The Orioles defeated the Mariners tonight to draw within a half game of one of the American League's Wild Card spots. In what most consider to be a shocking season, the second-place Orioles trail the Yankees by 5 1/2 games following New York's loss to the Tigers. Here are some links pertaining to the division…
- "We are not making a change at manager," Red Sox principal owner John Henry told WEEI.com's Rob Bradford via email. Henry wrote that managers often get too much credit and also too little credit for what happens on the field.
- WEEI's Alex Speier tweeted a quote from Red Sox GM Ben Cherington that echoed Henry's sentiment, though Cherington stopped short of saying how long Valentine's Boston tenure would last (Twitter links).
- Orioles DH Jim Thome was told to refrain from baseball activities for 30 days, reports MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. With an early September return questionable at best, he may be more interested in coming back for another season, according to Ghiroli (Twitter links).
- An Orioles team official told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that the team doesn't have interest in Derek Lowe, who was recently DFA'ed by the Indians (Twitter link). Cleveland is said to be exploring trade options for Lowe.
Here’s to hoping that Henry’s comments are just misdirection for an eventual Valentine firing.
I can’t agree with you here. I do at least hope it gives Valentine the rope to start making brash calls rather than cookie cutter ones he has been making since around April.
There is a story at WEEI on manager changes and 1 is when Johnny Mac was fired and Joe morgan was brought in.. A few things morgan did was make brash moves and also? Bench/pinch hit for veterans not performing (which boston has aplenty of) and a BIG factor? Walpo Joe managed many of the youngsters at either AA, or AAA that he promoted, or gave new found responsibility to and they produced big time, propelling that ’88 team to 19 wins out of 20.
Of course that WEEI writer left all of that out.. Go Figure.. Why leave facts out of a case when it didn’t serve his agenda?
But if you think he’s making cookie cutter decisions then that would be a bigger part of the problem. The Sox hired a brash experienced MLB manager over rookie managers to make the bold decisions. If you think Valentine’s worried about his job and making safe choices then he should be let go.
No.. I think he was hired to control unruly ball players and make brash, intelligent decisions and he has failed so far. The media has gotten to someone I never thought would in NE.
Do u remember how Joe Morgan used to treat the media? He would give them alternate smart aleck, rude, or act like he was a country hick and ignore them attitude.
Valentine started off playing nice to the media and it was a mistake.
He has time to go back to the way he should have acted all along and did somewhat at the start of the season, but then they were losing and the media was out for blood by then.
As for letting him go?? Just who do they find? They can no longer bring in Farrell. The cast of coaches Francona had otherwise totaled together weren’t worth squat as management material, including the ones still operating as coaches.
Valentine still has a chance. I suggest he put the media on it’s toes and then wear blinders..
Is it enough to just not like him? I didn’t like him as an ESPN commentator, because almost everything he said lacked any semblance of intelligence. I can’t believe that a guy like that has been, is, or will be good for the team. I’d rather have anyone with a pulse and the physical ability to signal the bullpen over Bobby V, always.
I respect your opinion to wanting change in management. Careful with what you wish for however.. Many times they have had change over the decades and the change has been far worse than the predecessor.
Something maybe worth thinking of as a faint glimmer of hope down the 2013 horizon? Half way to possibly 2/3 of the way through the 2013 season, if the Jays still struggling they fire Farrell.
What if Boston fired Valentine now and had some inept manager and wouldn’t give them their walking papers the *2nd* time Farrell was available? Valentine is as good as anyone out there,
Considering the best alive still 2 are Earl Weaver and Jack Mckeon and both are nearing 90YO and impossible to get them into the dugout again….
I would say “just finish the year with an interim manager,” but that would be Tim Bogar and watching him coach third base last year was enough for me to never want him to manage anything. Best option for interim would be Dave Magadan but I wouldn’t want to mess with his hitting coaching, really.
It’s really moot for the rest of this year, anyway. I just really don’t want to see his face any more than I need to.
The people they brought in and interviewed prior to Valentine were under whelming. Sveum and the shocker to me? Gene LaMont. those were the highlight people.
Boston (to me) doesn’t have any brilliant candidates that they have had at the minor league level for years getting ready any longer. Maybe it is a sign of the changing times? But no Joe Morgan, Rac Slider, Buddy Bailey’s etc..
Want John Farrell myself and did after the 2010 season when the Sox FO let him walk to Toronto. Now they fire Valentine and it’s almost impossible to hire someone and then fire them midway thru next year if the Jays let Farrell go.
Just my 2c. boston does need to do a better job of retaining their MiLB management now, like they did in the past when they would have good coaches and managers at that level.
It’s true. The lack of actual options was always what caused this to happen. But my a priori disdain for Valentine (something that is hardly unique to me) makes him impossible to ever accept. If the reports are to be believed (always a toss-up, I know), people such as Mssrs. Youkilis and Pedroia even entered the season with that attitude, which is not the way to start a winning season.
Ok.. Give ya that.. Now who do they hire to replace him then? it’s a tricky thing.
Someone who gets along with those maroons, also know as the NE media? or someone who shuts them out altogether and pretty much ignores them? We have seen winners work both angles.
Myself? As vicious as they are? i think it would be easier to shut them out and let them write, but Boston has to target the right guy who can handle both the media 1st and the team 2nd. it’s such a crock.
Dustin Pedroia. Player-manager. let’s go. (lol, how terrible)
Pull a Cardinals and get a former player in here without managing experience but with media experience? Heck, call up Alex Cora. Why not. For real, though, just get someone who won’t be afraid to say “because I’m the manager” to every media question and who the players respect and everything else will fall in line as much as it can.
I realize we’re overstating the effect of the manager somewhat, but at the same time it isn’t exactly negligible.
Cora makes more sense than Sveum and especially LaMont to me.
Then.. Could you imagine the field day the shaughnessy’s and Minihane’s of the New England media would have the 1st time the Sox had a (lord forbid) 3-4 game losing streak??
It would all be due to:
A) Inexperience
B) Something wrong he learned under francona
C) back to inexperience
They would have a bloomin’ field day with Cora..
I do agree.. cora would be outstanding.. Morgan was the last totally green manager at the MLB level hired in Boston, but he had over 20 years at the MiLB level in the sox system.
I am with you on Cora, at least hire him as a coach.. Then Valentine would realize what it meant of course…
Please?
The “We’re not firing Bobby Valentine” comment was the saddest thing I’ve heard all summer.
Mine was “We’re about to be swept by the Twins.”
I was at the game on Sunday, and I warned the people I was with that if the Sox actually got swept by the Twins I was booing as loudly as humanly possible P:
Valentine is doing fine redsox will get on a huge winning rampage mark my words!#teamValentine
Bring back Kevin Kennedy!! Never finished below .500 wherever he managed, minors or majors and never below 3rd in the bigs.
LOL. Kennedy was a classic fall out of a tree and land on his feet manager for Boston (thank you Bill Lee for that wonderful quotation) and I fondly recall Kennedy as an outstanding color announcer for the Rays a couple years who quite often would put that homer DeWayne Staats in his place whenever he would say something totally off the wall and made -0- sense.It probably cost him his job, conficting with that maroon, but it sure was funny he did it so often.
Cherington has been undercutting Valentine’s efforts all season long. He must be terribly disappointed this morning that John Henry gave Bobby V. a vote of confidence, and not him.
Hmmm. Sounds to me like Ben Cherington just lost a round, and not by the score of 10-9 either.