Red Sox owner John Henry had a number of interesting comments yesterday, as he addressed his ballclub’s struggles. He noted, first of all, that GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell are not at risk of losing their jobs, as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets.
Here’s more from the Boston owner and other notes from the team:
- The Red Sox seem as an organization to have identified some problems in their recent moves, but it’s not yet clear that they have a new, positive vision, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald suggests in his piece on Henry. Addressing last year’s increasingly questionable series of transactions (running from the trade deadline through the winter), Henry acknowledged that it is not to soon to wonder whether the right calls had been made. “At this point, you can question that, and you should, we should question that,” Henry said. “They’re going to have to prove it on the field that we made the right decisions, and they’ll prove us right or they’ll prove us wrong.”
- Looking further into Henry’s comments, Lauber’s colleague John Tomase writes that the Red Sox seem to be late in responding to some significant developments league-wide — particularly, the expanding strike zone and increasing availability of power relief arms. “The way you win games in 2003 is different from the way you win games in 2015,” Henry said. “And we have to make those adjustments as an organization. … The strike zone is larger than it used to be, so you can’t be as patient as you used to. The game of baseball has changed a lot. The standings reflect that.” The trouble, says Tomase, is that adapting will require a fairly drastic shift in the approach of numerous key hitters — along with longer-timeline changes in organizational thinking.
- DH David Ortiz says he still does not have set plans on when he’d like to retire, Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports. Of course, that question has been asked with somewhat greater urgency given that the seemingly-ageless (but actually 39-year-old) slugger is off to a rough .224/.308/.379 start to the year. Ortiz dismissed those concerns with typical wit and wisdom. “A lot of people looked at me like that [six] years ago, and here I am still,” he said. “I don’t have no timetable for [retirement]. I don’t think anybody has it, either. If it happens, who cares, man, I’m just another player that comes in and comes out. Everybody’s time is up at some point. I don’t think that’s my problem, though. I’ll keep on trying like I normally do.”
I really hope that Davis Ortiz said that in Spanish and something is lost in translation, because those sentences are stream of consciousness and very difficult to follow.
The question posed to him was “a lot of people saying your washed up, and that you’re nearing the end, how do you respond to that?” Other than the broken English, his response follows fine.
Buh bye Ben. Whenever the owner publicly states that your job is safe, the countdown has begun. I guess hoarding mediocre prospects that you could have flipped for ML talent isn’t what ownership had in mind.
I was about to say the same thing. Both manager and GM probably don’t make it past this season.
The Red Sox seem as an organization to have identified some problems in
their recent moves, but it’s not yet clear that they have a new,
positive vision
Well, what about the Orioles?
They have no vision, no strategy, nothing.
How come no one is writing about them?
No one was panicking about the Red Sox last season either. A first place finish buys you one year. Finish last in 3 our of 4 seasons (granted this one isn’t over yet) and people start to talk.
Because the O’s didn’t spend 188 million on just 2 players, among many other things the Red Sox have done recently. They Red Sox got alot of attention with the offseason and writers are reflecting on it as well as others in the industry. They are a big market team with a recent world series win, which helps put them under a microscope.
Because everyone already (rightly) doubted them in the offseason after doing nothing to offset losing Cruz and Markakis. They’re pretty much fulfilling expectations. The Red Sox on the other hand were (very, very incorrectly) universally praised for their forward-thinking vision and unassailable minor league talent base. The fact that they are struggling is a surprise to a lot of people.
the red sox were nearly universally criticized for how they handled the Lester situation. And they received a fair amount of criticism for not replacing Lester with an ace.
No one cares about Baltimore,they are a AAAA team of the Major Leagues
As much as I would absolutely exult in another 70-ish win season, I just don’t see the catastrophe here. It’s taking some time to integrate the pieces, and maybe some of the older players have regressed more than the younger ones have advanced. In the meantime, nothing is happening in the AL East. The Red Sox have enough talent, and they have the economic (and people) assets to make deals at the deadline, and to be opportunistic. Check in again after the All-Star break before we start writing the obits.
Interesting comments about the Red Sox and the strike zone. I remember reading after the signings of Hanley and Panda that it was partly due to their low strikeout rates compared to leauge.
Overall, I think the Red Sox focused on accquring the most talent rather then a well built team with the idea the talent would sort itself out. Unfortunatly, the players haven’t performed to their talent level and the team construction is still poor.
However, there is still room for the team to turn this year around but I do wonder if maybe a GM with a different vision would be better for the short term and long term.
“I don’t have no timetable for retirement.”
So that means he DOES have a time table for retirement, right?
The double negative is standard in Spanish, and reinforces the negative rather than negating it.
Make a timetable for him, Cut Him Now!
Everybody’s time is up at some point. I don’t think that’s my problem, though. I’ll keep on trying like I . do.”
To me, this sounds like Papi plans to keep playing until he can’t get a contract. I think that’s a poor personal decision by him. I would hope he would choose a time to retire, rather than wait to be forced out. Of course, I’m not suggesting it’s this year, or even next. He, his family and his team will know better than me when it should be.
So if he stays at his current rate of production for the rest of the season do you pick up his 16mil option for 2016 when you have Pablo and Hanley who would benefit from playing DH?
I have no idea. That’s between Papi, his teammates, his family and the Sox management. I’m not privy to what’s going on in the clubhouse, training room, office or in his home. They are. I don’t think holding forth with an uninformed opinion is particularly valuable (and habitually doing so is a harmful practice), so I refrain from making pronouncements on issues like this.
Pack his bags for him ,maybe he will get the message !
Sandoval should be fine at 1B, even if he is losing a step at 3B. Ramirez likely needs to play DH.
No way you pay $16M for what Ortiz is doing right now, if that continues.
he probably wants to get 500 home runs before he retires
Go to the House now , Big Papa for the sake of the Team !