Sunday, December 11, 2005
'What's the plan here, anyway?' Part III: Reader No. 1 thinks Tony (and, by extension, yours truly) should calm down while he also detects an 'odd near-echo' from You Know Who:
"Tony Massarotti is a good baseball writer - and he scored the Theo debacle earlier and better than anyone else. But he is a worrywart. He worried about Nomar and the Nomar trade - it was a 'gamble' and it worked. Now he worries that the Red Sox appear 'indecisive'. Hmm...
" - Collecting a new #2 starter, cutting losses on an underperforming shortstop (and collecting a super prospect in return!), and moving quickly on a new second baseman sounds pretty decisive to me. True, we don't have Johnny Damon in the fold and the Manny soap opera goes on, but there are always decisions to be made. Would we be better off throwing $100 million at BJ Ryan and AJ Burnette?
" - Putting together the team of diverse executives who have executed these moves, instead of pulling the panic move of hiring someone's retread GM from the scrap heap, isn't indecisive at all. There's no evidence so far that it hurts the team's ability to make and work deals.
"Tony got the first 3 letters of the word right, except the right word is C-H-A-N-G-E, we've never seen anything like it here before, it's exciting to watch - and it isn't working badly.
" PS - Did anyone else notice the odd near-echo appearing in Shaughnessy yesterday with a passage from his famous 'dirty laundry' column?
"December 10th: 'Now it appears that the return of Theo is again a possibility and it's creating a combustible situation at the top....One thing we know is that Henry has the final say on this one and it would be a mistake for Lucchino to draw a line in the sand over Theo Epstein.'
"October 30th: 'It would be a mistake for Epstein to think he can separate Lucchino from John Henry. Henry is a quiet man, but he is not a dolt. He believes in and trusts Lucchino. He admires his young GM, but it would be a mistake for Epstein to force Henry to choose.' "
Update - 12.12.05 -- John Henry: "People currently speculating about a reduced role for Larry Lucchino don’t know what they are talking about."
"Tony Massarotti is a good baseball writer - and he scored the Theo debacle earlier and better than anyone else. But he is a worrywart. He worried about Nomar and the Nomar trade - it was a 'gamble' and it worked. Now he worries that the Red Sox appear 'indecisive'. Hmm...
" - Collecting a new #2 starter, cutting losses on an underperforming shortstop (and collecting a super prospect in return!), and moving quickly on a new second baseman sounds pretty decisive to me. True, we don't have Johnny Damon in the fold and the Manny soap opera goes on, but there are always decisions to be made. Would we be better off throwing $100 million at BJ Ryan and AJ Burnette?
" - Putting together the team of diverse executives who have executed these moves, instead of pulling the panic move of hiring someone's retread GM from the scrap heap, isn't indecisive at all. There's no evidence so far that it hurts the team's ability to make and work deals.
"Tony got the first 3 letters of the word right, except the right word is C-H-A-N-G-E, we've never seen anything like it here before, it's exciting to watch - and it isn't working badly.
" PS - Did anyone else notice the odd near-echo appearing in Shaughnessy yesterday with a passage from his famous 'dirty laundry' column?
"December 10th: 'Now it appears that the return of Theo is again a possibility and it's creating a combustible situation at the top....One thing we know is that Henry has the final say on this one and it would be a mistake for Lucchino to draw a line in the sand over Theo Epstein.'
"October 30th: 'It would be a mistake for Epstein to think he can separate Lucchino from John Henry. Henry is a quiet man, but he is not a dolt. He believes in and trusts Lucchino. He admires his young GM, but it would be a mistake for Epstein to force Henry to choose.' "
Update - 12.12.05 -- John Henry: "People currently speculating about a reduced role for Larry Lucchino don’t know what they are talking about."
