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Mr. Ed -> RE: MLB General Information PT 4 (7/10/2014 11:58:40 AM)
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The Red Sox certainly won't get anyone to take him in a trade with the way they talked about him anonymously to Bradford. They called Pierzynski a negative influence, indifferent to the club's collective struggle and generally not in tune with the team's goals. After winning the World Series in 2013, Boston currently has a won-loss record of 40-51, good enough for last place in the AL East. Bradford's sources don't say it's all Pierzynski's fault — but you get the feeling they'd like to:
A microcosm of Pierzynski's approach was mentioned by more than one of the backstop's former teammates, who revealed his propensity to spend a significant amount of time looking at his phone while at his locker during games. In one instance, after a particularly rough outing in which the starting pitcher had been pulled early in the game, Pierzynski could be found staring at his phone while the pitcher gave off the appearance of being an emotional wreck just a few feet away. That incident paved the way for at least one complaint to management from a teammate.
So the Red Sox were infected by Pierzynski, bound to become a team of 25 guys with 25 different mobile phone usage plans, so they cut him before it spread. (24 guys, 24 cabs was so '80s.)
As Bradford notes, that was Pierzynski's reputation (fair or not) before the Red Sox signed him in free agency before the season. A.J.'s nature didn't seem to be a problem with the Minnesota Twins or Chicago White Sox when he was there, and the Texas Rangers were mum about Pierzynski's influence in 2013. It's possible that the Rangers ascribed to the axiom, "If you cant' say something nice, don't say anything." Or maybe the Rangers realized that Pierzynski's hitting production (which dropped for for them, too, just not as much) had more to do with why he wasn't helping than time spent on his phone.
At 37, it's possible Pierzynski has become too old to help a major league team. But blaming face time with his phone is silly. Further: Complaining about him after the fact, and conjuring reasons why bringing Pierzynski to Boston was a mistake, only makes the Red Sox look bad.
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