Ok. This May Actually Be a Problem

When Alex Cora interviewed for the Red Sox managerial job, it's been reported that he was asked about the challenge of a veteran player who no longer played well enough to to justify his accustomed playing time. His response was something along the lines of not letting it be a problem by being up front and honest with the player. The ownership apparently admitted they weren't fond of that answer, thinking it a little naive. Then, during the season Cora suggested releasing Hanley Ramirez, who no longer deserved his playing time. People used that as proof that Cora was right. He simply wouldn't let it be a problem. But, eliminating a problem is different than dealing with a problem.

Why does that matter?

Because I don't think the Red Sox would release Dustin Pedroia.

But, there he was yesterday clogging up a spot in the batting order he didn't deserve. And, how did he repay that gratitude? He grounded into a rally killing double play. Then the next time? He hit a rally killing grounder to end the inning. After that? Yet another out. Then, after going 0-3 this far, Cora still let him bat for himself in an important ninth inning. Disgraceful.

Maybe you could argue that this falls into the Red Sox process of treating April like extended Spring Training. That they didn't really care who won the game, and they just wanted Pedroia to get as many at-bats as possible as soon as possible. But, once Pedroia reached base, why not pinch run for him? I mean, Pedroia isn't a great base runner on two good knees. Why have him in there to push it even further? It doesn't make any sense.

I mean, all the other "problems" people have been pointing to will fix themselves. The starters will, I promise, remember how to pitch. They didn't all forget at once. Trust the process. The offense has actually been hitting pretty well already. There's no reason to expect that to stop. There have been some defensive miscues that won't happen again. The only potential issue is another "It's not me, it's them" season from Pedroia. That one doesn't seem to be able to be fixed. That one keeps coming around.

After one game, it sure looks like Pedroia’s calling the shots. And if the most selfish player in quite some time is the one calling the shots, that's a bad sign for the Red Sox.

One that could doom another season.