Cherington himself has been one of the biggest problems this year. He has consistenly undermined the manager of his own team. Handing Ben Chery the GM job may just have been the biggest mistake the Sox made.

The biggest mistake that the Red Sox made was not allowing Valentine to pick his own assistants and coaches. A manager needs his own management team to manage the baseball team. This shows something lacking in top management positions or they would have known this. Give Bobby V the freedom to chose his own people and I think you will see a big difference in this team. You can't pick beans with your hands tied behind your back!

What a mess......

Communication gap? What about lack of performance by the players? Overpaid players who get paid whether they perform or not, and have guaranteed multiyear contracts, are the problem. Lack of magical words? Owners hurt the prima donna's feelings?

From deep in the bleachers, it would appear that someone in management is second guessing Valentine. I feel certain the they knew Beckett's status even if Valentine didn't. I also suspect this same interference has caused the current slump as well as last year's which also led to the departure of Terry and Theo. I wish they'd stop trying to micro manage before they destroy the very things they wish to preserve.

The front office "strongly urged" Valentine to retain Bogar, Tuck and Magadan? Unless the communication problem was 100% of Valentine's doing, shouldn't Cherington have been all over this from the beginning? How does a GM allow this to go on? It sounds like he was asleep at the wheel. And how does Lucchino not hold Cherington's feet to the fire for leaving the GM for dead? Valentine was Lucchino's hire and Lucchino should have been paying attention to the relationship between Cherington and Valentine. If Valentine's not behaving Lucchino should have dealt with him directly. Being a good manager requires knowing where potential problems might exist and managing them so they don't blow up. You need to be proactive instead of reactive. In my opinion both Cherington and Lucchino failed a very important part of their jobs.

It's clear that this team is unwittingly working against itself and the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. All chiefs and no braves seems to be a big problem within this organization and that's a recipe for disaster. Management by committee is always a bad strategy because it ignores the importance of leadership, and leadership is what this team needs. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be anyone in the organization that's willing to accept that responsibility. So, we have another year with no playoffs and incredibly high ticket prices. Not only are the Red Sox not getting their money's worth for the team they've fielded but neither are we fans.

I cracked up when I saw that Valentine released Bogar years ago and Bogar was bitter about the release. Then the Red Sox brain trust force that very same person on Valentine to serve as his most trusted advisor. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! Morons. Unless - Any manager succeeding Francona was going to have a difficult time so the Machiavellis on Yawkey Way served up Valentine to serve as the buffer between Francona and who comes next. So either they are morons or evil geniuses.