The Boston Red Sox players are getting desperate.
In late July, some of the players called for a meeting with owners John Henry and Larry Luchino where they voiced their displeasure with manager Bobby Valentine (via Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan):
(Adrian) Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia were among the most vocal in the meeting, in which some players stated flatly they no longer wanted to play for Valentine, the sources said. The tenor of the 2 p.m. meeting at The Palace hotel in New York turned ugly almost immediately, according to the sources, whom Yahoo! Sports granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about internal matters.
Apparently, dropping to under .500 and falling out of the AL East race with only a slight hope at the Wild Card can really drive players wild, and understandably so.
But don’t take it out on the manager.
Much like the other “big” sports, the manager or head coach has a limited effect. Sure, in baseball, the manager makes the lineups and decides when to make pitching changes—both of which can, at times, make an impact—but over the course of a long season, his decisions are minimized and his effect is leveled out.
In the end, it’s about what the players do on the field.
That’s why it’s so ironic to see Gonzalez and Pedroia, the two biggest stars (who are both having arguably the worst year of their career) leading the mutiny against Valentine.
Gonzalez, just a year removed from a gorgeous season-long display of hitting, has seen his batting average drop 29 points. His power is gone, too, as his slugging percentage is down 70 points and his OPS+ has dropped to 119, the lowest mark of his career.
His walk percentage, which sits at 10.1 for his career, is all the way down to 6.0.
The first baseman who is always in the thick of MVP talk and a lock for at least right around 30 home runs is no where near that talk and is in danger of failing to reach 20 bombs.
Pedroia, meanwhile, has seen his BA drop 29 points; his on-base percentage, 52 points; and his OPS+ is also at a career-low 98.
Is Valentine out there swinging the bat for them? No way.
You can argue that the talent level in Boston is much lower this year, meaning Pedroia and Gonzalez don’t have the same type of lineup protection, but that’s not on Bobby V., either.
Valentine very well may be the wrong fit for Boston, and that’s fine; but for the struggling players to take it out on him is flat out wrong.
The Red Sox are a mess right now, but screaming at each other and pointing fingers is far from the best way to fix it, especially when the finger is being pointed at a man who has a lot less impact than plenty of those around him.
Unfortunately, at this point, it looks like things are going to get a lot uglier in Fenway before they get better.
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