Background story of Red Sox' epic collapse

[Donoghus]

A glaring case study on how much of a factor "team chemistry" truly is.

Something sabermetrics can't measure.

[TheReaLPuba]

I think it's quite sick that people are blaming Tito for the collapse and using his pain meds as a reason.

If this truly was the case, and I don't buy it for a second, then why did the Owners not do anything about it?

Managers and coaches take time off for various health reasons and personal matters.

This clearly is throwing Tito under the bus.

[Donoghus]

This might be the best Shaughnessy article in years.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/10/13/theo_epsteins_departure_latest_sign_on_chaos_with_red_sox/?p1=News_links

[pearljammer10]

If the sox were in the playoffs we would here nothing about this...Its not like the starting rotation was doing this every game... Im sure this goes on in every club house in the entire league, and im sure it goes on in worse ways.

[Finkelskyhook]

I think it's quite sick that people are blaming Tito for the collapse and using his pain meds as a reason.

If this truly was the case, and I don't buy it for a second, then why did the Owners not do anything about it?

Managers and coaches take time off for various health reasons and personal matters.

This clearly is throwing Tito under the bus.

The only series I saw was the KC series in KC.  Compared to previous years...Body language and play was lethargic at best.  Wakefield pitched well and just lost it all at once.  Francona left him in several batters too long.  But even in the games they played well....With the exception or Redick, Pedroia, and Ellsbury, the players looked like they didn't much care.

Both in televised games and the series I saw live Crawford looked like he didn't want to be there. 

[LB3533]

This is just the "same old, same old" with the Red Sox ownership group.

They trounced on Nomar's rep when we traded him back in 2004 and now they are continuing the smear campaign on Tito just the same.

I hope this ownership crashes and burns the rest of their time here.

[looseball]

Some truly eye opening stuff. A must read:

Tito with a pending divorce, possible addiction to pain killers, and worried about kids in Afghanistan.

Ownership divided on whether to invest in Crawford.

Lackey, Beckett, Lester and Buchholz drinking beer, eating fast food chicken and playing video games during games.

Players ignoring the strength and conditioning coach.

Wakefield, Varitek, Ortiz and Gonzalez showing me first attitudes and little to no leadership.

Rift in clubhouse against Jacoby Ellsbury.

Only 4 players seemingly still trying and training hard come September.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/10/12/red_sox_unity_dedication_dissolved_during_epic_late_season_collapse/?page=1

When I read this article in the Globe I accepted it as being right on, regardless of who the un-named sources were.  The Sox had a great 8 year run, which is longer than most teams experience. 
But the need for a change of leadership won't stop at manager and GM, former team leaders will need to be replaced also.  It won't be fixed by tweaking.  We need some serious twanging!

[Jon]

Some truly eye opening stuff. A must read:

Tito with a pending divorce, possible addiction to pain killers, and worried about kids in Afghanistan.

Ownership divided on whether to invest in Crawford.

Lackey, Beckett, Lester and Buchholz drinking beer, eating fast food chicken and playing video games during games.

Players ignoring the strength and conditioning coach.

Wakefield, Varitek, Ortiz and Gonzalez showing me first attitudes and little to no leadership.

Rift in clubhouse against Jacoby Ellsbury.

Only 4 players seemingly still trying and training hard come September.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/10/12/red_sox_unity_dedication_dissolved_during_epic_late_season_collapse/?page=1

When I read this article in the Globe I accepted it as being right on, regardless of who the un-named sources were.  The Sox had a great 8 year run, which is longer than most teams experience. 
But the need for a change of leadership won't stop at manager and GM, former team leaders will need to be replaced also.  It won't be fixed by tweaking.  We need some serious twanging!

I don't agree at all. 

For 80+% of the season, the Red Sox were the best team in the AL East, which is equal to being the best team in baseball (the Phillies wouldn't have won 102 games if they had to play the Yankees and Rays 25% of their games).  They don't need to be blown up.  Despite all the problems they had, if you had a healthy Buc and Youk they would've made the playoffs and no one would be saying a word right now. 

Furthermore, with the Yanks and Phillies knocked out early, the Sox could even be in the ALCS right now. 

That doesn't need to be blown up. 

Drew, Dice-K, Ortiz, Varitek, Wake, and Scutaro all come off the books next year.  That's about 50 million dollars worth of salary right there. 

Even if you bring back Ortiz, Tek, and Wake (and that's far from certain) you likely only need 10 million or so to do that. 

