Peter Gammons

Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons joined Mut & Merloni on Wednesday morning to give his thoughts on the Red Sox possibly hiring Bobby Valentine as manager.

Valentine is the top candidate for the Red Sox managerial job in the eyes of many, and Gammons agrees that he would be a good fit for the job, partly because he presents a different managing style than Terry Francona.

“I think he’d be really good. Sometimes when you replace a coach or a manager in any sport, sometimes it’s for the best when you kind of move in the opposite direction,” Gammons said. “And I think that one of the things Terry Francona did so well, which was always to basically protect his players and support them and, as Alex Cora used to say, never say the wrong thing. I think maybe there was a comfort zone there that got to be too much of a comfort zone and I think that while Bobby will be very careful about how he goes about the Boston job, I think he will rattle some cages, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”

While Gammons said that Valentine to the Red Sox is not a done deal yet, he remains their top choice, even though he thinks that Tigers third base coach Gene Lamont would make a good manager as well.

“If they went that way, I think ownership would respect that, but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Gammons said of bringing in Lamont. “I think it’s going to be Valentine.”

Gammons went on to say that Valentine is excited at the prospect of working with general manager Ben Cherington and the other baseball operations staff within the Red Sox organization.

“In talking to Bobby, he seems so enthusiastic about working with these people,” Gammons said. “He did a lot of research before he came up here and that research led him to believe that these are really good people to work with.”

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Peter Gammons

Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons joined Mut & Merloni Wednesday at noon for his weekly appearance. With Theo Epstein finally having been announced as the Cubs general manager and Ben Cherington sliding into the role of Red Sox GM, Gammons gave his thoughts on the shuffling in the Boston front office.

Epstein and Cherington worked with each other for more than nine years, and Gammons said that he doesn’t think there will be any big differences in the way the two operate.

“I think there may be some differences, I don’t think there will be anything dramatic,” Gammons said. “I don’t know what people really want in dramatic differences, in the last 10 years there’s only one team that’s won two World Series.”

Gammons did point out that Cherington and new assistant GM Mike Hazen both started their careers in player development, meaning Boston may treat that aspect of the organization in a different manner than Epstein.

“I think that maybe he’ll address certain things in terms of scouting and development a little differently,” Gammons said. “I think there may be certain attention that they give more to, and I think that they may move forward on some of the ways they go about conditioning and so forth.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

On John Lackey’s Tommy John surgery: “It start with the fact that he was having ligament problems in his elbow and he had some shoulder problems with the Angels. When you start fooling around with that ligament and you keep pitching through it, there’s always the possibility. … I know people in the organization were really worried about it most of the year.”

On the Red Sox’ managerial search: “I think they’re at the point when there are probably 8-10, to put a number on it. That’s one thing Ben has been trying to work on is go back and forth with other people in the organization, throwing names out there and saying who do they want to bring in. I do think that Dale Sveum is one guy who will get brought in for an interview. I don’t know about Pete Mackanin, it could happen. But I also think that what’s going to be interesting to see if Ben goes outside the box, like a former pitcher for instance. Somebody mentioned to me and I know he’d like to manage: Mike Maddux. He would get a really good bench coach with him. Who knows? Pitching is a very important issue here and his personality is very strong. … I think it will be interesting. I think Ben tends to be a guy who likes to think outside the box a bit. So whoever comes in here comes into a very good situation.”

On what to expect next season from Red Sox clubhouse: “I do think that you’re going to see people come back feeling that they have a great deal to prove. I never thought this last year, because they went to spring training as everyone’s favorites, the ZiPS projections had them winning 106 games, I never felt a sense of urgency that I think there will be next year. There’s a lot to prove. Changing the culture of the clubhouse, I think that’s sometimes kind of an overrated thing. But I do think there’ll be much more of a working relationship between Ben and Mike in the front office and the clubhouse.”

Peter Gammons

Baseball writer Peter Gammons joined Mut & Merloni Wednesday at noon for his weekly appearance. Gammons gave his opinion on the most recent Red Sox news, which includes allegations that pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank in the dugout during games.

“At this point, there’s so much swill out there, I need specific, I need names from references, because a report doesn’t have any validity unless it has a name behind it and secondly, when it happened and exactly when was it? Was it a rain delay, an eighth inning rain delay? More specifics,” Gammons said. “Otherwise it’s just so absurd at this point.”

While Lester admitted that there was drinking in the clubhouse during games, he, Beckett, Lackey and former manager Terry Francona all released statements denying that any drinking went on in the dugout. Owner Larry Lucchino also released a statement accepting these denials and calling the report a “reckless, unsubstantiated accusation.” Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Gammons

Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons joined Mut & Merloni Wednesday morning for his weekly appearance. Gammons gave his take on Wednesday’s Boston Globe article that gave a picture of the dysfunction that reigned in the Red Sox clubhouse during the team’s September collapse and even before that. One of the most controversial items in the article detailed how ex-manager Terry Francona may have been distracted by a failing marriage and health problems that forced him to use pain medication.

“I must say, I’m pretty sickened,” Gammons said. “I don’t need the Terry Francona out-the-door trashing. It’ll be interesting to see if they can screw it all up and trash Theo [Epstein] once he leaves. … It doesn’t speak really well about the way Tito left and the things he said, and the way Theo’s leaving, about how insane New England has become. There’s so much freneticism.”

The article suggested that Francona’s use of pain medication may affected his managing during the season. Francona has denied these claims. Gammons said that he feels that similarly controversial stories on Epstein may come out now that he is leaving for the Cubs.

