In Defense of Bobby Valentine

Photo: Boston.com

The 2012 train wreck will come to a halt tonight for the Boston Red Sox. The season that was supposed to erase the bad memories of 2011 didn't. The Red Sox will finish this season worse than last. There is one more season left to play and people are already discussing a replacement for manager Bobby Valentine.

Bobby Valentine became something of a lightning rod before the Red Sox even played their first game. Rumors swirled about the hiring process. Valentine was not the first choice of general manager Ben Cherington according to some. He was the choice of CEO Larry Lucchino. I had my doubts about Valentine during the preseason, thinking he was nothing more than a big name to keep people coming through the turnstiles after blowing a big lead in 2011.

Shockingly enough, Valentine was not able to bring a fractured clubhouse and a team without a direction to the playoffs.

Contrary to the rumors and general consensus, I don't believe it's right to fire Valentine.
Bobby Valentine was not the unanimous choice to manage the Red Sox. Everyone knows this. When a manager goes into a situation where everyone knows everyone isn't thrilled with the hiring, he is put in a no-win situation.

The 2012 season was frought with injuries that forced Valentine to use multiple lineups. The Red Sox had 56 players on their roster. Pinning the blame on Valentine would be unfair especially when the team pretty much conceded the season when they traded Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez as part of a major multi-player deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in August.

While I am busy defending Bobby Valentine, it is only fair to mention a comment he made in September when he called Boston's roster, "the weakest roster we've had in September in the history of baseball." I'm guessing Valentine was seeing the writing on the wall at the time regarding his future with the team and was attempting to remind the front office, and possibly his next employer, the he had more than his share of unfortunate incidences and the team could do better but for the injuries.

Ben Cherington could be a very good general manager in the Major Leagues. I just hope he doesn't think he needs to make Bobby Valentine a casualty in order to show his ability or his independence. I also hope, whatever the decision is about Bobby Valentine, it isn't another order being whispered from his superiors.