The Vicious Cycle of the Boston Red Sox

Round and round we go. After 32 games, your Red Sox are a tepid 16-16. Don’t get too excited after tonight’s victory over the New York Yankees. Though there were positives to take away from the victory (Jon Lester’s 3rd consecutive great start, the offensive break out), reality is that the Red Sox not only lost the series, but did so in a very lopsided fashion.

The vicious cycle of the Red Sox seems to be spinning every game day, with the weeks now accumulating. The pitching can’t afford to perform so poorly with the weak lineup the team has; the hitting can’t afford to be feeble with this god-awful pitching. Add in that team’s defense is as effective as having Jonathan Wilhite cover LeBron, things aren’t good.

A cycle doesn’t spin on its own. Someone spins the wheel to make it go around. Meet Theo Epstein: two World Series rings and has designed teams that have only missed the playoffs twice in his 9 seasons as Red Sox GM. What goes around comes around. When you miss out on a franchise, superstar type player, the hole doesn’t fill itself.

Try stopping a water leak with a piece of chewed gum. You’re bound to have problems.

Teixeira’s 3 home runs on Saturday was a nice reminder to Sox fans about what they’re missing out on -- and more importantly -- why they’re in a lousy position to succeed in 2010. The Yankees have a game changer in their lineup – someone that cannot be pitched around. The Red Sox have pieces to a puzzle that doesn’t seem to fit right.

Teixeira not only would have given the Red Sox a presence in their lineup for a decade, but it would have meant the Yankees would be without the 2009 MVP candidate. We’re stuck wondering the “what ifs” because the owners would not pony up the money, or the GM and team President became arrogant.

Which is what they are. The Red Sox have become arrogant and they wear it on their sleeve -- bigger than that big pair of hanging Sox on the left sleeve of their jerseys. Theo’s failure to acquire top of the line talent has caught up with him. He devalued Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury’s defense, Mike Lowell’s importance, and Josh Beckett’s consistency. The bad cycle of play by the team continues to spin because Theo has put together a roster of disaster. There’s no flexibility for Tito, given the abundance of 1B/3B/DHs the team has. The only way to stop a cycle from spinning is to change one of its parts. And something tells me the Red Sox philosophy might be “prevention” on that one, once again.

JMO