He's been a bad fit for that team from the start. Terry Francona had the perfect personality for Boston, staying low key and letting the players have the attention. Valentine is the opposite, and began alienating players almost from the start. Trading Beckett and Gonzales was a good move for the future, but they need a manager who has patience with young players and can help them develop. Valentine is probably not that type.

I have to confess, I am making a boatload of money betting against them right now. Of course now that I opened my big fat mouth, watch them sweep Seattle, do the opposite of last year and right their ship in September.

Nah, even I can't be that unlucky.

In all seriousness, it looks like Boston is cleaning house and starting over, and as painful as that is I think getting rid of Valentine at year's end, or even sooner is a given.

In the meantime, I would like to thank the Bo Sox, the Cubs and the Astros for making my baseball season so much more enjoyable, not to mention  profitable. Fuck betting on good teams, I would rather bet against bad ones, and by losing by at least 2 runs 17 times since the beginning of August, I think they qualify as a bad team right now

let me start by saying i hate the red sox the way most people hate the yankess, cowboys and lakers.

but my gut is no, they should not can him. he came into a bad situation. the red sox tried to "yankee" their way into a title. buying big name guys, via free agency or the trade, and it just isnt them. the guys never seemed to have chemistry, for 3 years now. crawford never played a game at a healthy level. gonzalez was good for half of 1 year and stunk it up for the last year plus. ellsbury and pedroia have been injured all year, even though pedroia played most of the year, he isnt "right". ortiz is now on the shelf, and had been for a month.

the pitching is awful. beckett wasnt beckett for 2 years before they finally shipped him off. lester and buchholz just arent very good. the dice-k experiment failed. the closer bailey, has he even played this year? the chicken wings and beer thing last year would have been enough for me to ditch all of the pitchers involved.

they have also killed the farm system. trading for guys every fall to help you in the AL east race hasnt been a cheap thing to do. you dont acquire a player that can help you without sacrificing the future.

the last trade they made will save money, but in a league with no hard cap, it confuses me. they got some prospects, but history has taught us many a prospect will bust, and others will not reach full potential. maybe one of those guys is going to be an above replacement player type of guy. james loney is no prize. he has been exposed as an offensive bust. seems like they are sending the wrong message to the fans by "saving money" and taking such a huge hit in talent.

they have let the wrong guys go in the past. josh reddick is killing it for oakland. youk has played fairly well in chicago, and though he is past his prime, with middlebrooks out for the year, they could certainly use him. they once had hanley ramirez and shipped him away, then proceeded to not have a good ss since nomar left town. tim wakefield finally walked away, and while most while laugh, he was the stabalizing force of that rotation. the only guy you could count on to go at it 100% every game.

name me a manager that can compete in that situation?

horrible hire

The Red Sox have not finished lower than third or been sub .500 since 1997. They have averaged about 93 wins per season for the last 10 years, and this year they will need a rally to reach 80. It's not like they entered this season with a shitty lineup, just one that decided not to perform. Now if you don't believe that the manager has a lot to do with that, then why bother hiring one at all?  Bye bye, Bobby

bobby v

definitely..the players hate his guts..he is arrogant and the type of guy who thinks he knows it all..he doesnt obviously..