Where to begin with the Red Sox?

In an effort to make sure I was familiar with what I was going to write about, I read Bob Hohler’s piece in the Boston Globe today.  I won’t link to it because it’s already getting so much buzz that I don’t need to contribute to their prosperity, but if you haven’t read it I reluctantly suggest you do if for no other reason than so you know what everyone else is talking about today.

None of it surprises me, not even the stuff about Tito.  There have been rumblings about his private life for a while (although nothing related to pain killers as mentioned in Hohler’s piece) and it’s a common story in sports isn’t it?  I can’t imagine anyone is surprised that Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Jon Lester acted like entitled asses.  It’s disappointing, though, that the Boston Globe writers on Twitter last night were teasing this story so excitedly.  They knew it would trash Tito (Chad Finn defended it today by saying it didn’t trash him it made people have more sympathy for him) and the rest of it was rehashing rumors and fleshing them out but it was their big story and, dammit, they weren’t going to care that it reads like the chicks from Inside Track wrote it.

So here’s where I am:  Rumors have Theo signing a five-year deal with the Chicago Cubs and I’m okay with that.  Let him go.  If even half of what is written in that piece is true (and I’m not arguing that any of it is false) bring in a new GM and a new manager and show these players that they need to earn their pay.  I don’t think the team needs to be blown up but if they got rid of John Lackey and maybe even Josh Beckett I wouldn’t mind.  Jon Lester, well, I’ve never kept my feelings about his attitude a secret but I wonder if his pals weren’t there he’d be less inclined to mess around?

I also have a sense of wanting the old guys gone.  Wakefield, Varitek, maybe even Papi. While, again, I don’t think they need to completely clean house, this is going to be a new team with new leadership and I’m good with watching the team resurrect itself.  Lots of people are worried about the team becoming what it was before the new ownership took over but, honestly, none of us saw Theo Epstein and Terry Francona being responsible for the first World Series championship in 86 years until game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.  I’m not about to disregard what new blood could do for this team again just yet.

Things suck for the Red Sox and their fans right now…there’s no getting around it.  But things have sucked before and we got through it.  This time they suck with an ownership that cares about how bad it is and has the resources to change things. I’m annoyed today but a small part of me is looking forward to seeing what the team does to make us forget this God-awful fall.

If the rumors are true and Theo is going to Chicago for five years and $15 million, I wish him (and the Cubs) luck.  I feel like we got Theo in his prime (much like Pedro Martinez) and don’t begrudge him wanting to move on.  I’m a little cranky today, though, so while I wish luck, I don’t wish success.  Maybe that’ll come at a later date.  Today all I want is for them to get to working on that clean slate.