Hey la, hey la, Theos's back!
Is it blasphemous to say something that's not so flattering about Theo?
I'm glad he's back. It is better having one pretty good baseball mind overseeing things and, I have to admit that he did bring us a world title... can't discount that.
But.
For me, the jury is still out on Theo. Afterall, he had a damned good nucleous around which to build a championship team. He did, afterall, inherit Manny, Johnny, Jason, Trot, Pedro, Derek, and Tim from that numbnut Dan Duquette. Bringing in Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke was great, but it doesn't exactly take a baseball genius to figure out that signing the best starter and closer available would be useful. I give Theo credit for recognizing David Ortiz and Bill Mueller's value. I also give him credit for re-building the farm system. But there have also been some pretty good failures too... i.e. paying Renteria, Sauerbeck, Kim to name a few. So, to me, Theo is a good GM, but I'm not annointing him boy wonder just yet. I'm glad he's back so he can prove me wrong by bringing another world championship or four in the next few years. Then I'll believe.
Very good points, Steve, and ones that I think lots of people don't consider. However, I honestly think part of Theo's value that people don't often realize is how much his presence calms down the fan base. For whatever reason, people believe things work better when he's around. Personally, I think that's true, and I don't think it's a reactionary move on the part of the ownership to get all panicked and go, "Look! Theo's back! Everything's fine, calm down!" I think he's actually a very good GM.
But I think your points are valid, indeed. I'll be interested to see how he does from here on out. The honeymoon glow of bringing a championship to Boston is one thing, but four, five, six years down the line is when he'll prove what he's actually worth.
Theo also brings something to the team on the field.
Remember Mo and Roger's departures? They couldn't get out of town fast enough, mostly because of the GM. We no longer have to way overpay to get top flight talent to come and (despite the Johnny Devil's, er, Damon's loss) don't have to overpay to hold on to talent (see Ortiz, Nixon, Tony G).
I never heard anyone in the clubhouse ever say anything nice about "More days in first place" Ducquette, but several players had weighed in on what a loss Theo would be in the clubhouse.
In the end, I'm giving the 2006 team a bit of a mulligan. I think John Henry has sided with Theo's vision of organically grown talent and a long-term dominance of the AL East, not just trying to buy a shot each year and maximizing short-term revenues. Building a team with a reliable and consistent core will mean a lot more financially in the long-term and will build a new Sox Tradition. Because, Tradition is what makes the Sox great.
Signing Kim, in Theo's defense, is one of those things that you really, really can't predict. He has the talent. He's just an extremely weird dude.
Shortstop and outfielder - seeing as Coco might not be coming across (goll dang Mota...).
I still think they should trade Manny and get someone more clutch and more reliable and less whiney, but alas, that's just me. If he stays, I'll be happy too, but he's gotta learn to not speak.
In the words of Bobby Fleckman (the hostess with the mostest) to Nigel (in Spinal Tap) - YOU DON'T TALK SO MUCH...
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