BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said he won't make a scapegoat of skipper Terry Francona after the team's unprecedented September collapse. Epstein said at Fenway Park that everyone will be evaluated this offseason, including the manager and GM. But he said "nobody blames" the team's 7-20 in the final month on Francona. The Red Sox led the AL wild-card race by nine games on the morning of Sept. 4. But they failed to... win consecutive games all month, and they headed into the final night of the season tied with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Francona also said he would like to give it a few days before making a decision whether he would want to come back as Red Sox manager. "I think we'll to talk tomorrow," Francona said. "I think maybe it's best for today to stay where we're at. It's still pretty fresh and pretty raw. It's a fair question, but I would rather focus on the other stuff today." Francona said he would identify the collapse of the 2011 season as the toughest moment of his career with the Red Sox. But said part of that is because it just happened. There have been other hard times. "Only because it's now. It's easy to forget," Francona said. "There isn't a whole lot here that isn't trying, even in the best of (times) because everything is so important to people here, and that's good. Because it's fresh and raw it seems that way, but there have been a lot of trying moments here, we just fought through them a little bit better.""Carl has taken full and very public responsibility for having a disappointing year," Epstein said. "The next step is, what are you going to do about it."
Francona also said he would like to give it a few days before making a decision whether he would want to come back as Red Sox manager. "I think we'll to talk tomorrow," Francona said. "I think maybe it's best for today to stay where we're at. It's still pretty fresh and pretty raw. It's a fair question, but I would rather focus on the other stuff today." Francona said he would identify the collapse of the 2011 season as the toughest moment of his career with the Red Sox. But said part of that is because it just happened. There have been other hard times. "Only because it's now. It's easy to forget," Francona said. "There isn't a whole lot here that isn't trying, even in the best of (times) because everything is so important to people here, and that's good. Because it's fresh and raw it seems that way, but there have been a lot of trying moments here, we just fought through them a little bit better.""Carl has taken full and very public responsibility for having a disappointing year," Epstein said. "The next step is, what are you going to do about it."
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