Lucchino role being diminished?

[GaryPeters71]

Nugget from Buster Olney blog today (premium):
 
• Larry Lucchino has played significant roles with the Orioles, the Padres and the Red Sox, building an indestructible baseball legacy. But recent machinations within the Boston organization appear to be driving him into a role far different from the one he has had since John Henry's group purchased the team, one with less influence. 
 
 

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Since the most recent public major move Lucchino made was to hire Bobby Valentine, the snarky side of me wants to say "good."
 
But of course we have no idea how many moves Lucchino had influence or decision-making power on in the front office, and it's pretty futile to guess at any of them. It's likely fair to say his influence was considerable, and if we're going to blame him for hiring Valentine then he's likely due some credit for the club winning the World Series the following year.
 
What Olney doesn't address is if Lucchino's new role was something forced upon him as a power play, or something all sides agreed to to have him slide over into the community business side of the club, which most folks would acknowledge is where his real strengths lie.

 

[E5 Yaz]

It's the word "machinations" that creates the hint of some hidden agenda here. If Olney knows more than he's writing about the motivation for the changes, he should have given that sense to the reader. Otherwise, as SJH suggests, it could just be a transition that all sides are in agreement on

 

[smastroyin]

He's also going to be 70 this year, may just want to take it a little more easy. 

 

[E5 Yaz]

He's also going to be 70 this year, may just want to take it a little more easy. 

 
I'm finding that 70 isn't as old as it used to seem to be

 

[The Boomer]

 
I'm finding that 70 isn't as old as it used to seem to be

 
70 is the new 65.

 

[gammoseditor]

This was inevitable with the industry trend of giving top GM's the president of baseball operations job. Even if he hasn't lost that title yet he will. It is putting as at a competitive disadvantage to have a minority owner in that role while top GM's are being promoted into it.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Since the most recent public major move Lucchino made was to hire Bobby Valentine, the snarky side of me wants to say "good."
 
 

 
 
LL was supposedly in the driver's seat for the unsuccessful ST negotiation with Jon Lester. 

 

[mabrowndog]

If you believe what Francona & Shaughnessy wrote in their book -- and I do -- then Lucchino has been at the root of most of the tensions between players (individually & collectively) and management over the past decade, and not in a good cop/bad cop sort of way.

 

[TheoShmeo]

Then again, while Francona had a much closer vista into Lucchino than any of us,
 
- Tito was hardly unbiased; he rightly or wrongly blamed LL for a lot of what was in Hohler's story, and his views on LL are accordingly impacted by that;
 
- I'm not going to even discuss the CHB other than to say that I wouldn't be surprised if his relationship with and take on Lucchino is not complicated by Shaughnessy's own somewhat difficult personality;
 
- As SJH alludes to, without knowing much about what the division of labor is and was, I think it's safe to assume that LL had something, and likely something significant, to do with the 3 WS titles that were won while he was the CEO of the team.
 
In short, Larry makes an easy target, to be sure, but his role being minimized inevitably reduces one of the ingredients in their success over the Henry years.  It's possible that LL created more harm than good but this reminds me a little of "It's a Wonderful Life" in that we don't exactly know what the results will be when one of the senior contributors goes away or does less. 

 

[Otis Foster]

 
70 is the new 65.

 
 
Try counting birthdays backwards. It really helps.
 
If I can live to 105, I'll be 45 years old again. Piece of cake.

 

[Curll]

This SOB is going after the Olympics.

 

[doc]

This SOB is going after the Olympics.

It would be great if he teamed with the Dentist to run the Olympics

 

[JimD]

I'd actually feel a better about Boston 2024's chances for success if Lucchino was a key figure in helping to get it launched.  Guy knows how to get things done.

 

[Niastri]

Does he know his way around a bribe and a brothel?

I think that is the only way to get things done with the Olympic committee...

 

[redsoxstiff]

lunchino basks in the bad guy sun...a ne'er do well puke...

I am staring 80 dead in the face... I guess I could take solace in the fact that things are looking up no matter what.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

It would be great if he teamed with the Dentist to run the Olympics

I would love to hear about how Putin is addicted to pain pills and how other world leaders gorge themselves on fried chicken and beer instead of running the country.