Felger & Mazz On: The State of Red Sox Nation
Felger & Mazz discuss the downward spiral the Red Sox seem to be in... both on the field and in the ratings.
Felger: "TV and radio ratings are down. To me, that's a good thing. It's a good thing because it's going to affect them in the pocketbooks. Maybe they [Red Sox management] say 'Maybe we can't get away with Mike Cameron. We can't get away with passing on Teixeira every time a guy like that comes along.' Maybe they say 'We need some sex appeal on this team. We need some stars on this team.' The Red Sox 6 year reign atop Major League Baseball's local TV ratings is about to end as the team's local numbers have plummeted from 1st to 5th. Entering the All-Star break, ratings for Sox games on NESN have dropped nearly 36% from last year. An average rating of 6.25. The last time the Sox finished out of the top spot was in '03. That's 6 plus years where they were 1st in Major League Baseball. #4 is the Reds. #3 is the Phillies. #2 is Minnesota. #1 is St. Louis. When you look at it, it shows you where the diehards are."
Massarotti: "They have the 2nd highest payroll in the Major Leagues. Their ticket prices are among the highest in baseball all the time. You get 2/3 through the season and you're 5 games out and everyone wants to write it off? What? No! Are you crazy? This thing's not over yet. Look, they have a flaw. 1 flaw. If they had multiple holes, major holes, then I'd say there are too many holes to fix. Outside of the bullpen, everything else should be addressed through health from what we've seen through, basically, the first 100 games. The only consistent problem on this team, from the beginning of the season to now, is they're a reliever short. 1 good reliever short. I don't know where that reliever is or what the price is. But to just say, 'Well don't just give up a prospect for a reliever because you can't predict performance', to me is a copout."
