Today it was announced that Bobby Valentine would not return as head coach of the Boston Red Sox after only 1 season as manager. Immediately people took to social media to blast Bobby V, especially Sox fans, but is all of this really deserving? Was the downfall of the Red Sox really because of Bobby V's managing style or his relationship with the players? In my opinion...HELL NO. Granted, I am by no means a Red Sox fan. The fact is I am a Mets fan, and yes I still like Bobby V. I have this overwhelming feeling to defend Bobby V here because so many people are bashing him today. I believe he was desperate to get back into MLB as a manager, and even though he could see this perfect storm brewing on the horizon, he boarded a sinking ship in hopes he could steer it back to the playoffs and prove he deserved to be a manager again. Unfortunately for him, there were just too many variables out of his control, and for that reason he deserved more than a year to set the ship right.
The collapse of the Red Sox didnt start this year. It started last year when a report came out that players, including Josh Beckett, were in the clubhouse eating chicken and knocking back beers during their teams games. This led to the organization not picking up Terry Francona's option because he "lost" the team. Yet, none of these troublemakers were released or traded in the offseason. How could you possibly think bringing in a new manager, who by all accounts has a laid back attitude, would solve the attitude problems of those players? Josh Beckett, Clay Bucholz, and John Lackey were all still on the roster this season, and none of them really contributed. But its all Bobby V's fault...
In 2011 the Red Sox signed both Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez to multi-year, $100+ million dollar contracts. Gonzalez panned out for the most part, but Crawford was a major disappointment. In fact during the 2012 season, Crawford only played in 31 games. Star players being injured would be a major problem for the 2012 Red Sox. Players like David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, John Lackey, Dustin Pedroia, Will Middlebrooks would all miss a significant amount of time throughout the season. In fact those players missed a combined
561 games this season. Combine that with the fact the Sox traded Gonzalez away along with Beckett and Crawford at the deadline and there wasnt much to work with. But its all Bobby V's fault...
Like I said before, this was a perfect storm that had been brewing off in the horizon for over a year. The loss of Theo Epstein, negative player attitudes, bad free agent signings, constant injury problems. All of this should be whats being talked about. Not how poorly a job Bobby V did in his first year. Could he have done better, possibly. Could he have handled the Kevin Youkilis debacle better, definitely. Is the downfall of the 2012 Red Sox his fault, no. Red Sox nation lost a quality manager today. As a Mets fan I still miss him. He was a players manager and fun to watch. Thats not what the Red Sox needed this year, and its not his fault ownership hired him. Hopefully he gets another chance.
