Curtis: Red Sox Need Accountability, From Top To Bottom
BOSTON (CBS) - How can the Boston Red Sox be salvaged?
First and foremost they need to empower the people to do the jobs they were hired to execute.
At the conclusion of the season, the Sox should enable Ben Cherington to fire Bobby Valentine. While Bobby V is by no means the principal cause of this team's continued mediocre play, Cherington needs to have the authority to hire his own manager, and we know Valentine was never his choice.
Next, enable the newly hired manager to select his staff, thereby preventing a repeat of this year's soap opera in the manager's office and show the roster that there is a unified group leading them on the field. In other words, no more assistant pitching coaches.
Next, John Henry must give Cherington the ability to trade Josh Beckett and John Lackey by eating at least half of the remaining contracts owed to both of them, roughly $34 million over two seasons.
Then, John Henry must reassess his desire to lead this organization going forward. There are massive issues that simply cannot be addressed by removing managers and a couple of bad apples. The problems that face this team are systematic throughout the organization.
As we know, Henry has had his attention placed elsewhere with his newly purchased franchises and LeBron James promotional deals, and he needs to decide if he is the right man to lead this team going forward.
No matter the makeover this pathetic roster gets during the offseason, the majority of underachieving superstars will be in Fort Myers come spring training. Whoever replaces Valentine will be inheriting a culture on Yawkey Way that has to change, and that starts from the top.
The days of free headsets on the Iroquois and team meetings every time one of the sensitive starters feels hurt have to end.
This ownership group has to empower and trust the people they hire to do their job. If a player has an issue with a starter being left in too long, they need to go to the manager, not send a text to the owner.
The Sox can rearrange the deck chairs on this roster as much as they want, but without proper leadership by those that run this organization the results will not change.
This is truly a new rock bottom for a franchise that seems to be leading the league in that category, and the issues that face this franchise cannot simply be solved with Beats By Dre headsets and managerial changes.
This organization needs accountability.
Chris Curtis has produced 98.5 The Sports Hub's The DA Show the last three years. Follow him on Twitter @_ChrisCurtis.
