OptimusPapi said:
There is no indication that BC was resting on his laurels though. If players such as Pierszynski Bogaerts and Bradley performed to expectations I think they would at least be in the hunt for the wc. The problem is the vast majority of the team performed below expectations and there is no way to have enough depth to cover that. As lucky as 2013 was 2014 proved to be the exact opposite.
They never had a plan for replacing Ellsbury, and lord knows, they had enough time to think about it. It was pretty clear going back a few years that he and SB were simply looking for money, and after the Crawford-Gonzo fiasco, the RS apparently were operating on a financial model that wouldn't address the likely price for someone at age 30 who was looking long term. Once JB came down from his miraculous ST run, he was at best a work in process, Sizemore was a roll of the dice and Victorino was a known injury risk. Middlebrooks was a long shot, and is even worse now. So that's 3 key positions that were at risk following the 2013 season.
I can justify Pierzynski - complaining about that now is hindsight logic. Ditto Bogaerts poor season. But Napoli is notoriously streaky, as is/was Gomes.
I'm not 100% negative on BC. Far from it, he's done some very good things. But some of this mess splatters him as well. And I remain convinced that an unexpected 2013 had some impact on his thinking, when a clearer vision would have identified these flaws. Others obviously disagree. I respect their arguments, I'm just not convinced by them.
And btw, I never suggested he 'rested on his laurels'. That's unfair to him. But he did apparently assume that the chemistry/magic of 2013 would continue at some level in 2014.