The Red Sox Thread

[NerfBall55]

Ortiz was breaking into the press conference to confront Francona over concerns of his drug use. Fried chicken and beer were to loosen the clubhouse up due to Francona's inability to do so, due his drug use. Youkilis' sullen attitude was over his disappointment in Francona's drug use. Varitek could not lead because he too dealt with the pain of divorce and sympathized, although never let himself fall so hard into drugs like Francona.

They're all just a big lovable family that was rallying around one of their own. Baseball became secondary, because friends matter more.

Now that the problem has been removed, they will grow from this. It will be tough, they're definitely big underdogs next spring training.

[Hildy910]

The drug insinuations are very low. They make it sound like he was nodding off on the bench. I think there was acknowledgement on both sides that he had lost control of the clubhouse. The fact that he was taking painkillers due to numerous knee surgeries just doesn't seem to be any real factor in the teams collapse.

As much as I hate the sawx and am enjoying the circus, I can emphasize with long time fans who are stunned by what went on. The whole dirt dog/gamer meme is shot and the FO is making the situation worse by reflexively trashing people for reasons that aren't relevant

The drug insinuations are bad, also the divorce stuff. I mean, Lackey filed for divorce on Aug. 30, which was noted at the time, but apparently wasn't considered germane to this arcticle entitled 'Inside the Collapse.'
If I were a Yankee fan, this would be wildly entertaining. For me, it's like deja vu all over again, and I had hoped the Sox had grown beyond that.
Thanks for the offer, GR, but I'm stuck with what I grew up with.
Although honestly I don't consider the Yankees the dark side, but I'm twisted like that.

[Yankeeah]

http://nyc.barstoolsports.com/random...-organization/

[teknetic]

$300 headphones? I bet they were those overpriced Beats.

[SubwayFanatic]

Per ESPN.com

Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a five-year, nearly $20 million deal for him to join the team, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney Wednesday.

[Casey at the Bat]

You can always come over to the dark side.

Or the Cubs.

[pleasepassthesoup]

The Sports Hub here in Boston sent a guy to the Occupy Boston protest today with a sign that had a picture of Lackey on it that said something like "Occupy anywhere but Boston."

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

http://nyc.barstoolsports.com/random...-organization/

Wow, Nomar couldn't wait to get going on that...

[DaSh 1s]

The Sports Hub here in Boston sent a guy to the Occupy Boston protest today with a sign that had a picture of Lackey on it that said something like "Occupy anywhere but Boston."

I need to see a picture of that.


Found it!

[teknetic]

D&C source says that Beckett announced to the team that "he didn't give a damn anymore" after he fell out of the Cy Young race.

-SoSH

I imagine they'll try and clean up shop, most likely will start with Beckett as he'd be the easiest to shop around.

[DaSh 1s]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/photo-gal.../#photo-198398

[pleasepassthesoup]

I need to see a picture of that.


Found it!

Haha. Nice. I saw him with the other sign, but that one's funny too.

[pleasepassthesoup]

-SoSH

I imagine they'll try and clean up shop, most likely will start with Beckett as he'd be the easiest to shop around.

Lester's probably the easiest one to shop, I'd think. Younger and with a better contract.

[ieddyi]

Lester's probably the easiest one to shop, I'd think. Younger and with a better contract.

And Joshie has 10/5 rights....

[MoVaughnEatsAlot]

Beckett is such a douchebag, I hate him so much.

[hellonewman]

Times like this, it's great to check out that other sawx site. They're talking about trading Joshie, Lester, Lackey and Youkilis.

Yeah good luck with that one. Barry Zito anyone?

I imagine they'll try and clean up shop, most likely will start with Beckett as he'd be the easiest to shop around.

If the media meme that clearly is already in place is any indication of management's thinking, I don't think there will be dramatic personnel changes at all. This is still the 1927 Yankees revisited, they just need a real no-nonsense tough guy to whip these Hall-of-Famers into shape. Get an a__-kicker to clear the KFC and Budweiser out of the clubhouse and watch the rest of the league tremble.