Then, you do the following:

Let Reddick and Kalish fight it out for RF.

Let Iglesias play SS

Then, spend the remaining 40 million suring up the pitching staff.  A big chunk may go to Papelbon. 

I also fully expect Crawford to be better (though likely not live up to the contract) and Lackey to at least be as good as he was in 2010, which while wildly below his contract, is fine for a #5 pitcher, which is what he'll be if Lester, Beckett, and Buc are healthy and spend big on another pitcher.  Both will always be bad investments, but it doesn't mean they can't be better than they were this year. 

There's a lot of drama now, but baseball is NOT a team sport.  A few cancers in the club house does not have the effect that it does in basketball and baseball. 

This can be tweaked and does not need to be blown up. 

[Mike-Dub]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/10/14/felger-mazz-john-henry-invades-felger-and-massarotti/

Here's the link to listen to the Henry conversation from earlier today on The Sports Hub.

Edit:  It is a very... very long interview, so I would read an article, catch some videos online, or just watch comcast to get the story on it.

[Finkelskyhook]

There's a lot of drama now, but baseball is NOT a team sport.  A few cancers in the club house does not have the effect that it does in basketball and baseball. 


 Baseball is not a team sport?  I know that basketball isn't because the messiah plays all 5 positions at the same time.  But baseball?

[nickagneta]

Some truly eye opening stuff. A must read:

Tito with a pending divorce, possible addiction to pain killers, and worried about kids in Afghanistan.

Ownership divided on whether to invest in Crawford.

Lackey, Beckett, Lester and Buchholz drinking beer, eating fast food chicken and playing video games during games.

Players ignoring the strength and conditioning coach.

Wakefield, Varitek, Ortiz and Gonzalez showing me first attitudes and little to no leadership.

Rift in clubhouse against Jacoby Ellsbury.

Only 4 players seemingly still trying and training hard come September.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/10/12/red_sox_unity_dedication_dissolved_during_epic_late_season_collapse/?page=1

When I read this article in the Globe I accepted it as being right on, regardless of who the un-named sources were.  The Sox had a great 8 year run, which is longer than most teams experience. 
But the need for a change of leadership won't stop at manager and GM, former team leaders will need to be replaced also.  It won't be fixed by tweaking.  We need some serious twanging!

I don't agree at all. 

For 80+% of the season, the Red Sox were the best team in the AL East, which is equal to being the best team in baseball (the Phillies wouldn't have won 102 games if they had to play the Yankees and Rays 25% of their games).  They don't need to be blown up.  Despite all the problems they had, if you had a healthy Buc and Youk they would've made the playoffs and no one would be saying a word right now. 

Furthermore, with the Yanks and Phillies knocked out early, the Sox could even be in the ALCS right now. 

That doesn't need to be blown up. 

Drew, Dice-K, Ortiz, Varitek, Wake, and Scutaro all come off the books next year.  That's about 50 million dollars worth of salary right there. 

Even if you bring back Ortiz, Tek, and Wake (and that's far from certain) you likely only need 10 million or so to do that. 

Then, you do the following:

Let Reddick and Kalish fight it out for RF.

Let Iglesias play SS

Then, spend the remaining 40 million suring up the pitching staff.  A big chunk may go to Papelbon. 

I also fully expect Crawford to be better (though likely not live up to the contract) and Lackey to at least be as good as he was in 2010, which while wildly below his contract, is fine for a #5 pitcher, which is what he'll be if Lester, Beckett, and Buc are healthy and spend big on another pitcher.  Both will always be bad investments, but it doesn't mean they can't be better than they were this year. 

There's a lot of drama now, but baseball is NOT a team sport.  A few cancers in the club house does not have the effect that it does in basketball and baseball. 

This can be tweaked and does not need to be blown up. 

1. Matsuzaka is back next year, he originally signed a 6 year deal. We have him next year for $10 million.

2. For $10 million it would be impossible to resign David Ortiz next year, never mind Ortiz, Wakefield and Varitek. Besides, all three leaders were throw under the bus by ownership in that recent article. They are all gone.

3. Scutaro's option for $6 million is still held by the team and given his performance and the fact he was only one of three or four players playing hard in September, I think he is back for a year.

4. I gotta believe the Sox pay a team $80 million to take Lackey off their hands. He's been a pure cancer since he first arrived and has only created problems by influencing youngsters Lester and Buchholz. It wouldn't surprise me to see Beckett gone as well.

5. Baseball IS a team game, you couldn't be more wrong. Chemistry is a huge deal in baseball.