For starters, I'll say that this was absolutely the right move given the under-performance of just about everyone in the starting rotation. Ben Cherington is right when he says that "it is a performance based job," and if you don't perform you don't keep your job, it's that simple. However, this move should have been done in June, not August. (This is why I don't think this was strictly performance-related, but given the slop that the pitchers have been tossing up to the dish all year, his methods clearly were ineffective and a firing was warranted.)
It is said that the baseball season can be broken up into 3 parts April and May to evaluate, June and July to add or subtract to the roster, and August and September to see if the moves you've made were good enough to play in October. Throughout the first two months of the season, the Red Sox had the worst starting staff in baseball and clearly whatever McClure was (or wasn't) doing was not conducive to winning or productive pitching. He should have gotten the axe then, which leads me to speculate further about the timing of this firing.
This is particularly appalling to me only because they have now committed to Assistant Pitching Coach Randy Niemann. (Quick Sidenote: Do you know how many other teams at the beginning of 2012 had an assistant pitching coach? That would be none, but I digress.) Usually committing to someone new after a just firing would not bother me, but the fact that they are promoting Niemann, whom is Bobby Valentine's "right-hand man", is striking me as an evaluation that could lead to letting Bobby Valentine stick around for another year.
Bobby Valentine was put into a no-win situation when he took this job. He had to take over for the most successful manager in Red Sox history, he wass thrust into a strange dictatorship (Larry Lucchino, emphasis on the dic), and a GM that did not want him to be hired. With that being said he has had too many missteps this year in my eyes to be the manager.
These missteps include but are not limited to:
- Not knowing whether opposing starting pitchers are left-right handed
- Not being transparent with injuries
- Calling out players before having enough time to cognitively evaluate (Think Kevin Youkilis)
- Blatantly lying when asked about the Middlebrooks "Nice Inning, Will" situation. (He told a story about himself making three errors in one inning on a seat cushion giveaway night at Dodger Stadium and tried to relate to his player. It turns out that he never made 3 errors in one game in his Major League career, nor did the Dodgers have a "seat cushion giveaway" night during his tenure in LA.)
- Letting Mark Melancon pitch in any game with a lead is almost a fire-able offense as said lead undoubtedly turns into a deficit.
- The kowtowing to players such as Josh Beckett after being critical (and rightly so) while being an analyst on ESPN in reference to the rate of play that he pitches at.
I sincerely hope that the Niemann promotion is not a signal that they are committing to Bobby for 2013 and beyond, because I think that would be another mistake to throw on top of the roster full of underperforming players and anarchy in the front office.
Stay Tuned
Norton
Very nice post. I have to say I agree with pretty much everything you had to say but I do disagree with the Youklis deal. I have never been a Youklis supporter nor will I ever be. He was a difficult person in the club house and put personal goals and achievements before the team. A perfect example (you will love this) is when he and Manny got into it in the dugout. First report was Manny being Manny but later it was leaked that the Manny and the other players were sick of a guy batting .320, striking out and throwing a temper tantrum like a 13 year old boy or a modern day Brian Chapman. He did nothing for the younger talent and was a difficult person to get along with. Like Peter Brand said "he was the god of walks", and he got on base and is a pretty big part of the championships in Boston but those days are done. Its time to get youngers and move forward and with his inability to be a team player and support the younger talent coming up, he had to go and good ridens. I also question the Melancon deal. You have to think that becuase the Sox invested so much in him invested in him and dealt away Jed Lowrie and Kyle Wieland, they have to get him to were he was when he was pitching for Houston. An ERA of 2.78 leads me to believe he can pitch. He had 20 saves so he can pitch in high pressure situations. You cant just let a guy sit in the minors when you so much invested in him. I would say though, if the sox were in contention and he was pitciing poorly he probably would get less burn. Also Bobby V deserves one more season. He has yet to have the whole team together for this season and probably wont for the remainder of this season. Bottom line is pitching a defense wins championships and neither are holding up this season. Oh and if they had Manny we wouldnt even be talking about all this. Lastly, if not Bobby V then who? Good day sir.
ReplyDeleteIf I was portrayed as a Youkilis supporter than I did not convey that how I wanted to. I was saying the way Valentine came in guns blazing against Youkilis seemed a little strange and probably not warranted. At the time of calling out Youkilis he had only been in camp a couple weeks.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't classify Jed Lowrie (an oft-injured infielder that at the time was nothing more than a super-utility with upside at the bat) and Kyle Weiland (whom I like, but realistically speaking probably wasn't ever going to crack the Red Sox rotation with the salaries and names behind him) as "investing so much" into them. I liked the deal at the time because you are getting rid of spare parts for someone who could help you. however he has not helped and he has given up more leads than Ryan Lochte.
Have the Red Sox had injuries this year? absolutely. But the Yankees have had almost as many this year and they have started the likes of the Freddy Garcia and other assorted rookies and journeymen and they are leading the East. Injuries are not an excuse that I am willing to use for this season. Underperformance however is.
I have not yet decided who should replace Valentine. I want to see what the landscape looks like at the end of the season. There could be managers that lose their jobs and candidates that haven't yet emerged that I would like to give more consideration before I make that choice. I will undoubtedly post on it but not yet, need more info first.