Red Sox Waste No Time, Firing Bobby Valentine Less Than A Day After The Season Ended

Well that didn't take long. Haha roughly 14 hours since their regular season officially ended last night in the Bronx, the Red Sox acted swiftly this afternoon to fire manager Bobby Valentine. The funny thing about the move is that it was a foregone conclusion since basically when they signed him to a two-year deal last winter. One of the only interesting parts of this summer was debating who the next Red Sox manager would be and that is no way to live.

I can never recall seeing a coach in professional sports in New England that was more overwhelmed by all the day to day duties of his job. I don't know if it's because the game had completely passed him by, his age or what but this whole entire season was a complete joke and you could never get away from that fact. Every awkward press conference, interview session and shots of him in the dugout made you almost feel bad for Bobby V. That is if he wasn't one of the biggest egomaniacs in the world.

We have to make sure to quell our temporary joy over this move since while it feels good to kick him to the curb, the real question is who GM Ben Cherington, team president Larry Lucchino and owners John Henry and Tom Werner choose next? On the one hand, they literally couldn't pick someone more incompetent or less ready to handle the rigors of a big market, high-pressure team that is undergoing a massive rebuilding project. Then again, if they made that terrible decision last year to hire Valentine, who's to say they won't completely whiff again?

Valentine was an embarrassment to the Red Sox and fans and it would be a waste of all our time to run through the litany of mistakes and head-scratching moves he made in his short stay here. All you have to know is that Boston finished in last place in the AL East for the first time since 1992 and 69-93 was their worst overall record since 1965. It is doubtful that anybody could have wrung much more out of that historically awful team but there is only one way to go now: up in the standings while slowly bringing back interest in the team.

Getting rid of him was only step one in a long process that also has to include bringing in much better players, namely pitchers, and building some semblance of a team. You know, a group of guys with chemistry. Like the A's, Orioles, Reds or Giants to name a few. Look around at the teams left standing in the MLB playoffs this October and you realize how far away the Red Sox were from the playoffs in many aspects.

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