According to SI's Jon Heyman, the Red Sox will not be hiring Joe Torre or Bobby Valentine to be their new skipper. The former likes his soft MLB gig too much, and the latter is just too opinionated for subservience to what "Carmine" might insist is the Digital Dream Team.So, who will lead the 2012 Red Sox into the Valley Of Death? Apparently, someone who Theo (himself not a lock to return) regards as another October Surprise (sans Gorilla Suit this time we hope). The scuttlebutt is that the Mystery Guest will have little or no MLB managerial experience and be suitably worshipful of the "Moneyball" mantra. At worst, we will at least be able to see his uniform number. (The best joke of the past dismal week was that the Sox brass wanted to retire Tito's number—but they didn't know what it was).
Where we sit, Theo is still the only local in the whole NOG mess—and thus we trust his instincts. The core Red Sox philosophy that Theo espouses is still sound, the core players are still good—we just need a manager who will get control of the beer-swilling renegades and bring the "Red Sox Way" back to the field again.