On September 13th I speculated that if the Boston Red Sox were
to collapse and miss the post-season that manager Terry Francona
would
be out of a job.
Well, thirty-six hours removed from their nadir, it appears that
the Red Sox
will not be picking up Francona’s option for next season
following a meeting he had this morning with Red Sox owners John
Henry and Tom Werner and Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. The club held
options on his contract for both 2012 and 2013.
However, Francona might not be out of a job for long. In fact,
it might only be a question of putting on a new pair of Sox. Now
that Ozzie Guillen has left the South Side of Chicago for South
Beach to become the new manager of the Miami Marlins,
the White Sox are a viable option. Indeed, after the end of his
playing career in 1990, Francona began his minor league managerial
career with the White Sox organization in 1991 and would remain
with them until 1995 before he was hired as the third base coach
for the Detroit Tigers in 1996. While with the Chisox organization,
Francona managed NBA
legend Michael Jordan with the Double A Birmingham Barons in
1994.
If the White Sox were to hire Francona, he would present a stark
contrast to Guillen. While both men are comfortable engaging the
media their content of their commentary differs sharply. While
Guillen doesn’t hesitate to rip players in public. Francona
generally maintains an upbeat demeanor and keeps that sort of thing
behind closed doors.
There had been discussion about hiring Sandy Alomar, Jr. however
he has opted to
remain with the Cleveland Indians as their bench coach. Tampa Bay
Rays bench coach Dave Martinez has also been
mentioned as a potential successor to Guillen in Chicago.
So who might take over the helm of the Red Sox? Former Texas
Rangers and New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine seems to be the
first name to pop
up. But then again he’s always at the top of someone’s list
until teams decide they don’t want to deal with his drama.
Valentine hasn’t managed in the big leagues since 2002. He spent
six seasons managing in Japan before taking a job with ESPN in
2010. Valentine spent this past season on ESPN Sunday Night
Baseball. He is far from my favorite color
commentator but under the circumstances I’d prefer he remain
in the broadcast booth.
If Francona has managed his last game with the Red Sox, he will
be the second winningest manager in the team’s history with
744 victories over eight seasons. Only Joe
Cronin won more games at the helm of the Bosox with 1071 over
13 seasons including the AL pennant in 1946. The Red Sox retired
Cronin’s number along with that of Ted Williams in 1984.
It bears worth repeating that during his first year managing the
Red Sox in 2004, Francona led the team to their first World Series
title in 86 years and proved it was no fluke three years later. But
all things must come to an end. It’s not the end Francona would
have liked but I’m sure after some time has passed he will
appreciate the years he spent here and so too will Red Sox
Nation.
UPDATE: It’s official.
Tito is out. For his part, Francona says the decision was
reached mutually and that the Red Sox need “a different voice.”
