Boston Red Sox: Should the Red Sox Part with Terry Francona?

It just shouldn't end like this for Terry Francona.

After blowing the biggest lead that a playoff-bound team had in September, the Boston Red Sox were bound to experience some fall out. 

All we could remark on Thursday morning was the magnitude and excitement that Wednesday night brought us. Little did we know that the wheels were in motion to dismiss one of the more successful managers in major league baseball. 

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports reports the Boston Red Sox and Terry Francona are set to part ways. The two will meet on Friday, with Francona's departure nearly guaranteed. 

The report stipulates that the Sox will not fire Francona, merely refuse to pick up his options for 2012 and 2013. The Sox manager will hardly be without prime opportunities. If one is to be fired as a skipper, now would be the time. 

Francona would fit in perfectly with the Chicago Cubs, who will likely take a stab at wooing Theo Epstein to their franchise. 

Complacency

This is North East baseball baby. At least, that is the sentiment that will be bandied about for throwing out Francona despite past successes. Blowing a nine-game lead in September may work in other markets, but a franchise such as Boston demands better. 

There is always the thought of, what have you done for me lately? After seven season, it may be time to shake things up. Out with the old, in with the new sort of thing. 

Players can get too used to a managers' message, leading to the worst killer of top-shelf teams, complacency. 

Seeing the Sox flail away with a dying breath in September led me to believe their issues weren't on the field. Forget pitching, the passion of Cowboy Up was gone. 

World Series

Then there is the alternate view. How do you reward a man who delivered the most sought after title in sports history?

For fans of baseball history, you would hope the manager that broke the curse would have a place to call home for longer than seven years. 

For decades, the Red Sox suffered through a cruelty of losses they couldn't explain. The absence of ultimate victory lead them to romanticize it with a curse that seemed destined to remain unbroken. 

Then it was. 

There was no greater time to be a Red Sox fan than in 2004. But Francona was not done. He lead his boys to one more in 2007. 

Conclusion

The Chicago Sun-Times reports Francona himself may have had it with the deteriorating situation in Beantown. 

It may be just some wishful thinking on the White Sox part, but it is not without note. The Boston Red Sox are at a crossroads. They have a stable of young leaders mixed with aging elders. 

The zeal just isn't there, but it can be restored with a change in regime and personnel. All parties want this to end. The team, management and Francona want to press that eject button, and it is about time. 

It just shouldn't end like this for Terry Francona, but it may have to for the good of the team.