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The Boston Red Sox aren’t just suffering through a disappointing season; their future looks just as bleak. Firing manager Alex Cora failed to spark the turnaround the front office was hoping for, and the club has since stalled at 15-17 under interim manager Chad Tracy.
While Boston falters, the American League East remains in a tight race between the Tampa Bay Rays (36-23) and the New York Yankees (37-25). FOX Sports analyst Alex Rodriguez looks at the division and sees a broader problem that bluntly says the entire AL “stinks.”
Appearing on FOX Sports’ First Things First, Rodriguez didn’t hold back with co-hosts Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes. While discussing the Red Sox, he criticized what he sees as a major competitive imbalance between the American and National Leagues.
“I don’t think anybody is out of it,” Rodriguez said. “The American League stinks. They really do. The National League is the opposite, right? If you look out west, I think if the playoffs started today, the Mariners (33-30) would be in.”
By comparison, the NL West is the polar opposite of the top-heavy AL East. Instead of a two-team race, the NL West features three highly competitive clubs, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres all sitting well over .500.
Rodriguez has lacked faith in the Red Sox since they fired Cora and game planning coach Jason Varitek in early April. He argued that Cora was the best manager in baseball, adding that deep down the franchise knows this is not their year.
“I wanted to use a different yardstick,” Rodriguez said. “I think the moment you got rid of Alex Cora [Red Sox] manager who I think is the best manager in the game and Jason Varitek, they decided this is not going to be their year.”
For a team that seems to have already thrown in the towel, Rodriguez believes the rest of Boston’s season is just a countdown to October.
