Larry Brown Sports

Red Sox owner John Henry went on a Boston radio station Friday to deny that he was the source of damaging information published in a Boston Globe report Wednesday. Henry says he was listening to Felger & Mazz on The Sports Hub Friday and he wanted to correct them on their information (audio here). He showed up at their studio and spent over an hour answering questions from the hosts.

Henry said he had no role in the story that was published, and that some of the information “was not true.” He explained that he didn’t address the article sooner because he figured people wouldn’t believe him anyway.

The article suggested that manager Terry Francona did not properly lead the team because he was distracted by a marital issue, and because he had an addiction to pain killers. Henry said those claims were “ridiculous,” and he definitively said that the owners were not the ones who smeared Francona.

Henry says he’s learned there are no secrets in baseball and that they’re not going to start a witch hunt to find the sources of the leaked information.

Read The Rest of the Story…

John Henry has broken the silence.  Prior to Friday morning, the Red Sox owner had yet to say much about his team’s epic September collapse — aside from sending out a series of Tweets that included blaming Terry Francona for the fall he took on his yacht.  As a Red Sox fan who was dying to hear from Henry to get his perspective on the meltdown, I have now changed my mind.

After listening to Henry’s interview Friday morning on WEEI Radio, my level of frustration has reached a new high.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand he gave Theo Epstein a virtually unlimited stack of cash to play with this offseason and there isn’t much more you can ask for from an owner.  Epstein spent the money poorly, but some of Henry’s excuses for the failure that was the 2011 season were sickening.

“Were there nutritional issues? Yes,” Henry explained when addressing rumors about his pitchers (Josh Beckett) being fat and out of shape. “I believe there were nutritional issues and one of the things we learned in getting involved with English football is they have sports science and the science of fitness is very advanced among football teams around the world, at least the top football teams, so we’ve learned a lot just recently.

Read The Rest of the Story…

Those of you who have been following the Terry Francona situation in Boston have probably lost some respect for Red Sox owner John Henry.  After the team announced that it would not be picking up Francona’s 2012 option per the request of Tito himself, Henry was supposed to appear at a press conference with some of his fellow Red Sox brass.  Reports then surfaced that Henry had suffered a minor injury while going down the stairs on his yacht and would not be able to attend.

I don’t doubt that Henry took a fall and was unable to address the media, but he claims to be doing just fine now, yet he still has not shown his face to the public. Instead, he released a series of tweets on Tuesday regarding the managerial search. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe shared the tweets with us, which have been grouped together for easier reading.

“Thanks to all of the well-wishers,” he wrote. “I’m fine. But it makes one appreciate health. Rushing downstairs is dangerous for an old guy. Another productive day this week at Fenway. Tom [Werner], Larry [Lucchino] and I were briefed by Theo [Epstein] and Ben [Cherington] on the managerial search. Due diligence this week. Calls and maybe interviews next week. Excited to once again bring in smart, creative, hands-on leadership. We have the right people looking. We got the manager’s search right eight years ago with Tito and Maddon as finalists. We’ll secure a great manager this time as well.”

Read The Rest of the Story…

Makes you wonder, if the Red Sox were in the A.L. Central, would they be saying the same thing? Surely the Yankees obscene offseason shopping spree prompted these comments from John Henry, but he’s not the first owner to mention the possibility of a salary cap this winter — Mark Attanasio of the Brewers suggest one as well. I know we’re living in a free economic system, but the NBA has the luxury tax and cap, the NFL has a cap, and so does the NHL. The competitive balance in the latter two sports is fantastic (in the NBA it’s harder to achieve because it’s so easy for the top players to dominate the game). Not to say that small-market teams can’t compete in MLB, but there would be a much better playing field if the Indians or Brewers were able to retain C.C. Sabathia instead of seeing him go to New York. Even the Angels — one of the strongest teams in the league financially — couldn’t keep up with the Yankees’ contract offer to Mark Teixeira.

Don’t get me wrong, small-market/low payroll teams are able to shine under the current system, but they do it through a series of shrewder moves like great trades and excellent drafting. Heck, a man’s entire reputation was based on this. But if you ask all front offices, including the Twins, Marlins, and A’s — three teams that have performed admirably given their circumstances — I’m sure even they would all prefer a cap that would help build competitive balance. Now the other side of the argument, beyond the simple free economy idea, is that the Yankees and other teams pay a luxury tax and contribute a generous portion to revenue sharing. Isn’t that already a cap? Well, when they’re out spending damn near a half billion dollars in a recession, my answer would be no. All the free agents in the world won’t buy them a championship, but it gives them an improved shot at one. And count me as someone in favor of competitive balance — that’s what I’d really love to see.