February 24, 2008
Terry and the Red Sox
The Red Sox signed Terry Francona through 2011 with club options for two more years. That's as it should be. The man led Boston to two World Series championships and handles the clubhouse deftly. At .578, the Red Sox have the second best winning percentage in the major leagues since 2004, twelve games behind the Yankees.
Congratulations, Terry!
Posted by David Pinto at
01:11 PM
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Management
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Terry Francona appears to have two great qualities for a manager:
a. He's willing to let non-baseball men weigh in on, and in some cases, dictate on-field matters e.g. Clay Bucholtz will get shutdown despite being your second-best pitcher, etc. He seems to have less of an ego about having to run his own show.
b. He seems to be gifted at keeping clubhouse matters within the clubhouse, while keeping the media happy. (Success helps, and the 72-74 A's will prove that clubhouse chemistry isn't essential [the saying goes they took time out from their busy schedule of clubhouse fights to win three Series], but he does seem to be good at it.) That's a skill that's often overvalued by commentators, yet it is a valuable skill.
The combination probably helps him have good working relationships with upper management and players, and that's an essential part of any management structure.
And he's got the second most expensive team out there.
And now, Bartolo Colon.
Argh.
I think Tito was the happiest guy in the world when Millar, Foulke, Damon, Martinez, Lowe et al were sent packing - he knows that he can't really do much about veterans walking all over him but if they can't really play then it's a problem - I think Tito's best quality is that he knows they have a ton of talent and if he doesn't screw it up they have a pretty good chance