Red Sox Fire John Farrell

The Boston Red Sox fired manager John Farrell because Red Sox ratings on NESN were down 15% this year. Sure other explanations will be given for the firing but the real reason is because NESN's freaking ratings were down and the clowns who own the Red Sox needed a scapegoat.

I'm not kidding.

John Farrell won the AL East 3 out of 5 years he managed in Boston, beat cancer for a franchise forever linked with battling cancer (the Jimmy Fund and Boston Red Sox are synonymous in New England) and HE WON A WORLD SERIES. His job should have been safe if he worked for more stable owners anywhere else in any other sport.

But the Red Sox have the least stable (and likable) ownership of all the four major sports franchises in Boston. Theo Epstein and Terry Francona should still be here and be historically somewhere between the duos of Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens with the Celtics and the all-time great duo of Brady and Belichick (no first names or team citation needed). But no - ownership needed a perceived scapegoat then too!

It will be said that GM Dave Dombrowski wanted "his own man" as manager and that's true to an extent. But the only reason Red Sox ownership let him make this move is because ratings at NESN were down 15% this year. If the rating were flat or down just a couple points - John Farrell would still be managing.

I don't care to engage in everyone's favorite new game of "who will be the next Red Sox manager" but I will make one prediction - rating at NESN will be down another 15% next year too.

Because Red Sox ownership doesn't get it and probably never will. 

Top 5 - Red Sox First Half Story-lines

So it's the All-Star break and here's what I consider to be the Top 5 Red Sox story-lines from the first half of the season.

1. The Kids are Alright! Xander Bogaearts (23), Jackie Bradley Jr. (26), and Mookie Betts (23) are All-Stars and the core of this team. The future is bright in Boston.
2. Big Papi-mania! David Ortiz is on track for 40+ HR and 130+ RBI and in his final season his current OPS+ of 184 is the highest of his career by far! Ortiz is putting together one of the best final seasons in pro sports history.
3. The starting pitching stinks! I'm comfortable with the fact that David Price will come around and be give the Red Sox a Cy Young contender-type second half. Steven Wright is a well deserved All-Star and I'm also good with Rick Porcello, So with 3 of the 5 starters being OK - why do I say the starting pitching stinks? Imagine a five course meal where the first three courses were good or very good but the last two courses were a shit sandwich and chocolate covered dung. Would you say that was a good meal or that is stinks? Boston has had a combined 29 starts from Clay Buchholz (5.91 ERA), Edwardo Rodriguez (8.59 ERA), Joe Kelly (8.46 ERA) and Sean O'Sullivan (6.75 ERA) which have been the equivalent of a shit sandwich for Red Sox fans so far this season.
4. Travis Shaw replaces Pablo Sandoval. Shaw is on pace for 18 HR and 90 RBI and he doesn't look like a Weight Watchers' before picture. Like many fans - I hope we have seen the last of Sandoval in a Red Sox uniform.
5. Is John Farrell on the hot seat? The team has served up a shit sandwich of 40% of the starting pitching staff and yet the team is just 2 games back. Why would Farrell be on the hot seat? Because Boston sportswriters and sports talk radio people are the worst. Same bunch of jackasses that insisted that Terry Francona had to go too. Farrell won the World Series for Boston not too long ago.

Red Sox Win the World Series - Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts about the Red Sox winning the World Series.

This was the front page of the Boston Herald this morning... A lot of things had to break right for the Red Sox to win this year but Koji Uehara emerging as one of the most unhittable closers in baseball was one of the biggest. Uehara my sunshine, my only sunshine... It is a lifetime of columns like this why I viscerally hate Dan Shaughnessy. I also remember how he said putting seats on the Green Monster was an abomination that was going to ruin the park... One more reason to love John Farrell - when he came out after the game to accept the trophy - he wasn't wearing one of the cheesy t-shirts or hats that have become ubiquitous at these events. I've grown to hate those hats and shirts almost as much as Dan Shaughnessy. Almost... How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Fox Sports microphone pop?... Sad to think that last night babies were born in New England hospitals and those babies have never witnessed a Red Sox World Series championship. Won't someone please think of the babies!... Semi-sad to think that some key players from the 2013 team won't be around next year. Stephen Drew will be replaced, Jacoby Ellsbury most likely will be gone as a free agent, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia who is also a free agent (though his departure is not as sure as Ellsbury)...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

There are 6-years old kids in New England who have never seen a Red Sox win a World Series! Won't someone please think of the children!... Very cool - how cereal transformed American culture... You have to read the article and then watch the video. The whole thing is very cool. That song is awesome... If the Red Sox do win the World Series - many people will be comparing John Farrell's time in Toronto to Bill Belichick's time in Cleveland... Awesome headline... Creedence Clearwater's Born on the Bayou has a ton of Cowbell. I wonder if they used Blue Oyster Cult's record producer...

Red Sox Managers as James Bond Actors

I was thinking the other day that if Terry Francona was a James Bond actor he'd be Sean Connery. He's the bar for which all subsequent Boston managers will be measured. Red Sox fans are waiting to see if John Farrell can handle the role as Boston manager as well as a Roger Moore or a Pierce Brosnan or a Daniel Craig handled the Bond role. Everyone hopes he's not going to be a Timothy Dalton (though to be fair to Dalton - I've liked him in everything he's done except Bond movies).

Of course there's no question that Bobby Valentine was the George Lazenby of Red Sox managers. A one year mistake that is best left forgotten.

Blue Jays / Marlins Megadeal

Here's my take on last night's Blue Jays / Marlins megadeal.

