The Boston Red Sox are Most Like the...2011 Toronto Blue Jays?

Think back to the year 2011. Boston Red Sox fans had high hopes for a team that won 89 games the previous season. Ownership felt as if they had the game’s best organization, constantly producing championship caliber teams finishing in the top half of the division.

Now picture yourself during this time as a Toronto Blue Jays fan. Having put together a young, up-and-coming team, the 2011 season was the Blue Jay’s time to finally break free. Break free from the cellar, from constantly finishing last or near last in the division. Nearly 20 years since the team last made the playoffs, the Blue Jays had their target, only to fall flat with an 81-81 record, good for fourth in the American League East.

2012 comes around and Toronto had fixed their problems. They had the best home run hitter in all of baseball in Jose Bautista. Edwin Encarnacion finally caught up to his potential, along with promise from young guys like Brett Lawrie, J.P. Arencibia and newcomers Yunel Escobar and Colby Rasmus were to effectively produce.

For Blue Jays fans, 2012 definitely was Toronto’s year. They had it all. But once again, the team fell flat, only mustering up 73 wins, finishing fourth in the American League East for the fifth year in a row.

This story sounds eerily similar to the Boston Red Sox as of late.

After a 2013 World Series win, 2014 could only get better for the organization. They would integrate their young talent with their veterans. Rookie Xander Bogaerts would receive the starting shortstop position after a phenomenal playoff performance. Rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. would command center field as well. However, the two underperformed, as did the entire team, and the 2014 Boston Red Sox had a fire sale at the July 1 trading deadline and would go on to win only 71 games.

So far 2015 has been no different.

After handing out generous contracts to Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez, as well as adopting the “We do not need a true ace” philosophy, Red Sox fans had high hopes for the team, only to watch them become the second worst team by record in the American League and fourth worse in baseball.

Their story does not just sound the same as the 2011-12 Toronto Blue Jays, these teams were built in similar fashion.

Both guided by manager John Farrell, along with a similar coaching staff comprising of Brian Butterfield and Torey Lovullo, the teams have general managers with similar philosophies. Toronto had a general manager in Alex Anthopoulos who emphasized player development and building from within. He would hold onto his prospects a little too long and when they underperformed, their trade value diminished exponentially, explained through prospects Kyle Drabek, Travis Snider, J.P. Arencibia and others. Anthopoulos used the “We do not need a true ace” philosophy in 2011 as well. Each year’s rotation consisted of overpaid, mediocre pitchers that displayed potential to improve, but in the meantime, the team would have to win games to the tune of eight runs scored to seven runs given up.

Sound familiar?

The Red Sox have held onto their prospects in hopes that each reaches their potential, only to miss the mark and lose their trade value. It seems as if Bradley Jr. will never see the major leagues again, while invested prospect Wil Middlebrooks was traded for pennies on the dollar. Bogaerts has improved greatly since last year, but remains a step or two away from reaching his projected potential.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has a similar rotation. Each starter had potential to rebound from a poor season. The front office and fans alike had reason to suspect improvement. However, the rotation as well as the lineup has failed and now consists of overpaid duds.

Guided by a poor front office and manager, both the Red Sox and then Blue Jays fell to the bottom of the division, gasping for any air they can get to climb out. Guided by hypothetical projections and possible potentials, neither quite hit their mark. As John Farrell managed both squads, it makes it all that much worse.

Frankly, I would laugh each year as the Blue Jays would expect to reach the playoffs, knowing that the team had no chance. Now, I sit back and realize this Red Sox team follows suit. They have become the 2011 Toronto Blue Jays. Yikes.

In Times of Needed Change, Firing Farrell is not the Answer, Fire Cherington Instead

BOSTON—So far, but yet so close. Four and a half games out of first, but yet the Red Sox sit in last place if the AL East with a 22-29 record.

These are the woes of Red Sox Nation. It has led to the firing of pitching coach Juan Nieves and now the nation seems to want manager John Farrell’s head as well.

Sitting last in the AL East with a real possibility of a third losing season in four years, fans have every right to ask for a firing. No acquisition of an “ace” can save this season, only something as drastic as a firing can.

However, Farrell is not the guy. The problem lies in general manager Ben Cherington.

Although Farrell’s decisions can impact a game, they do not decide a game. The team does not win or lose games solely on the decisions Farrell makes. The players lose the game, and guess who hires the players. Cherington.

Cherington has given Farrell a faulty roster. He signed a shortstop in Hanley Ramirez and told Farrell to stick him in left field, a position he has never played in his life. Ramirez does not have the work ethic to learn a whole new position up to par and Farrell certainly is not the guy that would make him.

A quote stuck out to me in last Sunday’s The Boston Globe’s sports section, which described that the reason Ramirez has problems in left field stem from not getting enough balls hit to him in spring training, thus he had not had enough experience to play defensively on balls in play in left field.

This is unacceptable. If Ramirez needed more experience in left field playing balls, then as the manager, Farrell should have taken him out every day and hit balls off of the wall and made him play it correctly. He did not, even though Ramirez probably has some of the blame most likely not wanting to go out there and practice, and now the team suffers from his -0.3 WAR statistic, even with his MVP caliber bat.

Cherington refused to sign Jon Lester because of his age, but then gave pitcher Rick Porcello $82.5 million before even pitching for the team. Porcello owns a 4-4 record and a 5.37 ERA. The team tried brain washing their fans by saying the team has five aces, only to distract the fans from the worst statistical starting pitching in the entire league.

He has reconstructed the roster three times by trading away Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford and then signing players such as Mike Napoli, Ryan Dempster and Shane Victorino, only to blow it up again the next year by trading away four out of the team’s five starting pitchers.

Cherington has used up all of his excuses and options. He deserves no more chances. The team sits at seven games below .500. The team is built on a flawed system and Farrell has gotten all of the blame. Not fully excused, but Farrell did not do this to the team, Cherington did.

If someone gets fired, the Red Sox need to consider Cherington before Farrell. Cherington has gotten every chance in the world to turn the organization around and has failed at every step along the way. The 2013 World Series seems more of a fluke with every passing game and something needs to happen.

Fire the general manager, not the manager. Get rid of the virus, not the wound.