Tag: John Farrell

Big Day for Sale, Sox in Seattle

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Chris Sale has been solid for the Red Sox all season. When he takes the mound at Seattle this afternoon to face the Mariners, it might be his biggest start of the season.

The Red Sox are scuffling. The Red Sox have lost four games in a row, which is their longest losing streak of the season, and are just 5-8 since the All-Star break. The Yankees, meanwhile, are 7-5 since the All-Star break. The Yankees have won four of their last five games, and recently took 3 out of 4 in Seattle to win their first series since they swept the Baltimore Orioles June 9-11.

Just a week ago, the Yankees found themselves in third place in the AL East,  4.5 games behind the Red Sox. Today the Yankees start the day in second place, just one game behind the Red Sox. If the Red Sox lose today and the Yankees win, the Yankees will finish the day percentage points ahead of the Red Sox for first place in the division.

The big problem on the field has been the Red Sox offense. The Sox have been outscored by their opponents 50-44 since the All-Star break, and it doesn’t even feel that close at times. On the season the Red Sox have hit just 100 home runs in 102 games. That’s 27th in the big leagues and dead last in the American League.

But the on-field issues have taken a back seat as of late to the clubhouse soap operas. By now you’ve probably read Dan Shaughnessy’s account of what happened between David Price and Dennis Eckersley on the Red Sox’ June 29th flight to Toronto (if you haven’t used up your free articles for July). Shaughnessy’s story portrays Price as oversensitive and petty, which is not surprising. What is surprising is that, according to Shaughnessy’s story, many players applauded Price’s dressing down of a broadcaster who is essentially a team employee.

Then on WEEI yesterday, after evading the question several times, Manager John confirmed that he had not apologized to Eckersley since the Price incident. The second David Price media explosion of the month. John Wayne Manager John is not. Manager John is afraid he’ll lose the clubhouse if he simply asks one of his highest paid players to stop acting like an unrepentant asshole.

Normally with the team in a tailspin the last week of July, trade deadline blockbusters would seem less likely. But, the Red Sox still have the second-best record in the American League. The Red Sox certainly don’t look like a World Series contender right now, but who will stop them? The Houston Astros are the favorite to win the American League right now, but they aren’t your traditional juggernaut. They’ve made the playoffs once in the last dozen years. Don’t tell me they couldn’t be beat in a series.

Which leads me back to my original point. Today is a big day for Sale and the Red Sox. If they win, they have tomorrow off and come home for a 10-game homestand that starts Friday. If they lose, does John Farrell get on the same plane as the 25 players? Or does Dave Dombrowski try to find a no-bullshit manager to try and right the ship for two and half months?

If only such a manager were available…

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Hanley Ramirez is Store Brand Manny Ramirez

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ESPN – [Hanley Ramirez] was told he’s 5-for-35 with eight strikeouts in 45 plate appearances against lefties, a far cry from his .346 mark last season or his .300 career average against southpaws. “You’re kidding me,” Ramirez said. “It took you long enough to tell me that. I didn’t know that, for real. So OK, after this conversation, let’s see what’s going to happen now. I’ll say it: Bring it, OK? I didn’t know. I swear. Interesting. Thank you.”

What a shitshow this guy is. I gotta tell you, I’m souring on Hanley Ramirez pretty quickly this season. Ever since David Ortiz retired, without the benefit of someone telling him to get his shit together, Hanley has increasingly become more and more like Manny Ramirez. Just doing Manny Being Manny shit.

Like laughing off how abysmal he’s hitting lefties this year. Or legitimately refusing to play First Base. Or sitting out with sore shoulders, while his much less heralded teammate Mitch Moreland is mashing home runs and playing First Base with a broken fucking foot.

Hanley Ramirez has become store brand Manny Ramirez. He acts like Manny, he gets babied like Manny, he is a general pain in the ass like Manny. Except he doesn’t hit the goddamn ball like Manny. If you wanna be treated like a superstar then you better be hitting moonshots onto Landsdowne. If you wanna sit out games and laugh about how shitty you’re playing, then the Manny treatment is over.

Even for one of the greatest righthanded hitters of my generation, eventually that act wore thin in Boston. And LA. And Tampa Bay. Imagine how much quicker that shit happens if you’re hitting .241/.341/.406 with 10 home runs, 29 RBIs and a WAR of 0.1. Let me repeat that, Hanley Ramirez has a WAR of 0.1, which means he is BARELY better than an average guy out there at first. Thats essentially what Mitch Moreland is and the Red Sox have fared far  better with him playing than Hanley.

The Butthurt Is Strong With Manager John

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I don’t like it any more when Bill Belichick spars with reporters and the media. Tom Brady always finds a way to say nothing without coming off like a prick. It annoys me to no end to see Belichick talk to reporters like they’re children. But at least Belichick has earned it.

Bill Belichick is unquestionably the best head coach in the NFL today. He’s arguably the best head coach of all time. Manager John has managed 1049 games and is 23 games over .500 (536-513, .511). And for whatever reason that includes the 49 games Torey Lovullo managed while John Farrell was out at the end of 2015. Take out those 49 games Louvullo managed (28-21), and Farrell’s managerial record is 508-492 (.508). Suffice to say, Sparky Anderson Manager John is not.

Regardless, I don’t understand what he got so hot and bothered about. In between Dale Arnold softballs, Rich Keefe asked why they (seem to) run into so many outs and why his use of Craig Kimbrel has apparently changed. Easy answers:

“We like to be aggressive, and we think we more than make up for the outs we run into by scoring more runs.”

“It’s a long season. Kimbrel’s been great, but we can’t use him for four outs every time we’re ahead in the eighth.”

