The Problem With the Sox

Blowing a 9.5 game lead in the month of September to miss the playoffs is bad.  Blowing a 9-0 lead to your rival is even worse.  So what is the problem with the struggling Boston Red Sox?
After a historic collapse last September, the Sox needed a change.  And that change came with the firing of manager Terry Francona and the leaving of GM Theo Epstein, who became the President of the Chicago Cubs.  Unfortunately, Francona wasn't the problem.  By dismissing Francona amidst the rumors of him losing control of the clubhouse and members of the pitching staff drinking in the clubhouse on their days off, the organization made clear that the problem didn't lie in the hands of the players, but that it was Francona's doing.

Francona was easily the best manager that the Red Sox ever had.  He ended the dreaded "Curse of the Bambino" and was able to make the team prominent and powerful once again.  But, his firing (or resignation, or whatever you want to call it) was about as big a mistake that could be made.  When the team hired Bobby Valentine to become his successor, it seemed a step in the right direction.  Valentine is known as a fiery manager who is strict and doesn't accept bullshit from his players.  Simply put, he demands respect.
But he doesn't play the game.  Everything came out on Saturday when, entering the 7th inning, the Red Sox led the New York Yankees 9-1.  Back-to-back seven run innings for the Bronx Bombers changed that score in a hurry and the boo-birds rained down on Bobby-V every time he made a visit to the mound to change pitchers.  But he isn't the one pitching.  Clearly Alfredo Aceves is unhappy that he isn't in the starting rotation.  He sucks now.  Daniel Bard is a fragile piece that, if you ask me, should have stayed in the bullpen.  It is always a risky move trying to convert someone who is dominant for 1-2 innings when throwing 98-100mph and then trying to force him to tone it down to 94-95mph for 5-6 innings.  It just doesn't work.  He's struggling.  And most importantly, Josh Beckett.  He's a drama-queen, hot-head, Mr. Big-shot who clearly doesn't care about anybody or anything but himself.

Beckett should have been the one to leave last season, not Francona.  But, instead, now the Beantowners are stuck with him and the crappy record that comes with being a team with no identity, except the one of being a team with a brutal starting rotation and a bunch of selfish players.  Don't get me wrong, Lester is too talented to pitch this poorly all season and Bucholz is still in the comeback stage of missing the last half of the season last year with a serious injury, so he'll come around.  You obviously still have the leadership of Pedroia and Youkilis and Ortiz and Gonzalez, but everyone else is up in the air.
Right now the Red Sox are sitting in last place in the treacherous AL East and quite frankly, they don't seem to be leaving there anytime soon.  The aura is gone in Boston.  And who knows how long it will take to get it back.