I thought this was an interesting quote:
No, actually, its not hard at all for that pipsqueak trainer to tell him that. What IS hard, is for a lazy, arrogant, narcissistic moron pitcher to LISTEN to the trainer.
Watching injuries bury this team the last two seasons was painful. I didn't buy training as an issue because i assumed that all professional athletes follow a strict regimon and that regimon probably wasn't much different from team to team. You could see Beckett add weight during the season and some red flags went up.
It is one thing for a trainer to develop a training program but quite another for the players to do the work. Apparently the Sox pitchers didn't do the work. IMO this was a much bigger issue than dinking beer in the clubhouse or eating a chicken wing which as I understand it is not all that uncommon in MLB.
The stuff about about Francona was pure crap. The man has had about 20 knee surguries and has been on pain killers for a long time and according to Tito he was in better shape this year than the championship years. He tried to turn their attitude around but a few players simply ignored him. Just as hitting is contagious so is attitude. And where were the owners and Theo in all this? They should have stepped forward and warned the players involved and if they didn't change, fine them heavily or suspend them. They had to know what was going on despite their denials.
Here is what I would like to see for the Sox next season:
Release, trade or cut:
Lackey, Varitek, Drew, Ortiz, Youkalis, Wakefield
Reasoning:
Lackey: is obvious, he is plain awful and an balloon knot to boot
Varitek: don't need him, go with Salty and the kid from Pawtucket. As captain, he has some fault for Sept.
Drew: injury prone, missed over 200 games
Youkalis: he can't handle playing 3B physically and no room at 1B
Wakefield: Thanks Tim but you are done
Renew, extend or sign:
Ellsbury, Papalbon, RH power hitter as DH or RF (lineup is too LH dominant especially with Youk gone), reliever to replace Aceves who would move to starting rotation, 3B to replace Youkalis. Longoria?