[ThePundit]

From Bill Madden's Sunday column:

And while we're on the subject of potentially historic collapses...has anyone taken the pulse of Red Sox Nation lately? That 14½ -game lead on May 29 sure seems like a long time ago, doesn' it?

Surely there are those in Beantown pointing the finger of blame at manager Terry Francona for this stunning erosion eerily mirroring that of the Great Collapse of 1978. But is Francona to blame for Manny Ramirez missing these past three critical weeks with an oblique injury? Or for Daisuke Matsuzaka, who spent his entire career in Japan working on six days' rest, wearing down?

Indeed, if the Nation is looking for someone to blame for the Red Sox possibly not being as good as they were cracked up to be, they might want to look closer at the recent deals made by GM Theo Epstein. It was, after all, Epstein who allowed himself to be bamboozled by Scott (Avenging Agent) Boras in luring J.D. Drew away from the Dodgers for $70 million last winter. Drew (who the Nation has begun calling "Nancy") was hitting .261 with nine homers and 53 RBI through Friday. And Epstein traded solid No. 3 starter Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for an even bigger bust, Wily Mo Pena (since dealt to the Nationals). Plus, at this year's trading deadline, Epstein made the biggest splash by trading lefty Kason Gabbard and outfielder David Murphy, two top prospects, to the Rangers for free agent-to-be reliever Eric Gagne, who has turned out to be the biggest bust of all.

On the plus side, energizing rookies Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury were drafted and developed on Epstein's watch, but it is beginning to look as if the Red Sox, in this long season, are coming up short in both starting pitching and set-up relief when it matters most.

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I totally agree with Madden. Blaming Francona is a joke.