so this is just the beginning of what promises to be a major shift in the team's leadership and direction.

[Allen Wiener]

For the most part I either disagree, Paul, or I'm just not sure. That's because, with a few exceptions, I'm not sure how big a role managers play anymore. They are the lowest paid member of the team by far; the players earn millions, especially the high-ticket stars, and are the draw, which makes it hard for a manager to assert authority. Chemistry plays a big role and clearly Francona was the right guy for a number of years to give the team whatever it needed to win two world titles -- nothing to sneeze at. Something has been wrong on that team for at least 2 years and I don't think it's Francona's fault; I just think the chemistry changed and the camaraderie that existed a few years ago vanished. Franconoa was no longer the right guy, but I'm not sure who the right guy (if anyone) would be. I don't expect anything to improve, regardless of who gets the job, unless the front office makes some serious player moves. For a start, I'd dump all that dead wood finally (Lackey, Crawford, DiceK, Wakefield) and their bloated salaries. It may mean a couple of years of rebuilding, but more importantly, rebuilding that chemistry. After all, the Yankees have had more drama and their share of injuries, egos, slumps, etc., over the years, but always end up on top or at least in the playoffs. The Red Sox failed to reach postseason the past two years.

I do agree that in recent years there were many times that I wondered if Francona was paying attention or 100% focused, especially in his propenisty to stay with pitchers who were getting bombed far too long. I also would like to have seen a little innovative thinking the past month, when the season was going down the crapper, like spot starting bullpen pitchers for short stints, putting poor starters in the bullpen, bringing some minor leaguers up, etc. When absolutely nothing is working, you try something new - anything, but Terry never did. He just kept putting Lackey and Wakefield out there like clockwork, surely knowing that they were going to get shellacked 9 times out of 10.

I'd say "wait 'till next year," but I need to see a lot of shaking up on that team before I'll believe things will improve.

[Paul Sylvain]

I don't think "next year" will be much better uncless many of the changes you suggest happen. I'd bet dollars to donuts DiceK is history. Renewing Wakefield? Please! He reached his career milestone 200th win. Time to retire. Lackey has been, well, lacking for some time. 'Nuf said.

I've long agreed that the manager often become the fall guys for a team's deficiencies when most of us know they are often stuck with the cards the front office deal makers deal them. You're only as good as your weakest players, as the saying goes. But there also is the reality that at some point, a manager's effectiveness (no matter how limited) reaches a point where change is needed. That time is now, and it appears that even Tito recognized it and agreed to move on. If memory serves me right, there was a similar outcry from the fans when the Yankees booted Joe Torre for Girardi. It appeared that the Yankees had hit a flat spot with Torre and made the move. I thought it was an unfair move and supported Torre. But the move worked and Girardi has done some great things at the helm.

No, I think Francona's departure is just one piece of a very complicated remedy aimed at turning the ship around. I don't mind watching a team fail to make the playoffs when it is in the "rebuilding" stage. But as you say, the Red Sox is a tired, bloated, heavy, lethargic machine lacking any spark. Sometimes you have to start at the top to fix an organization and this move seemed to be just that. I wouldn't be surprised if a few others even higher up the food chain are not around to see opening day 2012 with the Sox.

[Allen Wiener]

That's pretty much it, Paul. The chemistry was there but cannot last indefinitely. A shakeup is definitely needed. I don't know how lethargic they had all become, including Francona, but it has clearly been there for a while. The Torre case may be comparable. I don't know how management works these days, or if it's the same on every team, but the Orioles' halcyon days, Weaver played an integral part in personnel decisions, told the front office what players he wanted them to go after, or at least what he needed (he was forever in search of a left-handed hitting catcher due to his infatuation with platooning) and the front office did its best to accommodate him. It looked to me like the front office had little imagination of this kind and Francona either wasn't providing any for them or they weren't listening to him. Something was seriously wrong with the scouting system when they paid that kind of money for a dud like Lackey, or Crawford while getting rid of Beltre, and their bloated salaries must have caused some resentment among longer-term, lower paid players who were producing for the team. There aren't that many indispensible players on that team right now (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez (their one smart move), Ortiz and some of the new, younger players who are coming along, like Scutaro). A big player shakeup and rebuilding effort may be just the tonic that'll put a little more fire into the team.

[Paul Sylvain]

How do you spell overpaid "dud"? Um -- "DICE-K"?

Baseball should have had a Lemon Law for deals such as that one. lol Hopefully Boston has seen the last of him (in a Red Sox uniform, anyway).

[Allen Wiener]

Amen, Paul. And to think, they paid $50 million just for the "privlege" of negotiating with him first. That was their first mistake! If someone else had outbid them at that point, maybe someone else would have gotten stuck with him. It's Lackey I don't get; he was mediocre, at best, with L.A. and the Sox had whacked him the playoffs the year before, yet they paid him something like $15 mill. anyway. Why not just go after Sabathia and give him his $25 mil? At least he's a winner.