Boston Red Sox 2019 blame game season is about to begin

The Boston Red Sox failure for 2019 means we may run short of fingers on finger-pointing. Just who has the level of responsibility?

How they can turn on you in just a few months. The blame game has been underway for the last few months as the Boston Red Sox have been sliding like sneakers on a sheet of ice all season. They managed to get untracked after a disastrous April, but have been – to be kind – inconsistent. The blame game was in semi-hibernation but with the dwindling chances of a playoff spot, the game has surfaced.

The most significant part of the blame game is the finger-pointing at just who is or should be designated patient zero in what has passed as a follow-up to a championship season. There were some new faces on the roster and a few old ones that were elsewhere, but the core remained and there certainly was an opportunity to replace the departed.

Let’s take a look at the possible suspects in what has become a convoluted mess. Everyone has a share of this baseball pie, but one, in particular, should rise to the very pinnacle of responsibility.

Alex Cora

Manager Alex Cora was the first Hispanic manager to be hired by the Red Sox and eventually will be the first to be fired. John Farrell won a flag and then wore out his welcome and was replaced by Cora. Cora’s style, patience, ability to motivate, and tutelage of your players become well noted in 2018.  Did that vanish?

Cora had the horses in 2018 and many of those same horses decided to get as close to becoming dog food as possible in 2019. A manager has to work with what he has and Cora had a remarkable offensive juggernaut that – unfortunately – was compromised by a pitching staff that had a mixed bag of failures.

Need a suspension? Cora had that. Needed an arm or two or three to suddenly have a career-worst year that would be on the staff of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders who went 20-134. Need a closer? Cora had that only just who was something Hercule Poirot could not solve – seven pitchers and counting had saves.

Cora received the standard critique regarding days off. Terry Francona suffered the same when invariably Tim Wakefield took the bump with a lineup of nine Jeff Bailey’s. This is all balderdash since respite is built-in well in advance and standard operation among managers. That – quite naturally – just scratches the surface of blame the manager.

I could build a list of bonehead moves Cora made during the season and usually, Cora himself provides the rationale that he will readily put into the “What was I thinking?” category. Managers make judgment errors and strategy errors all season, but in the case of Cora, it seemed he fell more under the guise of a player going into the tank in a situation. Cora is well versed in putting a player in a comfortable position to succeed, but he can’t throw the ball, catch it, or hit it.

Cora will stay as he should. He was given a knife during the season to take to a gunfight with the Yankees, Tampa Bay, and just about any other team making a serious run at respectability. And respectability rhymes with culpability and Cora gets 1.5.

The Players

Did this team give up? Did Cora lack the ability to motivate? Light a fire under a group of underperforming laggards? An examination of the player’s contribution or lack of contribution is the key ingredient to gelling together and being competitive against teams not from Baltimore or Kansas City.

The second base issue surfaced immediately with Dustin Pedroia being a noncontributor for the season unless you consider being a $15 million cheerleader being a valid contribution. The Red Sox won in 2018 without Pedey and lost in 2019 without Pedey. That said, the hole was filled with Michael Chavis being a pleasant surprise and Brock Holt doing his best after two injury-ravaged seasons.

You look at the Red Sox position players and even light-hitting Jackie Bradley Jr. has some pop. Up and down the lineup it is formidable and as good as 2018 and probably better. Even a “slumping” Betts is having an outstanding year unless you match it with last season. Nope. Not the lineup. And unless you spent the summer picnicking in Slovenia and missed the games it all comes down to (surprise!) pitching.

Red Sox fans have a unique way of discussing players less than acceptable performances with the term “You suck,” but in this instance, it is anointed to just about everyone who took a ball to the bump and then had amnesia on just what to do with it.

The projected “Ace” Chris Sale had a new contract tucked in his vault and promptly started the season in full Julian Tavarez mode. Sale never really got 100% untracked and neither did David Price who reportedly plays Fortnight better than he pitched this season. The Numero Uno of the staff eventually became enigmatic lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.

The bullpen was opportunity city with the departure of Joe Kelly and closer Craig Kimbrel and several stepped up only to trip over the pitching rubber. The I-95 route between Pawtucket and Boston was well-worn as one after another attempted to unwind the Gordian Knot of the bullpen. The Red Sox, in desperation, finally gave the ball to promising Darwinzon Hernandez who may not have been completely ready, but is Aroldis Chapman compared to what Cora had to signal in.

The only positive out of the disastrous staff is they cannot possibly toss-up back-to-back furballs. Maybe Sale and Price will return to normal in 2020? Maybe Eovaldi will earn his dough? Maybe they’ll spend some of the Rick Porcello off the books money? Maybe.

This staff is not the worst in baseball but they made significant inroads to being close among the teams that actually have a shot at the postseason. So when I measure their contribution I give them a 3.5 mitigated by injuries and not indifference.

John Henry

When Dombrowski eventually retires or is fired he will possibly write his unabridged with no holds barred Kitty Kelly version of his Red Sox days. Just what transpired with senior management, meaning principal owner John Henry, regarding filling the holes?  Did Dombrowski scream, shout epitaphs, and hold his breath to get Henry to recognize the pending nightmare?

The Red Sox have not shied away from spending money, often quite foolishly, and often equally solid in decision-making. A Pablo Sandoval can be counterbalanced with a J.D. Martinez. The Red Sox have thought nothing of tossing excessive amounts of Yen to get Daisuke Matsuzaka or hard currency for Yoan Moncada.

The Red Sox have finally accomplished one item to lead all of baseball in and that is payroll and they are not done yet. Supposedly, a healthy offer is on the table for Mookie Betts and no doubt Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi will be packaged in nice expensive contracts for the next six-pack of years. Then they are suddenly run by Scrooge McDuck?

The luxury tax was paramount in this decision-making if one believes various sources regarding the internal workings of the Red Sox. I have mixed emotions on that concept when a team tosses a $31 million penalty to sign Moncada, locks up Sale, locks up Bogaerts, and apparently is willing to pay Betts.

The Red Sox expanding payroll – is that a straw man argument? Could they have grabbed of Zack Grenkie or even Dallas Kuechel? Could they have re-signed Kimbrel for his lower rate? I have lingering doubts about the whole payroll issue since winning means big dollars in revenue from advertising to media to branding.

Does money solve the problems that befuddled the 2019 Red Sox?  That is an unknown but what is known is doing little accomplished the same – little. This team needed a headliner and not Cashner who is a lounge act.

When you pay the ticket prices you expect value in return and the fans got a staff that was understudies and not stars. They needed help and by the help that is competent and well recognized in both talent and salary requirement. It is Henry’s money but it is also ours in when we put our fannies in the seats or buy from the official whatever of the Red Sox.

My finger – and not the middle one – is pointed directly at Henry who has funded four incredible championships and disappeared on funding a fifth. The truth is that the Yankees are on the rise and the Red Sox are heading toward a sunset. Unless the suddenly parsimonious Henry opens up, I give him a solid five.