At least I hope management is that clueless.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

Lester's probably the easiest one to shop, I'd think. Younger and with a better contract.

Sure, but it seems like Beckett is a bigger problem.

Of course, all this stuff is going to be great for his trade value.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

If the media meme that clearly is already in place is any indication of management's thinking, I don't think there will be dramatic personnel changes at all. This is still the 1927 Yankees revisited, they just need a real no-nonsense tough guy to whip these Hall-of-Famers into shape. Get an a__-kicker to clear the KFC and Budweiser out of the clubhouse and watch the rest of the league tremble.

At least I hope management is that clueless.

I don't know how that will fly up here -- there's a lot of disenchantment with a bunch of the players. That said, they may well try to pin it all on Theo and Francona, as it would be really hard to make wholesale changes on the roster.

[hellonewman]

Sure, but it seems like Beckett is a bigger problem.

Of course, all this stuff is going to be great for his trade value.

I doubt it would hurt it much given the year he just had, but his contract is gi-normous and as mentioned above, he's a 10-5 guy.

[teknetic]

Lester's probably the easiest one to shop, I'd think. Younger and with a better contract.

He definitely is, but I didn't include him because there's no way he's getting dealt.

[pjfan]

-SoSH

I imagine they'll try and clean up shop, most likely will start with Beckett as he'd be the easiest to shop around.

I was really hoping that the quote was more attributed to, "I don't care if I don't win the Cy Young". But with other reports out there that he was basically telling people that he didn't care if the Sox made the playoffs because his wife was having a baby soon make it unlikely.

I'd like to see him, Lester, Lackey and the rest of them get booed for their first starts next year. Bunch of douchebags.

[Rice14]

I don't know how much of anything in the article really affected the Sox this year. It's not as though they underacheived all year long, they played really good baseball for four months. I doubt that for instance Tito's marriage didn't effect him from May-August, but suddenly distracted him in September. The one thing that did ring a bell for me though was the work ethic of Beckett and Lester. Boston's September collapse was due to pitching, and it's easy to understand why Kyle Weiland or Andrew Miller were knocked around, Wake is old, Lackey sucked all year, but I couldn't understand why Beckett and Lester didn't come up bigger. If they were in less than optimal condition, maybe they just wore out by the end of the year. Lackey looked out of shape all year long.

I think Lester is a good kid, but Beckett and Lackey aren't the best role models to have.

Two questions about Theo's departure; first, does he try to raid the organazation at all for his front office and second, does he overvalue any Red Sox prospects?

[Yankee Tripper]

Two questions about Theo's departure; first, does he try to raid the organazation at all for his front office and second, does he overvalue any Red Sox prospects?

I heard he'll need permission from the FO to raid staff.

As to the 2nd would it matter? After all you'd be getting cub prospects back.

[Zimmers' Helmet]

Seems to me that Lucchino and Lackey are the ones that need to go.

It's pretty obvious that LL is the one leaking all this garbage about Francona. Can't say as I'm surprised - once a slimebag, always a slimebag.

Lackey has not only been putrid on the mound, but it seems like he's really changed the culture of the pitchers off the field.

Perhaps it's a mere coincidence, but we never heard issues about Beckett and Lester's work ethic prior to Lackey joining that team. Seems like he's the cancer that needs to be removed. They can't move Beckett - he's got a 10-5, and for better or for worse, he's too valuable to that rotation.

[pleasepassthesoup]

Seems to me that Lucchino and Lackey are the ones that need to go.

It's pretty obvious that LL is the one leaking all this garbage about Francona. Can't say as I'm surprised - once a slimebag, always a slimebag.

Lackey has not only been putrid on the mound, but it seems like he's really changed the culture of the pitchers off the field.

Perhaps it's a mere coincidence, but we never heard issues about Beckett and Lester's work ethic prior to Lackey joining that team. Seems like he's the cancer that needs to be removed. They can't move Beckett - he's got a 10-5, and for better or for worse, he's too valuable to that rotation.

Beckett's been out of shape in the past. I remember we had a lot of fun on this site thanks to a photo of him throwing with his beer gut exposed.