What’s Taking So Long?

Why haven’t the Sox done anything yet?

Mind you, this isn’t a complaint, exactly. As long as they have everybody they need ready to go on Opening Day, I’m a happy camper. I’m actually just curious as to what is taking so long to get things done.

Take the manager hunt, for instance. From what we’re told, the field has been narrowed to Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont. OK. Now what? I understand that the process takes a while. You need to interview several candidates. You need to research. There are schedules to work around. Things get in the way. I understand. But, now? Now that you just need to pick one, what’s going on behind closed doors? The story I heard somewhere is that the ownership group wants Valentine, but Benny Boy wants Lamont. If that’s the case, though, why doesn’t ownership simply tell Ben to hire Valentine? Are they giving him a certain amount of time to change their mind? How does he do that, exactly? Do they both not have the same information? I find it hard to believe that the four of them are sitting in a boardroom somewhere discussing this 8 hours a day. I’m not picturing the big three sitting at a table while Cherington makes a passionate PowerPoint presentation showing the wonders of Lamont. So, what is it? Is it the old, “let’s sleep on it” while you wait for the other guy to give up? Is there something else gong on? Are they waiting for the new Astros owner to fire Brad Mills? Are they working on a trade for a starter so they can send Buchholz to the Jays? Are they trying to work a three-team compensation swap with the Jays and Cubs? Are they waiting for Francona to suddenly decide he wants to manage again? What’s going on?

Again, I’m not concerned or upset. I have no doubt that whichever manager they pick, even random guy off the street, will be able to write Ellsbury-Crawford-Pedroia-Gonzalez-Youkilis-Ortiz into the line-us as well as anyone else. I also don’t buy the concern that the manager hunt is taking their time away from making other movies. Like I said, I’m pretty sure nobody is giving or watching 8-hour PowerPoints. I’m sure they’re just waiting a bit for Ortiz to realize how poor the market really is for a 36-year old DH before they resign him. I’m guessing Tim Wakefield’s not going anywhere if they decide they want him back. I’d hope that trying to juggle a couple trades with a manager hunt is well within Cherington’s range of abilities. Otherwise, July 31 is going to be an eye opener. So, I’m perfectly happy to sit back and await their final decisions.

I just wonder what’s really going on.