Does Francona mean more steals in Beantown?

[brdmaverick]

Will Terry Francona bring his small ball ways to the Red Sox lineup. Do you think his presence on the bench will mean more steals for Damon, Nomar, and Mueller?

[BobbyRoberto]

No, I don't think so. It's an organizational philosophy to not steal much. Francona was hand-picked by the organization, with GM Theo Epstein as GM, and Francona will follow the approach they want him to follow. Epstein is a Billy Beane type, with Bill James in the mix as a consultant. If anything, I'd expect less steal attempts. Last year, the Red Sox were 12th in all of baseball in steals. Oakland and Toronto were 29th and 30th, respectively, and those 3 teams have similar organizational philosophies.

[LBJackal]

Terry Francona will be a puppet. He's the Brian Cashman of Managers.

[ramble2]

Consider too that Francona was an A's bench coach last year. SB attempts are likely to drop in BOS.

[tool069c]

they drop for everyone i think accept pokey reese, int he 8-9 hole i think they let him run wild....