BOOM. I should be the Red Sox PR director. Crisis averted.

Instead, Manager John came across as a petty asshole. And if this is how to reacts to Rich Keefe grilling him, imagine how he’d react to Dan Shaughnessy grilling him if John Henry didn’t own the Globe.

And if the Red Sox were really scuffling, I could maybe better understand this episode and his meltdown Saturday night. But this team is in/near first place with all sorts of injuries. This team is not circling the drain. Manager John needs to project an image of success and lead. Instead, he chose to act like David Price and pick a fight with a guy making $32,000 a year. Not a great look.

Red Sox Win, Moreland Homers Again and Farrell Takes a Dig at Hanley

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After topping the Angels with Chris Sale picking up win No. 10, Craig Kimbrel going 1-2-3 in the 9th for the save and Mitch Moreland homering in his 3rd straight game, John Farrell praised his guys for persevering. But mostly he took a pretty subtle (read: blatant) dig at guys like Hanley Ramirez for being soft.

Last night Hanley sat out because he had a sore knee. Before that he had a sore shoulder. Then of course there’s the whole debacle of Hanley not being able (read: willing) to play first base because all the throwing hurts his shoulder. Meanwhile Mitch Moreland is balling out, hitting bombs and playing the field with a broken fucking toe. So it would seem like Farrell’s over it. Especially with bums like Pablo Sandoval in and out of the lineup, its time to start cutting the dead weight.

I like this new Farrell. Blowing up on umpires and calling out guys for being assholes. Lets get more of this Farrell and less of the robot Farrell.

If the Red Sox want to go anywhere come October they’re gonna need guys like Hanley and David Price to get their sit together. Otherwise this is gonna be a reaaally expensive team to get knocked out in the first round. Not to mention, the more the team struggles the more Dave Dombrowski’s collar gets a little tighter. This guy has traded just about all of the Red Sox top prospects in a concerted effort to win now. Except most of the guys he’s traded for have either gotten hurt (Tyler Thornburg, Carson Smith) or just straight up sucked (David Price). Obviously guys like Kimbrel and Sale have been lights out this year, but that was another half dozen prospects to acquire those two. So if this team doesn’t pick it up soon then thats another wasted year for a veteran team with a more narrow win-now mindset.

Red Sox Finally Announce Porcello As Opening Day Starter

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ESPN – “For starters, the Boston Red Sox will go with Rick Porcello. Porcello is the choice to be the Red Sox’s Opening Day starting pitcher April 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park, manager John Farrell said Wednesday. The decision was made at the beginning of spring training, according to Farrell”

And thats a good thing. I say finally because the guy became your de facto ace last year when Price was imploding and was the AL Cy Young winner. Add in the fact they both melted in the playoffs and that measuring stick is a wash. Plus as much as I think Chris Sale is going to be an excellent addition to both the rotation and the clubhouse, he’s the new guy in town. You just cannot insert him as your Opening Day starter. John Farrell is lying through his teeth saying this decision was made weeks ago, not simply because the decision was made for him with Price’s elbow injury. As much as we all want him to be that alpha snarling ace, that just ain’t Price. Porcello might be that guy though.

And while you obviously don’t want to pay your No. 2 (or No. 3) guy in Price $30+ million a year, thats what you get for letting your ace Jon Lester walk out the door because you lowballed the shit out of him. You pay through the nose trying to replace him. But thats fine, we don’t need Price to be Josh Beckett or John Lackeys threatening to kill people’s families. We just need him to be an elite pitcher, which I think he’s probably more apt to be as a behind the scenes guy with less pressure. Don’t force it. Let the guy be a supporting character and maybe then he actually pitches well in the playoffs. They’re pro athletes John, manage them.

Bye, Felicia

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NESN – Clay Buchholz’s 10-year career with the Boston Red Sox reportedly has come to an end. The Red Sox traded the right-handed pitcher to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, according to multiple reports. Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer was the first to report the news, with FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman and FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal confirming. According to Gelb, Boston will acquire minor leaguer Josh Tobias in the deal.

Just like that, the Clay Buchholz Era in Boston has ended. Fittingly, it ended with a whimper and not with a bang. The dude threw a no-hitter in his second career start in 2007, but could never live up to his potential.

Buchholz showed flashes at times, no doubt. An All-Star in 2010, he finished 6th in Cy Young Award voting that season. He was named to the All-Star team again in 2013 after starting the season 9-0 with a 1.71 ERA. But injuries put him on the shelf from June 8 – to September 10 in 2013, and he ultimately did not make much of mark the rest of that season or during the World Series title run.

Ultimately, those flashes were just flashes and only served to extend his time in Boston. His reasonable salaries didn’t hurt his case either. Why not take a flier on your own guy instead of bringing in someone else? (See Miley, Wade.)

While his 81-61 record puts his winning percentage at .570 and his 3.96 ERA puts his ERA+ at 109, it’s hard not to characterize the Buchholz Era as a disappointment in the end. The ups and downs, the injuries, disappointments (see 2008) and frustrations ultimately became too much for the Red Sox. Buchholz has now been swapped for a 24 year-old infielder with no professional experience higher than A-ball.

If the Phillies take on all of the $13.5 million due to Buchholz, that’s a win for Trader Dave. But even if not, this is is addition by subtraction for the Red Sox. I know that you can never have too much pitching (see Arroyo, Bronson), but Buchholz was never an innings eater. It’s just one less moving part John Farrell needs to be concerned with. With David Price, Rick Porcello and now Chris Sale headlining next year’s staff, hopefully the Red Sox can move away from the revolving door that has been (at least the back of) their rotation for the last few years.