Josh Beckett: Embarrassing Antics Leave Red Sox with No Choice but to Trade Star

Josh Beckett's unprofessionalism and sense of entitlement is the primary reason why Boston's most beloved sports franchise, the Red Sox, are now the most unlikable team in a city that they have dominated for decades.

Beckett's lack of effort has reached an embarrassing new low following his Wednesday performance against the Cleveland Indians, and now the Red Sox have no choice but to trade him.

Red Sox fans are some of the most loyal fans in sports, and will support their team and its players even when it's unpopular to do so. However, more and more fans by the day are becoming fed up with Beckett's poor pitching and bad attitude.

If ownership doesn't rid the clubhouse of his unprofessionalism, then the team will become even more of a laughing stock than it already is, and the fans who no longer have any reason to go to Fenway Park will continue to not support the team.

Beckett's downfall began last season when his lack of effort and alleged role in the team's "chicken and beer" fiasco.

The latest chapter in Beckett's struggles happened on Wednesday night when he was dominated by a weak Indians lineup.

As Beckett was taken out of the game after just 2.1 innings and allowing seven earned runs, the fans rightly booed him as he walked toward the dugout.

But his disastrous night wasn't done there, his comments at the postgame press conference helped turn even the most die-hard Beckett defenders into people who cannot stand by him any longer.

You can listen to the audio of Beckett's press conference on Wednesday here.

The Red Sox ownership should have gotten rid of him in the offseason when the clubhouse was full of players who didn't care enough of about their jobs. They foolishly chose not to part ways with him.

Instead of supporting his teammates and working on his pitching, Beckett was golfing recently on one of his off days.

It was the wrong decision and he refuses to see why that's the case. By watching the way he pitches and listening to his comments to the media, it seems as if Beckett just doesn't care anymore.

After last year's collapse, ownership got rid of manager Terry Francona, the best manager in the history of the franchise and someone who brought Red Sox Nation two World Series titles.

It's obvious now that they chose the wrong man to part ways with. Francona wasn't the source of the problem, it's Beckett. And he will continue to bring down the team until he's traded.

At some point you need to cut your losses, and that's exactly what Larry Lucchino and the rest of the front office need to do.

If the team's only way to trade Beckett is if they pay a lot of his salary, then so be it. You cannot continue to pay this man many millions of dollars per year while he gives the team minimal effort and is setting an incredibly poor example for the young players coming into the club.

Sure, Beckett led the team to a World Series title in 2007, when he dominated October and was nearly unhittable. He had his moments, but those are in the past, and now he's a much different player and teammate than he was then.

If the Red Sox want to fix their clubhouse and become a legitimate championship contender again, Beckett has to go. There's no other way to turn this team around.

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