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Next year's manager
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Post by marti427 on Oct 4, 2012 12:09:12 GMT -5
Finally the madness if officially over
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Post by adiospaydro2005 on Oct 4, 2012 12:19:52 GMT -5
Here's a copy of the press release provided to season ticket holders a few minutes ago...albeit about three months too late
BOBBY VALENTINE WILL NOT RETURN
AS RED SOX MANAGER IN 2013
BOSTON, MA – The Boston Red Sox today announced, following a meeting among team leaders and Manager Bobby Valentine, that Bobby will not return in 2013. A search for a new manager will begin immediately.
“Our 2012 season was disappointing for many reasons,” said Executive Vice-President/General Manager Ben Cherington, who made the announcement and who will lead the search. “No single issue is the reason, and no single individual is to blame. We’ve been making personnel changes since August, and we will continue to do so as we build a contending club. With an historic number of injuries, Bobby was dealt a difficult hand. He did the best he could under seriously adverse circumstances, and I am thankful to him.”
The Red Sox used 56 players in 2012, the most in club history. Their 9-player blockbuster trade August 25 with the Los Angeles Dodgers was their largest in 40 years.
“This year’s won-loss record reflects a season of agony,” said Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino. “It begs for changes, some of which have already transpired. More will come. We are determined to fix that which is broken and return the Red Sox to the level of success we have experienced over the past decade.
“Difficult as it is to judge a manager amid a season that had an epidemic of injuries, we feel we need to make changes. Bobby leaves the Red Sox’ manager’s office with our respect, gratitude, and affection. I have no doubt that he will continue to contribute to the game he loves so much and knows so well.”
Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said, “This season was by far the worst we have experienced in over ten years here. Ultimately, we are all collectively responsible for the team’s performance. We are going to be working tirelessly to reconstruct the ballclub for 2013. We’ll be back.
“We thank Bobby for the many contributions he made and for the energy he brought each day. He is a baseball man through and through.”
Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry said, “In our meeting with Bobby today, he handled everything with dignity and class, and it is deeply appreciated. Ultimately, we as owners are responsible for arming our organization with the resources—intellectual, physical, and financial—to return to the levels of competitiveness to which we aspire and to which our fans are accustomed. Our commitment to winning is unwavering. It is a commitment to this team, to this city, and to these fans who have supported us through thick and thin.
“We have confidence in Ben Cherington and the kind of baseball organization he is determined to build.”
“I understand this decision,” said Valentine. “This year in Boston has been an incredible experience for me, but I am as disappointed in the results as are ownership and the great fans of Red Sox Nation.
“It was a privilege to be part of the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park and an honor to be in uniform with such great players and coaches. My best to the organization. I’m sure next year will be a turnaround year.”
--RED SOX--
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Oct 4, 2012 12:27:08 GMT -5
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Post by amfox1 on Oct 4, 2012 12:31:25 GMT -5
I have four words - I TOLD YOU SO.
Good riddance, Bobby.
Now, go get John Farrell or someone else who will be about the team and not about himself.
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Post by okin15 on Oct 4, 2012 12:38:21 GMT -5
I don't understand why they didn't deal with this a month or two ago? Was it more unceremonious? No. Did it keep them in the pennant race? No. Did they players want him to stay? No. Did they at least avoid other coaching conflicts by keeping him? No. Every day he was around this team, a new thing went badly. It just doesn't make sense.
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Post by sarasoxer on Oct 4, 2012 12:43:57 GMT -5
Good to see Valentine going out classy, blaming it all on disloyal, back-stabbing coaches ... I don't know what you 're referring to. If its about yesterday's WEEI interview, he was candidly responding to a question posed by his relentless interviewers. I heard the entire interview and nowhere did he connect his coaches lack of support to the dismal record. I thought he has behaved with class in this last month when classless reporters and talk show hosts continually hounded him about being fired. Ordway and Holly, along with Felger and Mazzrotti and written media folks are the ones, IMO, who displayed complete lack of respect. Sibbi I am more with you on this one. BV found himself in a no-win situation when asked the question. He did not gratuitously shove the coaches under the bus. The question was answered honestly without elaboration. He did not blame the club's performance in any way on the coaches or the lack of an ideal relationship with them. If he had said, "no comment" or "next question" or remained silent, it would have been the same. Further, that he and the coaches did not get along 'famously' was not news to anyone at this point. If he had responded that the relationship was great, it would have been a falsehood and a known one. He would have been hammered for that too. I also agree that BV has handled matters pretty well over this last trying month while people from every angle tore into him. He was the pinata for RedSoxNation discontent...the whipping boy...savage the beast, spill his blood. It had to have been hard. Honestly I don't think many of us would have exhibited the same aplomb. If the subject comes up in a future job interview for anyone (including BV), it would have anyway by a responsible interviewer doing his due diligence. Unfortunately BV has an aspect to his personality that causes people to resent or not like him. When his personal ship hits the rocks, the natives are only too happy to cannibalize.
