Three last place finishes in the last three years. That’s a bad track record for any major league baseball team. For the Boston Red Sox, it’s even worse. You want to know what’s even weirder? They won a championship in that time span.

What's gone wrong? Pitching has gone down hill very fast. The Red Sox have never been really known as a pitching team. This is not to deny that they've had a true pitching team come through the team, but the fondest memories of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz has been their clutch hitting. The problem has been changing philosophies and a lack of top-of-the-line pitching talent. The Red Sox can't seem to keep down one philosophy, sign high-price free agents, and then skimp next year on the free agent market. An inconsistent philosophy means no continuity.

There are many talented parts on this Red Sox team, but they don't all fit together. They have pitchers, which would fit into a team that focuses on depth, good defense, and consistent hitting. Yet the hitters they signed last year, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, both had a lot of potential, yet also came along with a lot of risk. These parts fit into the right system, and these parts are valuable,

How can this be fixed?

1. Build one solid team philosophy. This philosophy should encompass how you treat your prospects, how to build your oration/bullpen, and your organizational structure. There isn’t a wrong way of doing it, just a lot of different ways of doing it. Really, the only wrong way to do it is to have two different approaches to one team. You cannot build a team around run prevention and then sign high-strikeout batters, or, on the other hand, buy high-price pitchers with low earned runs allowed, and support a lineup with high batting average, yet no power.
   
   
2. Don’t be afraid to take risks. This is what got to the Red Sox when they took the low-cost veteran approach. Sure, it’s an approach that can work, but it requires a team to spend, as well. It seemed as though the Red Sox became too scared to dish out money for a team that has no problem with a $200 million payroll. And sure, no team needs to spend out of this stratosphere to be able to compete, but not using your resources to their strongest abilities seems to be a failed approach to baseball managing.
   
3. Patience. Could any of these philosophies have actually worked out? Well, hey, that is a great question! Maybe they would have, but we never got to find out. The Red Sox deployed a veteran shorter contract philosophy in 2012, maybe as a bridge plan. Well, the bridge plan really worked, but then they decided they wanted that as their long-term plan. After this system failed one year, the Red Sox decided to go spend big on offense, and instead play mid-tier pitchers in the rotation. Then, this plan failed, and Ben Cherington, the general manager, was canned. The Red Sox need a philosophy, one that they plan to actually see through. Philosophies do change, and that's OK, there is no problem with that, but if your philosophies change yearly, there is obviously a serious problem.