To be fair, Francona was an excellent manager throughout his stint with the Red Sox. He is a well respected player's manager who never lost the support of the guys in his clubhouse. Yet as the season began to spiral out of control, he found himself unable to right the ship to avoid disaster. Rumors of pitchers drinking beer in the clubhouse may be a bit blown out of proportion, but it is part of a bigger problem. Turning the clubhouse into a frat house doesn't just show a lack of professionalism, it shows a lack of competitiveness. Regardless of their behavior in the clubhouse, it was clear that pitchers such as Josh Beckett and John Lackey struggled to stay in shape as the season wore on, which likely led to a lack of effectiveness as they stumbled down the stretch. Multi million dollar athletes shouldn't need a baby-sitter and shouldn't need to be told to follow their work out routines and stick to a nutritious diet, but when the players fail to police themselves, it's the manager's job to step in and demand it. The Red Sox clubhouse is loaded with veterans, but lacks the presence of a leader that will stand up and demand improvement from teammates. Guys like Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek are notoriously hard workers who lead by example. They don't have a guy that will stand up to his teammates, so that's when the task falls to the manager. That's not Tito's style, and in the end it may have cost them. Francona said himself, he felt that at some point players need to hear from a new voice in order for the words to get through to them, which is why he felt it was time to step away. It certainly didn't help that he felt ownership didn't support him, but with the way the season ended he may have felt he had worn out his welcome anyway.
As for Epstein, his departure may be even more difficult to recover from. He's the architect of two World Series champions and built this current team that was expected to win 100 games and compete for another title. He rebuilt a struggling farm system, which developed stars such as Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Papelbon and Lester. He's pulled off several franchise altering moves, such as the trades for Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez. He came to the Red Sox in 2002 as the youngest GM in league history and in his nine years here he accomplished more than most GMs have done in twice that amount of time.
The blemishes on Epstein's reign as GM in Boston have been some questionable free agent signings. The short stop position has been a long list of failed experiments since Nomar Garciapparra was traded in 2004 (another move that paid off, by the way). Edgar Renteria was just one of those failed replacements that turned out to be a waste of money. Then there are more recent moves, such as the free agent acquisitions of John Lackey and Carl Crawford. Both signings were made to pay for past performances, rather than paying them for what they are now contributing. One thing to consider, in defense of Epstein, is that not all of these botched signings have been his fault. Pressure from ownership has forced his hand on occasions where he may have been hesitant to make a deal. The Carl Crawford contract is a perfect example. Epstein was well aware that he was overpaying for a player that may have already reached his peak, but he was the best available player on the market and filled a hole in the outfield. Had the Red Sox not increased their offer, he likely would have gone to Anaheim, but Sox ownership told Epstein to get their man at any cost. Having the resources that a large market team like Boston has at it's disposal allowed Epstein to take those risks. You don't see small market teams making those kinds of mistakes in free agency because they can't afford to. If ownership is willing to open the checkbook, which at times they've had to do in order to keep up with the free spending Yankees, then you can't fault Epstein for throwing money around. At the time Epstein had every reason to believe that these players would help the team and make a positive impact (he was wrong on Lackey, but it's too early to write off Crawford). It's not his money that he's spending, so if ownership is pushing for him to make a deal, he shouldn't care if he's overpaying a bit to make sure they acquire their target. It's not our money either, so neither should we.
Both manager and GM achieved great success in their time in Boston. They both will be missed and leave with much respect from Red Sox Nation for the contributions they made. It remains to be seen if their replacements will match that success, but the time had come for a change. Something had to be done to wash away the memory of a nightmare season. Given the chemistry issues that appear to be to blame for their collapse, a culture change may be just what this team needs.
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