Love it when I submit something and then see that I was beat to it, because there's nothing I can do about it.

Gained a lot of respect for Lester here. He's trying to lead and be accountable.

My links get special treatment because I'm pretty, Drew. Sorry. Sorry you're not prettier, that is.

Lester's (mostly) saying all the right things* here. The cynic in me finds it easy to dismiss this as simple CYA (not the good one) posturing, but I believe Lester is being perfectly sincere. I think he feels some guilt about the manager's departure, even though my guess is Francona had decided he'd had enough regardless of what happened in September. They seemed fairly close, especially in the aftermath of Lester's recovery from cancer.

Overall, my take on what Lester is saying is that he thinks what happened was a combination of a lot of little things that added up to one big disaster. The dynamics are too complex to be distilled into a newspaper column or a radio soundbite, but the fans won't accept that...or, probably more accurately, the media has unilaterally decided that the fans shouldn't accept that.

* Definitely RTFA because there's a lot more to it than just the excerpt.

Lester turned me into a newt.

Gained a lot of respect for Lester here. He's trying to lead and be accountable.

I'm not sure it will play that way. Calling concerns that clubhouse issues contributed to The Collapse a "witch hunt" probably doesn't go over well with those that think the concerns are justified. Minimizing the role of the questionable behavior may also not strike everyone as "accountable".

What happened to the "what you see here, stays here" ethos of the MLB clubhouse?

#4: It's already not playing that way among some of the More Obnoxious. But those who think the concerns are justified are, well, probable members of the yellow media, or people who believed that defecation of a Globe article.

Agree with #2, you should RTFA, though I *know* I'm the prettiest.

I saw Mister Lackey drinking Coors with the devil!
I saw Mister Beckett eating the flesh of a feathered serpent!
Goody Lester has often laughed at Parson Francona!
Chicken blood, I give they chicken blood!

But those who think the concerns are justified are, well, probable members of the yellow media, or people who believed that defecation of a Globe article.

It seemed to include a significant portion of BBTF's Red Sox partisans, too.

The losing-control-of-the-clubhouse part is a concern. Chicken and beer aren't.

It seemed to include a significant portion of BBTF's Red Sox partisans, too.

I'm concerned only because all this nonsense makes it harder for us to unload Lackey at any price this offseason. Full stop. That's my only concern.

I'm concerned only because all this nonsense makes it harder for us to unload Lackey at any price this offseason. Full stop. That's my only concern.

Harder? Now there is a kinda plausible easy fix for him for a gullible GM*, just keep him off the chicken and beer and watch him rebound!

*) Are there any left?

And Chris Truby gazes into his mystical cauldron and cackles loudly, as his diabolical plan slowly comes to fruition...

Are there any left?

Well, there's Ned. But he might not have the payroll to absorb Lackey. But if he throws in Clayton Kershaw, we might be able to cover some of that.

I have to question why so much attention is being paid to Lackey's influence over all of this. I really don't see him as drinking beer at all. You generally have close your mouth at some point to keep it all from just spilling right out of your mouth. I don't think Lackey is capable of this.