Now weighing in on the Sox: Euripides

many things we thought could never be,
yet the gods contrive

The one thing Theo taught us in his brief reign was that no one on the team was irreplaceable. Pedro: Who needs him? David Wells can win the same amount of games.
Todd Walker: We have a Smellhorn to replace you.
Smellhorn: We have a Graff to replace you.
Graff: We have Dustin Pedroia to replace you.
D-Lowe: Say hello to Matt Clement.
Nomar: see the OC: see Edgar.

For the past three seasons, the mantra of the Red Sox has been that, unlike the bad old days at Fenway, no one is going to hold this team hostage: Take what is offered or take the next cab to Logan.

Why anyone is surprised that this happened in the Red Sox front office is beyond my scope of imagination. The team that treats everyone the same: no divas, no Pedro or Roger or Jim Rice or Yaz above the team, why are we surprised that they not only followed through but extended the philosophy throughout the entire operation? Take any office/work situation: the only person ultimately who cannot be replaced is the person who is signing the checks. Outside of those with significant equity in the team, EVERYONE will eventually be replaced.

Is this some Ted Williams/Yaz/Jim Rice phenomenon where Sox fans expect everyone to stay forever? I gave up that notion in 1981 when Don Zimmer got canned. Why is everyone else so hung-up on this?

Theo is gone, but the franchise remains. I loved the Sox pre-Theo, pre-Larry, pre-John Henry, pre-Dan Duquette, pre-John Harrington, pre-Lou Gorman, etc and that will not change. Someone needs to inform the media that not all change is bad and sometimes it is the best thing for the franchise.

So please, for the love of God, stop the wailing, the rending of garments, the self-pity, the agony, the gnashing of the teeth accompanied with yet another simple case of management turnover. In fact, leave the Greek tragedies in the past and instead embrace what Steven Tyler of Aerosmith sang in No More No More from the great Toys in the Attic album:

Times they're a changing
Nothing ever stands still
If I don't stop a changing
I'll be writing my will

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