Heyman: If Red Sox Fire John Farrell, Jason Varitek Would Make Sense
BOSTON (CBS) - CBS Sports MLB insider Jon Heyman joined Zolak & Bertrand on 98.5 The Sports Hub Tuesday morning to talk about the struggling Red Sox, but first a bit of news coming today out of St. Louis.
According to the New York Times, the Cardinals are facing an FBI inquiry into the hacking of internal networks belonging to the Houston Astros, which is the first known case of corporate espionage between two sports teams.
"It's stunning," Heyman said bluntly. "The Cardinals are held up as one of the top organizations in baseball. We'll see who was involved, how widespread it is -- assuming there is something there. It's kind of stunning, assuming they did steal information from another team."
According to the report, law enforcement officials believe the hacking was performed by vengeful members of the Cardinals front office "hoping to wreak havoc" on Jeff Luhnow, the Astros' general manager and former Cards executive.
"It's terrible. Just a terrible thing. The Cardinals don't need any extra help. I guess it's probably flattering that they want to see what's up with the Astros. The Cardinals have been a first place team forever and up until this year the Astros have been a last place team," Heyman said. "It's crazy."
Meanwhile here in Boston it's a sinking ship with the Red Sox, a team that's earned two recent World Series titles over the aforementioned Cardinals.
The Sox own a 27-38 record (good for last in the AL East), have a -61 run differential and none of their offseason moves have worked out.
"They've been horrendous," Heyman said of the struggling Sox.
Boston fired their pitching coach in May, but members of the staff were recently given a vote of confidence by the owner. So for now, it appears no firings are imminent.
However, fans and media are questioning manager John Farrell these days, especially following last week's dugout tirade by Wade Miley and how he initially reacted poorly.
The San Diego Padres, who also entered the season with high expectations, fired manager Bud Black on Monday. Former Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek has been linked to San Diego in the past, and while Heyman believes Farrell isn't quite on the hot seat yet, Varitek could be a potential option for Boston if they decide to move in another direction.
"I was going to suggest that Jason Varitek could ultimately be a candidate [in Boston]. I guess Bud Black could be a candidate anywhere too. He's available at this point. I don't think the Red Sox are going to bring Bobby Valentine back," Heyman joked (we hope). "I would say Bud Black is a candidate, potentially, and Varitek would make some sense for Boston."
Listen below:
