Thoughts from Larry and Terry

Larry Lucchino	Terry Francona

On David Wells Having a Rehab Start:

Lucchino: "“It appears in retrospect they should have (given Wells a rehab start). I guess there’s no question about (it) when you have that kind of rusty performance it sure looks that way... you know it’s just a mistake and we made a mistake and now we’ve gotta move on and deal with the next game."

Francona: "That wasn’t really ever going to be an issue. He had proven in the past he didn’t really need it."

5.19.05: Larry Lucchino on WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan

John Dennis: Should David Wells have had a rehab start?

Larry Lucchino: “It appears in retrospect they should have I guess there’s no question about him when you have that kind of rusty performance it sure looks that way. But when you’re dealing with a guy who’s been a 20 year veteran, you cut him a little slack. You give him an opportunity to have some input into his fate and into his rehab schedule. (JD: Larry are you privy to how the dynamic unfolded as they decided whether to have a rehab start? Did Wells perhaps talk Terry out of it? Did they discuss it? Did Theo get involved? Are there other factors in this thing that we’re not aware of?) Well, I’m not privy to all the details, that’s something that the manager works on with the doctors and the trainers principally. I suspect Theo, who was on this road trip this time certainly was a participant in the process in some way, shape, or form. But it really is a manager/medical determination. (Gerry Callahan: I guess the question was, was the team ready for that? ‘Cause curiously Jeremi Gonzalez stuck around and was ready to come in quickly. It seemed almost like it was a rehab start against a major league team.) Yeah, well that is the way it played out. Again it’s easy to say that in retrospect, but you’ve got a guy who has a track record, who knows his abilities and you know it’s just a mistake and we made a mistake and now we’ve gotta move on and deal with the next game.”

On Incentive-Laden Contracts

LL: “In certain circumstances I think they work very well. I am not a big believer in using them across the board but I do believe that in certain circumstances for example when you are coming off an injury, when there’s some uncertainty about a player’s performance either for injury or for age or other factors, I think they do make some sense, it’s just pay-for-performance, and that’s not a bad thing. One thing I am not a believer in is the front office making any effort whatsoever to monitor how that plays out during the course of a season. You don’t sit here with a chart that’s says ‘oh my gosh, if he does this, he does that, he gets this. You just can’t monitor that, you have to make sure the manager’s decisions are not based on that so you don’t make any effort whatsoever to influence.”

On Francona’s Contract

LL: “Don’t be so sure about that (Francona having a World Series victory clause), he had a set of incentives in his contract there for post-season play… (on Edes story on Francona’s contract) I suppose it’s fair comment but our view is we entered into a contract and if you start renegotiating the contracts of certain people, like your manager, like the people in the front office because of superior performance, you’ve got a couple of problems. One is that you’re going to open the floodgates of a bunch of other folks coming in saying well you did it for ‘X” why don’t you do it for me. And that’s particularly inappropriate when you built in this contract certain incentives for post-season performance.

On David Wells Allegedly Being at the Audioslave Concert in San Francisco on Monday Night

Frank from Gloucester: “Larry, have you heard anything about David Wells was a concert the other night there, he’s having a great time dancing and enjoying himself, it was a real party, last Monday night… one of my moles told me that (discussed on the JT The Brick radio show)?"

LL: “I have not. I’ve heard nothing about last Monday night (three days ago). Was he at a concert at the same time that a game is going on Frank? (Concert was at 8:00pm PT, Sox-Oakland game started at 7:00pm PT)"

On Concerns

LL: “I’m worried about the middle part of the order. I’m worried about David and Manny straightening themselves out and producing at the heroic levels that they produced at last year, that’s a factor. I’m worried a little bit about the team’s personality, when it comes together, how will it come together. It takes a couple of months every year for the guys to gel, to come together, to create a kind of collective personality, I don’t think that has emerged yet from this team. I'm worried about Trot Nixon's knee... I guess we gotta worry a little bit about the bullpen, and baseball these days, has always been based on pitching, but more and more it’s based on bullpen specialization and you worry about the specialists in the bullpen being able to perform at the levels of last year.”

