I think theo bails and head to the cubs and whoever steps in will have a lot to do. Rebuild the rotation, possibly find a new manager(although francona can't be blamed for this, really), find some depth and teach Crawford how to play pro level ball.
Francona firing talk is silly. The guy is a great manager in my opinion. That Crawford contract is about as smelly as it gets. A gigantic black eye for Epstein.
If you have nothing better to do...Start reading this gameday thread from this page and onwards LOL http://www.prosportsdaily.com/forums/showthread.php?t=655795&page=176
Having and using 10 pitchers are two different things if the quote is even true. http://www.platoonadvantage.com/2011/09/blaming-theo.html "So the Sox planned ahead. They had Wakefield stashed in the bullpen, and Weiland, Miller, and Felix Doubront stashed at AAA. If things truly got desperate, long man Alfredo Aceves could be pressed into service. Things did get desperate. So desperate that every single starter except Beckett went on the DL with injury problems. Lester and Buchholz developed back problems. Lackey and Matsuzaka came down with elbow issues. Matsuzaka is slated for surgery this offseason and is unavailable. Buchholz has been out since June and is hoping to be ready for the playoffs. Even the otherwise healthy Beckett has gutted through a sprained ankle. Their reinforcements have even evaporated. Erik Bedard, acquired in a midseason trade, was out for 15 days this September with more knee problems. Doubront has struggled through leg and groin problems all season. The Sox were prepared if one of their starters proved injured or ineffective. They were prepared if two of their starters couldn’t go. But the Red Sox this September have seen three members of their rotation on the sidelines, and John Lackey’s baffling inability to get anyone out. What reasonable GM would feel like they needed to have 9 viable starters on hand at the start of a season?" Usually when you're starting guys that low on the depth chart(8-10) you need guys who can pitch long relief, unfortunately for the Sox three of their relievers were lost to injury as well, Wheeler, Jenks, and Hill which was a loss of maybe 100 innings of relief. Don't diss Youk so much, he was batting over .280 in May June, & July(74 RBI by the end of July) before he got hurt in August. If he didn't get hurt who knows what he could of done but it would of been better than Lowrie. Are Tito and Theo to blame for this, yes but give me a freaking break there is no reasonable way you can explain how injuries didn't hurt this team again.
Injuries hurt the team, but all teams have injuries. Look, you lost Dice-K in May and Buchholz on June 16th. They were 20-6 in July and 17-12 in August with those guys missing. Youkilis missed the second half of August and the second half of September, but it's not like he was tearing it up, either. Losing Wheeler didn't hurt much. He was below average. Jenks was atrocious. Losing Bedard to injury is not surprising. That'd be like blaming the Yankees' struggles on injuries after acquiring Mark Prior and watching him get injured. Shocker! The Sox - with basically the same team that won them plenty of games in July and August - couldn't even manage the 9-10 wins they needed in September to clinch. 9 or 10! It's not like they needed to be awesome. They choked. Plain and simple. The only lamer excuse would be blaming the Yankees for "not trying hard enough" to beat the Rays.
How is Crawford not catching more hell for not catching that ball? they were plating shallow, he was in position and the ball was in his glove. any player should make that catch, nevertheless a player making $160 million. that catch has to be made. I'm pleased it wasn't.
Excellent post... how many games did they lose to the Orioles the last two weeks? Baltimore had the 4th worst record in baseball.
Everybody has Francona gone as early as today. Papelbon and Ortiz probably right behind him if anybody will pay them what they want. If they want to dump Lackey they will have to pay about 10 of his 15 million a year to do it. Things not looking very bright in beantown.
