Murray Chass: Excellent Journalism

As you all know the Red Sox hired Bobby Valentine and there has been a lot of talk on the internets on whether or not he's a good "fit" for the Red Sox. Naturally the one and only Murray Chass has now chimed in!

Now, I don't really care what Murray Chass has to say about anything anymore, seriously, but his latest bit is  pretty pathetic:

It’s one thing to be the general manager with your boss, the hands-on – and he has very large hands — Larry Lucchino, looking over your shoulder and hovering overhead. But to be caught between Lucchino and the new manager, Bobby Valentine, who loves to moonlight as general manager, is more than a rookie general manager should have to tolerate.

Consider the ingredients of this mix:

• Theo Epstein, the recently departed general manager, has never acknowledged it, but it is widely believed that he walked away from the g.m. job in 2005 as the result of differences with Lucchino.

• In the Red Sox search for a new manager, Cherington reportedly favored Dale Sveum but was overruled by the team’s ruling triumvirate: principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and Lucchino.

• Valentine was supposedly Lucchino’s idea and Cherington had to interview him and like him, whether he wanted to or not. It was after Halloween, and there were no gorilla costumes lying around.

• Valentine has a history of wanting to control more than the lineup on the field. When he tries it in Boston, maybe Lucchino will block his efforts, or maybe Lucchino will join his efforts and tell Cherington what to do.

I have considered the ingredients of your mix, Murray, and it sounds like you are trying to force a statement (that everything is wrong in the Boston front office/management) when it isn't necessarily true.


Consider these key words in each of your "ingredients":
1) "has never acknowledged it, but it is widely believed"
2) "Cherington reportedly favored"
3) "was supposedly Lucchino’s idea
4) "maybe Lucchino will block his efforts, or maybe Lucchino will join"


If you are going to bash the Red Sox management, use more concrete examples rather than anecdotal evidence and guesses. Plus, if you are going to bash them for hiring Bobby Valentine, and want us to believe you are unbiased, don't quote yourself as saying “He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him” when referring to Bobby Valentine.


Just a suggestion.