I’m not one to go the route of Dan Shaughnessy and label the Front Office in chaos, but one has to be concerned about what is going on there. After the season I felt Theo Epstein would leave based on the recent intrusiveness of the Front Office. It appears this hasn’t changed with the installation of current GM Ben Cherington.
After Ben interviewed his first round of selections the choice seems to have been made that Dale Svuem was his top candidate and returned for a second interview. This was a chance to meet the owners and Larry Luchino. This meeting seems to have been less impressive and he was allowed to take the Cubs job without a job offer from the Red Sox.
Admittedly we don’t know how strong the interest for Svuem was by Ben before that meeting and perhaps his mind changed as well, but this seems to be more influence being used by ownership and Larry. Obviously a manager is a bit different than making player decisions, but was Svuem so bad in his second interview that the ownership was justified to say no?
When John Henry went on the Felger and Mazz show after the September debacle he told them that ownership and Larry were not influencing day to day baseball operations and while manager is not “day-to-day” it seems like a position that should be largely decided by the GM since he will be working closely with him.
If the rumors of a Bobby Valentine interview are true I can’t see that as anything but a request by the ownership and Larry. Based on Valentine’s last MLB job in New York and his difficult relationship with then GM Steve Phillips I have to wonder if the Red Sox are setting Ben Cherington up to fail, if not the entire team.
Whatever the reasons for Valentine failing in New York and succeeding in Japan getting along with his GM was apparently not one of his highest attributes. Perhaps that was mostly to do with Phillips, but either way Valentine is a loud personality and front office clashes is exactly what this team does not need right now. That isn’t to say they need a quiet yes man, but they need someone who will join the team and make the impression of stability.
The hiring of a new manager should have been a clean sweep and a chance to forget what happened in September and the mess that followed, but instead we have had an underwhelming first bunch of candidates and a now a new candidate who seems to be everything the fans don’t want.
The Red Sox are not rushing to a decision, which is a good thing. If they did that they may have made a rash choice like the White Sox selecting Robin Ventura with one year of “special advisor” experience.
Perhaps Valentine is the perfect man for the job and some of his interviews since returning from Japan show he does realize some of the good work that has been advanced by statistical analysis, but his perception by fans does not seem to be what the team is looking for.
Perhaps this is all just my bias as I do wish the team had interviewed Dave Martinez from the Rays. Joe Maddon has a high opinion of him and if he has picked up any of Maddon’s work on defensive alignments he would already be a strong addition. Another option could be the return of Brad Mills if fired by the new ownership in Houston. So perhaps my judgement of Valentine has more to do with my opinion on other choices than with him.