Within the last couple weeks there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not Bobby Valentine should be fired after the season ends. Although the majority of Red Sox fans think he should have been axed long ago, there is a fair share of people saying he deserves another chance.
It is well known that Valentine was hired basically as a puppet to Larry Lucchino. Ben Cherington wanted no part in hiring him, but as a first time GM, it seems as if he just played along with the whole hiring process since he hadn't "earned his stripes" to make that sort of decision by himself. It is also well known that the Red Sox players were against the hire of Bobby V and were told the next manager would not be a tough minded guy, like Bobby V. So as it turns out, Valentine was hired and as it turns out, had no hope to succeed with this current group of players. His GM was against his hiring, his players were against it and what it produced was one of the most embarrassing and dysfunctional seasons in the history of the Boston Red Sox. One quality I think that is mandatory for a manager to succeed is respect, and Bobby never received any of it from his players. Early in the season, when Youkilis was obviously struggling, Bobby came out and told the press that Youkilis seemed to be distracted both on and off the field and needed to work harder. Instead of other players respecting their managers words, players like Pedroia and Gonzalez spoke out and to quote Pedroia, "that's not the way we do things here".
From that moment on, it was known that this team was playing for themselves and not for their manager. Every week there were different reports of dysfunction happening from within the clubhouse and there was always some type of issue to be talked about. The only issue was these issues were happening off the field instead of on the field and this desperately hurt the on field performance. Then came the blockbuster trade in late August where 3 of Bobby's top players were shipped to LA and basically left him with a bunch of minor league players and a few talented guys from the old squad. But immediately after the trade people were asking, did Bobby win? Does this trade mean that finally the players have stopped running the show in Boston? (Click here to see my analysis of the blockbuster trade.)
Obviously the team has continued to struggle mightily since the August trade, which was expected, but in that time the Red Sox brass has continued to back Bobby V and have said he will remain manager for the rest of the season. Now one would wonder, why trade away your top players and make a statement that changes are being made within the franchise, and keep the manager who has been a monumental failure and a distraction since day 1? I recently heard an interview with Jerry Remy on WEEI and he seems to think that Bobby V will indeed be the manager in 2013. It's well known John Farrell, the manager of the Blue Jays is wanted in Boston and it seems he himself also would like to make the move back to his old stomping grounds but there is one problem. Farrell has 1 more year on his contract and Toronto doesn't seem interested in giving away their up and coming manager to one of their chief rivals.
Me personally, I don't think Bobby V was given a fair chance in Boston as his players didn't respect him and he ultimately had no power to run his own team. But I also think too bad. He was out of MLB for 10 years, seems to have lost his touch when dealing with players, and I don't think he is cut out to be the manager of a top market team. The way he managed in NY with the Mets was perfect because he had full control and they were never the main attraction as the Yankees have perennially been the better team in NYC. The Sox need someone who has power, respect and most of all, can handle the pressure of playing in Boston. Bobby V needs to go and he should have been gone in late August with the rest of his disgruntled players. If you're going to change the landscape of a franchise, don't half ass the process! Do it all at once. If your going to blow it up then do it, don't drag out the painful process as the Red Sox management has done for the past 6 weeks. If Bobby V is back next year, I don't expect anything to change with this team and change is one thing that is needed. I think John Farrell is the perfect choice for this job and if you need to trade a player like Bard to make it happen then do it.
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