The Red Sox are now in the diner scene from Reservoir Dogs

There is something really ugly brewing beneath the surface of this Red Sox team. Yes, even uglier than the extra inning loss in Detroit and the massacre last Saturday in Fenway. No matter if they win again in Minnesota or pile up a few wins, there is something that isn’t working that’s at the core.

And it won’t be pretty when it boils over.

There is pettiness on the team. Bobby Valentine is picking fights with the players and backing down but in a way that can only be adding to the tension.

Beckett seems more obsessed with figuring out who told the media about the chicken and beer nights than trying to fix the problem of being out of shape and ineffective.

The front office always seems a little shady with a taste for back stabbing  Even the 100th Anniversary celebration was underscored by no shows and a bitter Francona.

And the bullpen (along with the inevitable shuttling of Bard from the rotation to the relief corps) can’t be making life any easier.

The Red Sox are currently reminding me of Reservoir Dogs.

Unsavory characters thrown into a room together. The links between the two are tenuous. Nobody likes their new identity. The tension can be cut with a knife. Supposedly they have a common goal but you know it is going to explode into something ugly.

They aren’t at the “ear cutting and pointing guns at each other” stage yet.

Right now they are at the diner, with Pedroia talking about the lyrics to “Like a Virgin”, Josh Beckett explaining why he doesn’t tip and Bobby Valentine annoying Youkilis by trying to remember the name of that Chinese woman.

All the while the tensions that spill out into violence are foreshadowed over eggs and coffee. Just like the dysfunctions of the Red Sox are being illustrated as clearly as Lawrence Tierney’s voice.

But can’t you see it?

The season spiraling out of control. The Red Sox rotation will become unglued with the bullpen wearing down. And mistrust seeps into the team.

Eventually blame will be pointed at everyone and there will be blood splattered everywhere.

And as the Red Sox are eliminated, Beckett will be covered in blood cradling Youkilis in his lap just before Youk says “I’m a cop! I’m a cop!”

OK, maybe I took the analogy too far.

Fact of the matter is, this season is going to get ugly before it gets pretty. And there is no guarantee that it will be pretty at all.

Let’s go to work.

Hirings and Firings are never normal for Ned Yost

It might be early in the season, but if i were Ned Yost, I’d be worried.
And the reasons to be on edge for him can be seen in his very own history.

When he was in Milwaukee, he led the Brewers to their first two winning seasons in over a decade. And he had the team in line for a 2008 playoff spot, their first in 26 years, in September. The Brewers rewarded him by firing him with 12 games left in the season. Dale Sveum managed the rest of the year and in the Division Series.

In 2010, he took over the Royals just 35 games into the season. There were not high expectations for that Kansas City team, but evidently after a little more than a month into the year, it was time to make a change.

Well there WERE expectations for this season. There was minor league talent on this team that seemed ready to blossom. Alex Gordon looked poised to become a star.

And if the Tigers failed to meet expectations, the Royals were a cool pick to pull off an upset.

And here we sit, 17 games into the season. The Royals have 3 wins… and NONE in their 10 home games.

Is it Ned Yost’s fault?
No.

But the fans are already indifferent in Kansas City and it isn’t even May.

You can’t dump the whole team and throwing the manager overboard could shake the team up.
Yeah it wouldn’t be an orthodox move. But when has hiring or firing Ned Yost ever been by the book?