Red Sox: What potential disasters await in 2017?

Leadership

This is one topic that I have long had a reason to dismiss or at least minimize the impact. One reason is that you really can’t quantify it. No metric except the much stated he is a good “Clubhouse Guy.” David Ortiz certainly was a Nobel candidate – if they had the honor – for leadership.

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The Red Sox have a young squad and with youth sometimes comes to a certain petulance attached and that is where the grizzled veteran is supposed to earn his chops. The idea that a Jonny Gomes type is available to calm down one and all with humor, sage advice or threat of physical harm. Will such a player take on the role for 2017? Is it even needed?

Another facet of leadership is the manager and his sub-group known as the coaching staff. Manager John Farrell has managed to divide the great Red Sox Nation into a love him or hate him, crowd. This is one of the few Red Sox topics I have been consistent on and that is that Farrell is a great force for stability, but a loose cannon on game management. In a close contest, my five-year-old granddaughter may put forth a more reliable game decision.