Deals like this don't happen in a vacuum. To understand why the deal happened and who would be the winner and loser from this deal you have to understand the surrounding circumstances. The Marlins finished last in the NL East in 2012 with the big contracts of Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and John Buck. Chances are at worst they can finish last without those big contracts. The Blue Jays' record wasn't much better than the Marlins (73 wins vs 69) but you have to understand that GM Alex Anthopoulis just allowed their manager John Farrell to move over to division rival Red Sox. Anthopoulis had to make a big splash to make a run this year because if Farrell leads Boston to a better record than Toronto this year Anthoupilis would be sure to be asked why he allowed Farrell to move on. The Yankees are the Yankees but Blue Jay fans have to ask why division rival Baltimore became a playoff team in the same time frame that Anthopoulis was running the team with Toronto languishing at just 73 wins.

The circumstances were right for a big deal.

The Marlins get back a number of prospects plus potential headcase Yunel Escobar. Trent Rosecrans of CBS Sports has a good rundown of what the Marlins will be getting in the trade. It is entirely possible that someone will sit Escobar down and tell him this could be his last chance to be a name player in MLB. If his head is screwed on straight Escobar could equal Jose Reyes contribution for the Marlins at a much reduced price tag. If Escobar doesn't toe the line - then he's a one year headache. In Buehrle and Johnson the Marlins are losing a total of 62 starts at a little better than league adjusted average ERA - it doesn't sound so impressive when you put it like that does it?

The real gem for the Blue Jays in this deal is Josh Johnson who will be in both the second year after Tommy John surgery and his free agent walk year. That's a recipe for a Cy Young type season in the making. Mark Buehrle is a glorified 3rd started in the AL East and Jose Reyes is a player whose game is based upon speed but who will be playing his home games now on an artificial surface and whose contract will end when he's 34 or 35 years old.

If Johnson wins 20 games next year people will say Anthoupolis won this deal but long term I think this is better for the Marlins. If Vegas set the over / under for wins for Miami at 69 then I'd bet that a combination of misfit toys and young players will actually do better than the high salary 2012 team. Jeff Loria will get lots of heat for this deal but it was the right move for his team (and yes - his pocketbook - not arguing that factor in the deal).

State of the Red Sox

If we assume that the mega-deal with the Dodgers goes through - where does that leave the Red Sox? Here's how I see them and some thoughts on what else should be done.

The Red Sox Mess

People are looking to pin the blame for the Red Sox organization being a mess. Does the blame lie with players like Josh Beckett who is viewed as over-paid, under-productive and out of shape? Is it Bobby Valentine whose managerial moves at times are questionable at best and whose personality really rubs many the wrong way? Is it first year GM Ben Cherington who hasn't made enough moves to right the ship? Is it ownership who seem too distracted by new shiny things like Liverpool soccer (LFC) to see the forest through the trees? For anyone paying attention the answer is clear - all of the above!

I get into details after the break. Be sure to read it all because I really buried the lede.

Red Sox Magic Number - 163

Opening Day for the Red Sox (and pretty much everyone else) - so their magic number for the season is 163. If you gave me enough time I could give you 163 reasons why Bobby Valentine makes me nervous as a manager but given my schedule - I'll just give you the top few.

I think for many Red Sox fans the news that Valentine will be doing weekly radio spots with Michael Kay, the voice of the Yankees, immediately brings to minds some reasons to be nervous about Valentine. People at the top levels of sports are bound to have healthy egos but this is a little over the top. Put it this way - could you see Joe Girardi of the Yankees doing the same thing? Joe Torre was a Hall of Fame manager - do you think the idea to do weekly radio spots with a Boston sports station ever would have made it past first base with Joe? Heck - Joe Torre and Terry Francona are friends but they used to play that down because of the Red Sox / Yankees rivalry. They though such chuminess was unseemly given the passion of their fans. Valentine doesn't seem to understand this.

Speaking of Terry Francona - he was basically fired because the Red Sox missed the playoffs two seasons in a row. Valentine's claim to fame is the fact that he led the Mets to the playoffs two years in a row (something no Mets manager was ever able to accomplish). Francona won two World Series - what has Valentine ever won?

Who Bobby Valentine isn't may be just a big a reason Red Sox fans aren't embracing him. He's not Terry Francona. As an aside - I hope Francona enjoys his stint as announcer for ESPN - I think he could excel at that job and he'd finally make listening to Sunday Night Baseball something that wouldn't make your ears bleed.  Valentine isn't Dale Sveum of the Cubs. He was the guy the Red Sox really wanted this off-season but Sveum probably didn't like the way Francona was treated on the way out the door (Francona has lots of friends in baseball and the Red Sox did themselves no favors smearing him on the way out the door). Have your heard anyone use the word "circus" to describe Sveum's managing style? Heck have you heard anything about Sveum this Spring training? He's been lower than low-key.

Valentine also isn't John Farrell, the manager of the Blue Jays, and the one guy every Red Sox fan would have liked to have replaced Terry Francona. Now Red Sox fans will have to watch Farrell 19 times a year and you know conscious or unconscious comparisons with Valentine will be made. I'll state my feeling plainly - if the Red Sox finish behind Toronto this year then Valentine should be fired right away and the experiment deemed a failure. Period.

Valentine is who he is and that's the problem. Let me circle back to his weekly radio spots with Michael Kay to finish up. I predict that at some point this year Kay will bring up something about a player and Valentine will say something or try to make a joke that will immediately make the situation much worse. You know this will happen. The man can't help himself. This is something you'd never have to worry about with Terry Francona - heck not something you'd have to worry about with any other manager in baseball.

Bobby Valentine makes Red Sox fans nervous because we remember Kevin Kennedy. And how did that work out?