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Post by pedroelgrande on Oct 4, 2012 12:45:43 GMT -5
It was to secure a top 10 pick. Which are protected.
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Post by beasleyrockah on Oct 4, 2012 12:46:01 GMT -5
I don't understand why they didn't deal with this a month or two ago? Was it more unceremonious? No. Did it keep them in the pennant race? No. Did they players want him to stay? No. Did they at least avoid other coaching conflicts by keeping him? No. Every day he was around this team, a new thing went badly. It just doesn't make sense. Once the trade went down the organization realized it was a lost year, and the best possible finish would be to tank for a great draft pick. Keeping Bobby guaranteed an uninspired team who would play out the games and lose the large majority of those games. This really was the best realistic scenario post-Punto trade.
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Post by elguapo on Oct 4, 2012 12:51:34 GMT -5
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Post by pedroelgrande on Oct 4, 2012 12:56:11 GMT -5
When you make a move that Cafardo endorses you should think twice before doing it.
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Post by jmei on Oct 4, 2012 12:56:38 GMT -5
The New York Daily News had an article about (presumably) the same incident in late April ( link). Both Aviles and Valentine denied the incident, but where there's smoke, there's probably fire. Valentine is admittedly not as responsible for the struggles in 2012 as he has been made out to be in the media and by fans, and I agree that he has handled the last two months (when everyone knew he was going to be fired) extremely well given how easy it would have been to go off on management/the players/his assistant coaches. But he is a bad tactical manager (sacrifice bunting, etc.), terrible at handling the media, and his acerbic personality makes maintaining player relationships difficult at best. He should have never been hired and his being let go is the first in what is hopefully a long series of smart offseason decisions.
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Post by adiospaydro2005 on Oct 4, 2012 13:02:09 GMT -5
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Oct 4, 2012 13:08:44 GMT -5
jmei, I'd missed it when it happened. Thanks for the link.
Sarasoxer, the leaks about the relationship with the coaches were that they weren't on the same page and didn't have the best working relationship. It wasn't that the coaches were undermining him.
To use Belichick as an example, he never, that I can recall, discussed his relationship with Mangini with the media when it was clear he hated him, and he DEFINITELY got asked about that. When you're asked the question, you can easily get out of answering it graciously and not be a jerk about it. Say that you don't talk about clubhouse matters from day one. When you answer the questions, you're going to get asked them.
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Post by sibbysisti on Oct 4, 2012 13:09:06 GMT -5
Sibby, why on earth did he have to answer the question? It's not just you who's saying this, but I don't understand the argument. I can't believe this, but I agree with Schilling who channeled his inner TempleUSox and called it gutless. It's been since reported that at least one guy he was referring to was Bogar. Guess who now carries that with him every time he interviews for a job? And don't you think, fair or otherwise, people are going to assume he's also talking about the guys who stuck around like Magadan and Tuck? Valentine brings the "lack of respect" upon himself by actually answering the questions. Just pull a Belichick and dodge the question. He doesn't have a gun to his head, and he's not getting paid to give WEEI ratings (or at least in this sense). When you give a child a toy that makes noise, don't then complain about the child playing with the noise-making toy. It's become clear that Valentine has come to resent the Boston media. But having seen him in action with them earlier in the year, he clearly LOVED the attention that came with a large full-time beat that he saw on, at minimum, a weekly basis even in the offseason. Now that he's established that he'll answer whatever question you give him (or that he'll show clear exasperation when it's come from the top that he can't answer it, as he has recently w/r/t injury questions), why the hell wouldn't the radio hosts, whose jobs are to get ratings, not to be nice to the manager, ask provocative questions? I agree Chris, that Bobby V can be somewhat inarticulate and uncalculating when responding to the Boston media. True, he should have learned from his Mets days about the intense scrutiny placed upon a ML manager in a major market city. And Boston and New York top the list in that category. Sure he probably could have been more "Belichickian" and be evasive, noncommital and vague. But, in a way, that is what I liked about him, his candor. My gripe here is the way the media circled around him constantly like vultures hovering over a sick zebra, badgering him with questions about will he be fired, how do you feel, how does this affect your family.....etc., etc. Yes, its the job of sports writers and talk show hosts to seek out answers to on field decisions, relations with the organization, and the like. But its also the job of, particularly the radio medium, to stir up some controversy to generate discussions. In this case I believe it handled the situation very unprofessionally.
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Post by grandsalami on Oct 4, 2012 13:14:07 GMT -5
seems like everyone is saying JF is sox first choice.... Seems like our pitching has gone down the tubes since he left
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Post by iakovos11 on Oct 4, 2012 13:17:13 GMT -5
Are we comfortable with some of the concerns that have arisen in Toronto, though? Amfox?