On the Players' Association Addressing the Steroid Issue

“The ball is certainly in the court of the player’s association leadership for now. And maybe at some point the ball will get into the rank and file of the player’s association but there are specific alternatives (to the current steroid policy) that have been presented by the commissioner and of course now by Congress. And at some point the player’s association is gonna have to address what kinds of changes they will agree to in order to accelerate the removal of anabolic steroids from the baseball scene… (Donald) Fehr has already said that he has concerns about the two-years for the first offense. He has concerns about 50 games for the first offense. So you know there’s gonna be debate and negotiation over that. I think the real question is when all of this is going to happen. I think it’s inevitable that it will happen. There will be a tougher, stronger policy in place more like that proposed by the commissioner but the question is when? Will that happen in ’06? Will the player’s association take the position that they’ll be no more adjustments during the course of a collective bargaining agreement and they want to wait until the end of the current agreement? I think the question is as much when as it is what because they’ll be some adjustments to the number of games and the mechanisms and the processes but it’s an inevitable as tomorrow that there will be a stricter and tougher performance enhancing drug policy than we’ve had to this point, just when will the player’s association agree to it. Or will Congress have to impose it? And then we into the battle of litigation. Does Congress have the right to do that? Does the player’s association have the right under labor laws to determine a policy that applies to it?”

5.18.05: Terry Francona on WEEI’s Dale and Holley

On a Rehab Start for Wells (Before Boomer Made His Start Yesterday)

Michael Holley: “Are you surprised that he was able to come back so quickly and come back without a rehab start which he says he hates anyway?”

Francona: “The rehab start, if you look back at last year, I think he missed three weeks in San Diego came back and threw six innings against us in Boston. So that wasn’t really ever going to be an issue. He had proven in the past he didn’t really need it. We just wanted to assure ourselves more of anything that he could cover first, that he wouldn’t hurt himself. So in Seattle we had him pitch a simulated game, thought it was good for him to get out on the mound and face some hitters. But we also made him push off the mound, field some bunts, cover first just so… we don’t to get him out there for one inning and have him have him come out of the game because you gotta make a roster spot, just try to protect your ballclub a little bit and at the same time give him the best chance to go out there and succeed.”

MH: “Was there a lot of discussion on whether to send Cla Meredith down or not, or was there another candidate?”

TF: “I’m not going to go through the candidates. I would never do that. You shouldn’t even ask that. We decided to send Cla down, um, it really made sense. This kid, I was the one that kind of pushed to get him here because I thought at the time, I knew how important our bullpen was going to be when Schilling and Wells went down. It didn’t work out the way I envisioned as far as him having success. But at the same time, I think this experience will be beneficial to him the next time he comes back and I think he agrees with that. And the other thing is, if we didn’t think he could handle it, he would not have been here. We talked to him at length last night. This kid’s a good kid. He’s a winning type player. And I think he’s smart enough to know that this experience is going to benefit him. He’ll go back to Triple-A, work on some things, and the next time he comes back he’ll be better off for it.”

Dale Arnold: “Gordon Edes in the Boston Globe yesterday wrote about your contract situation. Were you aware that he was going to write it or were you aware that he wrote it?”

TF: “Well I guess if I said if I didn’t know now that it’s over I’d be lying, yeah, I can’t say I saw it, yeah I knew it… You know what guys, I think it’s disrespectful to the organization for me to comment on my contract. That’s just how I feel. Nothing positive can come out of that. That’s just how I feel. I would never disrespect the organization like that. I’ve got a contract and people write, people say whatever they want, bad or good.”

DA: “Let’s talk about your starting pitcher the other night (Matt Clement), he wasn’t very happy when you came and took him out. He made that pretty clear. Did that bother you at all?”

TF: “I don’t, I don’t even know… once again I don’t wake up and read the paper. Again, you guys, you guys should write for that, the middle pages of the paper. I didn’t, I don’t know what you guys expect of him. He’s out there, his engine’s going 100 miles per hour and I pop out of the dugout. Again, I don’t expect him to put the welcome mat out, I don’t want him to do that. I want him to compete and I’ll pull the plug when I think it’s time. Again, he doesn’t have to say ‘hey Tito, thanks.’ But I guess I look at that a little differently than you guys do.”