“That’s my feeling on it, it’s just going to happen now with Theo, too,” Gammons said. “It’s not attractive. When I read this at, whatever, 4 o’clock in the morning here in St. Louis. I went, ‘Why?’ … A couple of players texted me, ‘Who in the world would read this?’ … It may be that some people in ownership think that Theo betrayed them. Maybe in the next week, we’ll get the owners of the Red Sox, the New York Times corporation, will trash Theo, too.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

On Epstein leaving with a year left on his contract: “It was my understanding that they would have discussed extending him. I don’t think he was interested in that. They clearly wanted him to stay. I’ve heard that some people in ownership have felt that he should stay for the last year of his contract. And I think the Cubs made it very difficult to turn it down with the power he’s going to end up having. … I sense more and more this year that it was getting difficult, that Theo was feeling claustrophobic. He went in there and right away had great success. He became, in a sense, a rock star. That burns out. … I think that it burned out a little bit. I think that was really, really hard on him. He’s such a private person. To lose that privacy I think is something that impacted him and his family.”

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After eight years, Terry Francona is done as Red Sox manager. (AP)

In the aftermath of a historic nosedive that took the Red Sox from an apparent playoff lock to a team that lost the largest September postseason lead in major league history, the Red Sox and manager Terry Francona have parted ways.

The team will not exercise its two-year, $8.75 million option on Francona’s three-year contract, which ran from 2009-11. Instead, the team will pay his $750,000 buyout, and the manager will be free to pursue a job elsewhere. The decision was made after a meeting on Friday morning that included Francona, Epstein and members of the Red Sox’ ownership group.

Francona leaves having overseen the Sox for one of the most successful periods in franchise history. During his eight-year tenure (tied for the second longest in team history, behind only Joe Cronin), he won two World Series titles, becoming only the second manager in team history with two rings and the first since Bill Carrigan won titles in 1915 and 1916.

Francona went 744-552 (.574) during his time in Boston, with the second-highest wins total in franchise history and the third-highest winning percentage among managers with at least three seasons with the Red Sox. During his tenure, he was often given raves for his ability to maintain a positive clubhouse environment in a region where scrutiny — especially during times of struggle — can become overwhelming.

His ability to balance the team’s longer-term interests over the desperation for a win on any given night was viewed as a critical component of the team’s successes over the 162-game seasons. And in short series, where each game is indeed pivotal, Francona’s success was nearly peerless. He has a 28-17 (.622) record in the postseason, including victories in seven different series, and his postseason winning percentage is the second highest all-time by a skipper with at least 25 games in October, behind only Joe McCarthy (.698).

However, while he reached the playoffs in five of his first six seasons in Boston, the Sox missed the postseason in the last two seasons, with the Sox going 89-73 in an injury-riddled 2010 and then going 90-72 this season, including a 7-20 record during what turned into the worst September collapse of a first-place team in baseball history. The Sox haven’t won a postseason game since 2008.

Both Francona and general manager Theo Epstein suggested at a Thursday press conference that the Red Sox clubhouse had become a challenging one to manage this season. Read the rest of this entry »

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein discussed the state of his team - and his relationship with manager Terry Francona - on Friday. (AP)

NEW YORK — One day after MLB Network and NESN analyst Peter Gammons suggested that there was a “disconnect” between Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona, Epstein refuted the notion.

“There’s no disconnect between me and Tito. I think anyone who has been around the club on a daily basis will see that,” said Epstein. “We talk several times a day and we spend a ton of time together and [I] was in [Francona's office] today laughing around and joking like I was yesterday, like I was the day before. Obviously [there's] probably less laughing and joking this month than previously because of the way things are going.

“[But] no, we’re on the same page. We spend a ton of time talking, trying to figure out how to put this team in position to succeed. For eight years, I’ve respected and admired him. I believe the feeling is mutual. This is what happens when teams play poorly down the stretch.

“There’s a tendency to try to turn a stretch of bad baseball into a soap opera. We’re not going to let that happen. Have we played good baseball this month? No. Are there any sort of deeper issues, interpersonal problems or dramatics around here? No. This is not a soap opera. This is a team that hasn’t played well all of a sudden in two or three weeks. We need to go out and win some games. Tito and I are on the same page. There’s not a disconnect.”

Indeed, Epstein said that he and Francona discussed the report jokingly on Friday morning. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Gammons

Hall of Fame baseball writer and analyst Peter Gammons joined Mut & Merloni Wednesday to discuss the Red Sox’ September woes and offer his perspective on Carl Crawford‘s struggles.

“He’s the first guy in there hitting every day,” Gammons said of Crawford. “And every swing off the tee is perfect, with the line drives over the shortstop’s head. And he gets in games and the right shoulder flies open and it looks like he’s trying to pull the ball for power. I hope that, for the Red Sox’ sake, that the stage fright isn’t there next year. I think that it’s really been overtrying.”

Crawford’s poor play has been well-documented this season. The left fielder is hitting just .255 with 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases in his first year with the Sox. Gammons brought up a story from the past about Fernando Perez, who used to play with Crawford when they were both on the Rays.

“Perez, who played with [Crawford] in 2008 and 2009 … he was talking to me the other day about how he came up in 2008, he was on the roster for the first time,” Gammons said. “They put his locker next to Carl Crawford and they told Fernando, ‘Look, follow this guy everywhere, he is the hardest-working player. He’s the franchise worker.’

“The only question is, he works so hard, does he drive himself a little crazy doing that? I’ve found from the time he came up here in spring training that I thought he changed a little bit in that he seemed so afraid of making the fans think that he’s letting them down, so that he tries too hard.”

Following are more highlights from the conversation. To hear the full interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

On the Sox’ postseason chances: “I think the play-in game is a distinct possibility. … I think they can still hold on. To me, the biggest thing is, [Josh] Beckett and [Jon] Lester have to go out and give four really good performances, and you should think that that’s a probability.”

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