Seems like Ausmus is a hot candidate too.
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Post by grandsalami on Oct 4, 2012 13:17:33 GMT -5
Nick Cafardo @nickcafardo Red sox going hard for john farrell but don't rule out varitek.
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Post by sarasoxer on Oct 4, 2012 13:32:06 GMT -5
jmei, I'd missed it when it happened. Thanks for the link. Sarasoxer, the leaks about the relationship with the coaches were that they weren't on the same page and didn't have the best working relationship. It wasn't that the coaches were undermining him. To use Belichick as an example, he never, that I can recall, discussed his relationship with Mangini with the media when it was clear he hated him, and he DEFINITELY got asked about that. When you're asked the question, you can easily get out of answering it graciously and not be a jerk about it. Say that you don't talk about clubhouse matters from day one. When you answer the questions, you're going to get asked them. Chris, thanks. I was responding to Sibby who in turn had responded to Brianthetaoist. Brian indicated that BV was classless "blaming it all on disloyal, back-stabbing coaches". Both Sibby (I think) and I believed that Brian was referring to the WEEI interview where no such thing occurred. BV came in with a negative aura. When he made his infamous Youkilis comment, he was doomed. We all love(d) Youk. I ask you tho, if Belichick had made a similar comment about a Patriot player, would he have received the same negative reaction? I suspect that the answer would be "no".
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Post by sarasoxer on Oct 4, 2012 13:37:31 GMT -5
seems like everyone is saying JF is sox first choice.... Seems like our pitching has gone down the tubes since he left I don't think our pitching was that great last year either...and Bard's performance this year did not appear to be impacted by the pitching coach. We do need to find a guy and stick with him tho. Farrell is respected at least in that arena and his familiarity with Boston and its personnel can't hurt. I just don't want to give up talent for him. Hey, Toronto, you can have Stewart or Carpenter or both.
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Post by brianthetaoist on Oct 4, 2012 13:38:16 GMT -5
I agree Chris, that Bobby V can be somewhat inarticulate and uncalculating when responding to the Boston media. True, he should have learned from his Mets days about the intense scrutiny placed upon a ML manager in a major market city. And Boston and New York top the list in that category. Sure he probably could have been more "Belichickian" and be evasive, noncommital and vague. But, in a way, that is what I liked about him, his candor. My gripe here is the way the media circled around him constantly like vultures hovering over a sick zebra, badgering him with questions about will he be fired, how do you feel, how does this affect your family.....etc., etc. Yes, its the job of sports writers and talk show hosts to seek out answers to on field decisions, relations with the organization, and the like. But its also the job of, particularly the radio medium, to stir up some controversy to generate discussions. In this case I believe it handled the situation very unprofessionally. Um, well, first of all, this was the exact reason many of us blasted the Bobby V choice in the first place. Perhaps his shtick would work well in some smaller market, but it was doomed from the start here. And, second of all, as Chris said, he didn't have to answer the question, and I don't think that answer would fly if he were managing the Salt Lake City Buzz. Hey, I don't have any media hounding my every move, but I know enough not to answer a question like that. "Look, did we always agree? No, of course not. No group of people in this position ever do." Anyway, doesn't matter, the guy's gone, good riddance. A mistake from the beginning, an entirely predictable one.
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Post by elguapo on Oct 4, 2012 13:38:22 GMT -5
Nick Cafardo @nickcafardo Red sox going hard for john farrell but don't rule out varitek. Start the clock - we should find out within a week if Farrell will happen.
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Post by brianthetaoist on Oct 4, 2012 13:39:19 GMT -5
Oh, I will say that I over-reacted by saying that he was blaming it all on the coaches ... that wasn't accurate. Withdrawn ...
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Post by mantush on Oct 4, 2012 13:43:17 GMT -5
I want Acta.
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Post by amfox1 on Oct 4, 2012 13:52:38 GMT -5
Are we comfortable with some of the concerns that have arisen in Toronto, though? Amfox? Seems like Ausmus is a hot candidate too. Am I comfortable? Or is the front office comfortable? Their view is that TOR was essentially a training exercise for taking the job in Boston. I don't disagree with this (albeit cynical and Boston-centric) view. I note that, like Boston, TOR had tons of injuries this year. Unlike Boston, Farrell kept it classy. I would be comfortable with Farrell. I always viewed him as the heir apparent to Tito. If not Farrell, I listed a bunch of candidates earlier in the thread (reply #46), with Maddux, Cora and Beyeler leading the way (assuming Alomar, Jr. gets the CLE job; if not, he would be ahead of Cora but behind Maddux on my list).
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Post by welovewally on Oct 4, 2012 14:07:36 GMT -5
Good riddance Bobby V!!! I hope we get an Experienced Manager that has displayed great team leadership and is an exceptional talent evaluator.
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