Where might these Red Sox have ended up if they didn’t ignore their problems?
COMMENTARY
If you’re one of the lingering few still looking for a miracle in this both captivating and confounding Boston baseball season, may we direct your attention to the American League wild card standings.
It is there that you’ll find your Boston Red Sox, coming off a weekend sweep of the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park, a mere 6 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the AL. With seven games remaining in the 2015 season.
All the Sox need to do is win out — at the Yankees and Indians — then wait for collapses in Houston (which holds a half-game lead on the Angels for the second wild card spot), Los Angeles, and Minnesota.
Then again, their elimination number is still down to one, and can evaporate with a loss against Ivan Nova and the Yankees Monday night in New York. As far as likelihoods are concerned, a play-in game next week for the Red Sox is about as likely as Pablo Sandoval giving the team a refund for his atrocious season.
As little as a month ago, most Red Sox fans wouldn’t have dreamt that their team would be playing baseball games in the final week of the season under the guise of not having been eliminated quite yet. It was only on Aug. 14 when this team fell 14 games below .500, the lowest point this season. Since then, Boston is 25-14 under interim manager Torey Lovullo, who has watched the young Sox salvage some level of respect in what might end up being their third last-place finish in the past four years.
Neither of those other basement seasons brought with it such a level of hope as guys like Rusney Castillo, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Jr., Eduardo Rodriguez, and Xander Bogaerts have delivered down the stretch. Of course, neither also gave the Red Sox as many fits as this lost campaign.
While the Red Sox are garnering their share of goodwill — much of it deservedly so — for the transformation of the last month-plus, particularly since manager John Farrell began treatment for cancer. Free agents busts Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez have been shut down for the season, while stories like Rich Hill have instead defined the Sox. Dave Dombrowski promises a new way of acquiring and producing players in the system.
There’s a lot to like about this Red Sox team — and its direction — where there was once little but derision.
And yet, it’s difficult to notice that 6 1/2-game deficit from a playoff spot and wonder if the gap could have been closed had those in charge reacted differently earlier this year when it became apparent that the season was in jeopardy.
It was on June 2 when Red Sox owner John Henry infamously pledged allegiance to everyone in charge on 4 Yawkey Way, in particular, Farrell and former general manager Ben Cherington, whom Henry said would be in Boston “for a very long time.’’
Whoops.
“I have nothing but respect for [Cherington] and the job that he does,’’ Henry said with the Red Sox sitting at 22-29. “I think we’ve been on the same wavelength, so you have to blame ownership as much as you can blame the general manager.
“We have a certain philosophy. We’ve talked a lot about adjusting that philosophy. I’m not sure it’s just the players that need to make adjustments. In fact, I’m sure about that. There are adjustments we need to make as an organization. Ben will make those adjustments, and he’ll lead that process. I think he and his people are the right people to do that.’’
A little more than two months later, Cherington and CEO Larry Lucchino were out, Dombrowski was in, and convoluted reshuffling of the Red Sox front office began to take place. What the hell took so long?
As if last place weren’t bad enough in 2014, the 2015 edition was off to a horrific start. Rick Porcello, signed to an $82.5 million extension before throwing a single pitch in Boston, was a complete disaster to begin the season. Joe Kelly couldn’t get anything to work aside from his fastball and ended up in Triple-A. Koji Uehara went on the disabled list. Dustin Pedroia joined him. Sandoval went a’Tindering (OK, Instagram) during a game. Yet, despite the ship that everyone could see taking on water, Henry and Cherington instead both wore the identical grins of Alfred E. Neumann.
What Me Worry? Everything is Awesome.
All the while, Cherington insisted on his experiment of Ramirez in left field, a trial that was clearly a colossal blunder by the time the Red Sox had played even but a handful of games in front of the Green Monster. It wasn’t so much that Ramirez was inept in the outfield, but he showed no promise that he was due to get better. Even worse, the desire was just as absent.
But Ramirez was at it, still, for 92 games this season. Cherington could have banged his head on a Fenway brick wall repeatedly for 92 straight days and probably come up with a better idea than he got with Ramirez (minus 1.1 WAR) playing the outfield.
In essence, it threw the whole team into flux. Castillo toiled in Pawtucket along with Bradley. Each was given but a cameo appearance earlier in the year to prove their worth to Farrell, who also pledged his allegiance to his everyday right fielder, Shane Victorino, prior to his inevitable breakdown. Victorino hit .245 in 33 games with Boston. Didn’t matter. He was a veteran. And veterans get the field for Farrell.
Imagine what could have been had Henry seen enough in early June. Imagine if someone other than Juan Nieves ended up being the sacrificial cow.
Oh, this late-season surge has been enjoyable. Nobody is taking anything away from the Sox in that regard.
But the team probably took a lot more from its fan base by refusing to address its blunders earlier this year. There’s patience, and then there’s apathy.
A general helping of the latter led the Sox to where they are now.
Barring a miracle. Of course.
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