For the Red Sox, the Heat is On
After a trading deadline where the Yankees improved themselves considerably and the Red Sox stood pat, it was only a matter of time till the Boston media started reconsidering the brilliance of Theo Epstein. That the Yankees have now crushed the Sox in three straight games, with lots of help from weapons that the Sox could have had but chose not to (i.e., Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu), only made criticism of Epstein more imminent. Moreover, some of the moves that Epstein has made—signing Marlin's pitcher Josh Beckett, for example—aren't working out so well.
Now Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe weighs in.
The SS Red Sox is sinking fast in the American League. The sun no longer shines on the handsome head of young Theo (wonder if he's signed his much-celebrated contract yet). The computer-geek management style has been thoroughly exposed in the last two days and there's a perfect storm brewing upstairs on Yawkey Way.
Epstein, of course, is saying nothing, and no one on the team will admit that the season's over. (Nor should they; if they take the next two games against the Yankees, it's only a 2.5 game deficit with 38 left to play.)
But Seth Mnookin's Feeding the Monster is instructive here. Mnookin portrays Epstein as being so obsessed with the pressure, so worried about the hype, that he'd rather have a losing season or two and build for the future than encourage fans to think that the Sox can win it all every year.
As I read, I found Epstein's attitude curious. Certainly there's nothing wrong with not trading away young players and minor-league prospects for an aging superstar who'll give you a boost for three months, as the Yankees used to do. (That hasn't happened since Yankee GM Brian Cashman started to get freer rein.)
And yet, Epstein conveyed the sense that he would be almost relieved to have a season or two when the Sox weren't in contention, as if it were a little mental down-time—a vacation not unlike the one he took when he quit the team for a few weeks.
And, of course, here in New York George Steinbrenner has promulgated the notion that the Yankees should win
every year, that there needs be no such thing as a rebuilding year.
Epstein would say that he's working with a much more limited budget than is Brian Cashman, and I'm sure that's true. Still, you have to wonder if there isn't something in the Boston GM's mental composition that is now contributing to the Sox's breakdown.
Concludes Shaughnessy,
The cruise is over and so is the free ride for Theo. No disgrace in that, it happens to all of them, but the Sox need a quick turnaround to keep Epstein out of the shark-infested waters that devoured the likes of Lou Gorman and Dan Duquette.
Hard to believe that 2004 was only two years ago....
