Red Sox Mismanagement Continues….
DATELINE: HUMOR!
In the on-going soap opera where nothing is clean, but everything is a mess at Fenway Park, the saga of losing continues to rain down on fans.
Ben Cherington, heir apparent to Theo Epstein, has apparently given the air to ace reliever Jonathan Papelbon. If Cherington wants to show he is doing it his way, cutting the purse-strings may be the most obvious tactic.
Of course, there will be many watchers of the Red Sox churning cauldron that will note that Larry Lucchino owns the puppeteer strings attached to Cherington's shoulders.
For those looking to see if Ben Cherington is his own man, Sox Godfather Larry Lucchino has made an offer Papelbon could and did refuse. Hold that: the Red Sox made no offer. They presumed there was not a deal Papelbon would take. Instead, they put a dead horse in Pap's bed.
Someone up there in the luxury offices must have recognized that good players will not stay at Fenway’s country club, no matter how much money is thrown at them. Buckets of fried chicken do not seal the deal either.
Others media mavens may claim that Ben Cherington is not controlled by the strings in the hands of his Godfather, Larry Lucchino. Instead, they may note that Ben has Larry’s hand up his backside. No, they are not Penn State alums; they are master and dog in the new movie The Muppets Take Off Their Red Sox.
Cherington looks more like a Muppet than a puppet. He may want to become a real boy, but his Geppetto keeps sawing off the long nose to spite Ben’s face. The Red Sox wanted to keep Papelbon about as much as they plan to change the Red Sox clubhouse. Roll out that beer barrel.
The only truly bad omen to come from the departure of the closer is that pressure will mount on the Red Sox to throw away a ton of money on designated Big Papi, David Ortiz, the man without a baseball position on the diamond.
As a result of one dumb move, Red Sox will now spend plenty of money on finding a Carl Crawford type who can pitch in relief. At the Yawkey Street offices, two wrongs make a good right-handed reliever.
All in all, there is no relief for fans in Boston. The front office boneheads already have the tail wagging the Sox pooch for next season.
William Russo's newest book is now out, ready for your tablet, your smartphone, your Kindle or Nook. Read RED SOX 2011: A WHIMSICAL AUTOPSY to find a month-by-month examination of the team, showing all the signs of trouble that most sports media missed. His other sports books are SEX, DRUGS, SPORTS & WHIMSY and RAJON RONDO: SUPERSTAR!
