Red Sox Hot Stove Burns With Bobby Valentine & Jonathan Papelbon

Even before the floorboards became cold and the cider turned sweet, hardball hot stoves were scalding all over New England. On the heels of their epic September collapse there was no shortage of Red Sox news being funneled out of Fenway Park.

The Old Towne team hit the ground running by firing Terry Francona amidst allegations that the Sox pitching staff adopted cold beer and fried chicken as part of their training regimen. In the eyes of principal owner John Henry and team President Larry Lucchino, the transformation of the home clubhouse at Fenway into the Delta House was more than they could stand. So after 8 of the finest summers in team history Francona’s option was not renewed and the search for his replacement began.

Terry Francona’s dismissal along with damages caused by the September fold sent the team into an all out media blitz that culminated with John Henry’s impromptu visit to Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti’s mid-day radio show in Boston. Speaking without a filter and shooting from the hip Henry dropped several bombs on the listening audience which included his stance on the signing of Carl Crawford.

On Carl Crawford: "[Anyone] involved in the process, anyone in upper management with the Red Sox, will tell you that I personally opposed that," said Henry. "We had plenty of left-handed hitting. I don’t have to go into why. I’ll just tell you that at the time I opposed the deal, but I don’t meddle to the point of making decisions for our baseball”.

Before they could replace the man who managed the team to its first 2 World Series titles since the Babe Ruth era, the Red Sox also had to say goodbye to native son General Manager Theo Epstein. Epstein, who had reminded anyone and everyone that he was not going to die in the baseball ops offices below Fenway, bolted for Wrigleyville to become the new President of the Chicago Cubs. In a beautifully written op-ed that appeared in the October 25^th addition of the Boston Globe Epstein wrote:

“Football legend Bill Walsh used to say that coaches and executives should seek change after 10 years with the same team. The theory is that both the individual and the organization benefit from a change after so much time together. The executive gets rebirth and the energy that comes with a new challenge; the organization gets a fresh perspective and the chance for true change that comes with new leadership. This idea resonated with me. Although I tried my best to fight it, I couldn’t escape the conclusion that both the Red Sox and I would benefit from a change sometime soon”

On the same day that Theo Epstein was unveiled on the North Side of Chicago, his successor and long time friend Ben Cherington, was introduced at Fenway. In the same op-ed piece he had written in the Globe Epstein had this to say about his former assistant,

“Ben is infinitely more prepared than I was when I took over nine years ago. He’s been an area scout, an international scout, an advance scout, a farm director, and he’s supervised drafts. Ben is honest and insightful, fearless and friendly - and he is ready to lead this organization forward.”

Even a smooth transition from Epstein to Cherington wasn’t enough to calm the rising tides around Fenway Park. The compensation talks between the Red Sox & Cubs for Epstein have been tenuous to say the least, and now the Red Sox managerial search has taken a decidedly negative turn.

It appeared that former 3^rd base coach Dale Sveum was the team’s leading candidate, but Epstein and the Cubs also had their eye on Sveum as a replacement for the departed Mike Quade, and when no formal offer was presented to Sveum he accepted the Cubs job.

The lack of a formal offer to Sveum and the emergence of Bobby Valentine as a leading candidate to replace Terry Francona has now fueled speculation that Larry Lucchino as usurped Ben Cherington’s authority. It’s presumed that Valentine would be a short timer in Boston, 2-3 years at the maximum, which would seem to fly in the face of the values that both Epstein and Cherington represent.

Seemingly lost in the administrative comings and goings on Yawkey Way was the departure of one of the best players in team history, who at 30 years old, was coming off another in a long string of excellent seasons. Without ever attempting to match the offer, Free Agent closer Jonathan Papelbon bolted to Philadelphia for a 4-year $50 million dollar offer with the Phillies.

The loss of Papelbon is a tremendous one. Outside of the Yankees, no team in baseball has had more consistency and or productivity out of their closer than the Red Sox have enjoyed with Papelbon since he took over the closers reigns from Keith Foulke in Arlington, Texas in April of 2006.

The search to replace the Shipping Up To Boston Closer’ has now joined the managerial quest as top off-season priorities for both Cherington and Lucchino. It’s been said that the Red Sox are never out of season in New England, and here in November of 2011 that is as true as it’s ever been. Stay tuned.