Does Ben Cherington have a plan for Red Sox?
Can this season be salvaged?
COMMENTARY
It’s been a turbulent few weeks for the folks on Yawkey Way.
With Wednesday’s frustrating 5-2 loss in Atlanta to open a short, two-game set, the Red Sox dropped to 28-39, last in the American League and a staggering seven games out of fourth place in their deeply flawed division. Even a series-splitting win on Thursday to move back to 10 games under .500 couldn’t hide the fact there is something seriously wrong with this team.
On June 2, with his floundering franchise and its $177 million payroll fifth in the East, but just 4.5 games back of first at 22-29, owner John Henry said “we’ve played like bleep,’’ but he was in no mood for talk of wholesale changes for the third time in four years. Henry pledged the jobs of both general manager Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell are safe, noting Cherington will be the GM “for a very long time’’ and he has “nothing but respect’’ for Farrell and the job he does. The team’s longest-tenured player, slugger David Ortiz, more recently agreed with his boss’s assessment.
Three days later, it was Cherington’s turn to speak, which he did on the heels of a 3-8 stretch to fall to 24-31 and 5.5 games out.
“We realize where we are, what our record is, and as a group we need to play better baseball,’’ the GM said at the time.
“I believe in what we can be,’’ he continued, also defending his skipper. “That doesn’t mean you’re patient. We’ve got to have some urgency to get better. There’s all sorts of ways for that to manifest. It doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a major move or anything. I think we have to have urgency, but we still believe in the team… I still see a good team here in 2015, one that can win the division.’’
Boston went on to sweep last-place Oakland, but has since won just two of 10 to spiral near baseball’s basement. The Sox have the fifth-worst record in the majors. They’re in serious danger of a third last-place finish in four years to go along with a thrilling 2013 World Series championship that is looking more like a fluke by the day.
Sunday, after a 13-5 thrashing at the hands of the surging Blue Jays to fall to a then season-worst 10 games under .500, any growing whispers that an organizational restructuring may be looming were silenced.
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That brings us back to Wednesday, where Cherington – with his team on its five-game road trip – felt the need to address the media again after only two weeks, but said very little.
“The record is the record,’’ he told the assembled reporters. “The record is clearly not good enough for where we play. We all know that. My job is to try to dig into every reason for that.’’
Cherington, like his owner before him, took the brunt of the burden for the Sox’ failings and said there’s no single player responsible for the position the club is in; certainly a true statement. He refused to take any questions concerning Farrell’s job status or the often inept play of some of his priciest players, namely the souvenir-saving Pablo Sandoval, the courageous Hanley Ramirez, and a lost at sea Rusney Castillo (signed for a combined $255.5 million).
“I think that what we’re focused on is getting better,’’ offered the GM, who this time neglected to proclaim the Sox are built to chase a division crown. “However we can do that as we get deeper into the season, and there are trades we think can make us better, we’ll consider those trades. We’re not focused on anything else.’’
Terrific. How?
Cherington didn’t say.
Why?
Because he doesn’t know.
Neither do I. Neither do you.
How can he fix this mess? Is he a magician?
Cherington said he’s not currently considering the trade market because he’s concerned with his own players’ improvement first and, frankly, even one star player couldn’t swoop in to save the day. Fine. Makes sense. Save that talk for next month’s July 31 deadline.
Collectively, a group that was projected by many – including this guy – to rank among the best in the majors in runs scored ranks tied for 20th with the Reds with 265 runs for an average of 3.9 runs a game. The team’s .251 average (16th), .384 slugging percentage (20th), and .703 OPS (18th) place the Sox in the bottom-half of the bigs.
On the mound, woof.
Boston’s 4.47 team ERA sits second to last, the starters are worse than even expected at 28th with a 4.82 ERA, and the overly-taxed bullpen ranks 23rd with a 3.83 ERA, not to mention a disastrous nine blown saves in only 24 chances.
Pressure is mounting. Frustration is growing. Farrell got himself tossed Wednesday for arguing balls and strikes after a couple of managerial miscues earlier in the night. The skipper has heard the noise. He knows it’s his head on the chopping block because that’s just the easiest move if Henry or Cherington do elect to make a change, even if he truthfully deserves less of the blame than either of those two men who constructed this mess.
To make matters more ridiculous, Farrell just benched one of his hottest hitters – Sandoval – for being on Instagram during a game, a situation you’d expect to hear regarding the local JV baseball team – not with a grown man making nearly $20 million a year. All worked out in Thursday’s 5-2 win but, had the team lost, who was punished worse; the player or his struggling team?
“Obviously, we’ve gone through a tough stretch,’’ Cherington said. “We all felt after the Oakland series maybe we could build some momentum. It obviously didn’t happen. We are where we are, so we have to keep fighting, play a game a pitch at a time, play better baseball and play together.’’
Cliché central; that’s where you land when things aren’t going well and you have no answers. You get back to basics, try to simplify the problem, and do whatever it is one day/item at a time.
Henry was right when he said the Red Sox’ performance is “either going to change, or this is going to be a terrible year.’’
So far, there are no changes in store. Not in the front office. Not in the dugout. Not on the field. And not for our summer.
Notable recent Red Sox in-season trades
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