Even For Boston, Red Sox Negativity Reaches Embarrassing New Lows

By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox haven't played a single inning in Spring Training yet, and they are already being treated like an uncontrollable dumpster-fire.

The incredible overreactions to the Red Sox, just days into Spring Training workouts, has become its own story altogether. Even for the notoriously cynical, fastidious Boston sports media, it is getting embarrassing. Is there any other market (besides New York) that overreacts and kills teams for things they haven't done yet like Boston? If you listened to the Sports Hub or read any of the local papers in recent days, you'd think they've already fallen 20 games out of the division lead.

Boston is overdue for a little positivity. Just a little, if that's OK with you. Specifically, about Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.

Look, it's understandable to have your doubts about Ramirez's ability to transition to first base - or Ramirez in general. Questions about his maturity and work ethic have followed him for most of his career. He did himself no favors telling reporters he never got his own first baseman's mitt. But if you're writing him off before he even fields a single ground ball, why even have a baseball season? Why even pay attention to these guys if to you they are so obviously a ticking time bomb with Ramirez lighting the fuse?

Also, if Ramirez is such a trainwreck, how do you explain this?

That's Ramirez looking pretty capable scooping low ground balls. Of all the concerns about him at first base, his ability to handle errant throws is near the top. This clip should placate some of Ramirez's doubters, but this probably won't stop anyone from picking Ramirez apart.

"Look at how lazily he flicked that ball out of his glove! He doesn't care! He'll probably flip the ball over his back like that it in a real game!"

Exactly. Let's wait to see what Ramirez can and can't do at first base in an actual game situation before judging his ability to play the position. You can't watch that clip and deny that he looks capable. And that should be enough at this point; it's likely you didn't believe Hanley was even capable of playing first base. The fact that he had to go on TV and make it clear that he wants to win a World Series says all you need to know.

Ramirez also did some double-play work and took some grounders from his knees.

Obviously, these clips don't mean Ramirez is winning a Gold Glove this year. But is he completely and utterly incapable of figuring out how to play the position? That is not known yet - unless, of course, you cover the Red Sox for the local media.

As for Sandoval, the concerns about his weight - spearheaded by those now-infamous snapshots of his gut spilling out from his shirt - are warranted, when previous reports said he actually lost weight. But WBZ's Dan Roche told Felger & Mazz on Wednesday that Sandoval actually looks better playing third base than he did at this time last season. Believe whatever you want, but Roche is down there watching every minute of workouts while most of us are here doing our best Chicken Little impression.

There's also this pitch that Sandoval cranked off of David Price in batting practice:

Surely, this will turn into "Is Price being overpaid?" or "It's only one pitch!" because saying Sandoval looked decent in BP wouldn't fit the obvious agenda of ripping Ramirez and Sandoval at every opportunity.

I'm not saying that Ramirez's glove or Sandoval's gut aren't subject to some concern. You can't blame sports talk radio for being all over it, because it's good radio. It also doesn't help that the Red Sox have finished in last place two years in a row, and Sandoval, in particular, is coming off a very down year. Whether he believes it or not, Sandoval has plenty to prove in his second season.

But if the 2013 Red Sox taught us anything, it's that every season starts with a clean slate and the media in this town is collectively acting like the slate is still covered in pine tar and grease stains. Even the John Henry-owned Boston Globe is piling on with column after column lambasting these two players and unfairly inundating the city with despair and pessimism. The worst part is, if radio callers are any indication, many fans seem to be buying into these Doomsday scenarios.

I get it. Ramirez may not work out at first or give a full effort all the time. Sandoval's lack of concern about his weight does not inspire hope. But this team is being covered as if it didn't go out and acquire an ace, revamp its bullpen with a lights-out closer, and still retain their young, talented core players that could get even better.

The Red Sox are being covered like they are on the fast track to finishing last yet again. Maybe they are, but with Price and Craig Kimbrel in the fold, something will have to go horribly awry if the Red Sox don't finish with a winning record, if not a playoff spot. Barring injury, it's nigh impossible for them to finish with a similar or worse record than 2015.

"The negativity in this town sucks," Rick Pitino so infamously said. Nearly two decades later, even after an absurd run of championships in this city, not much has changed. Negativity may be good for ratings and pageviews, and as a fellow media member I get what they're doing. You can't be all sunshine and rainbows and be entertaining. but even for the Boston media, this Red Sox coverage is getting grotesquely over-the-top.

Can we at least see Sandoval actually failing to bend over, and Ramirez Buckner-ing grounders on a nightly basis, in actual games, before declaring them (and, by extension, the team) utter failures? Can we take it down one or twelve notches until something truly troubling actually happens? The first preseason game is on Monday; if Ramirez boots a grounder, open the floodgates all you want. But I believe in second chances, and this year is just that for Ramirez and Sandoval.

You may be totally convinced that Ramirez and Sandoval are going to blow up in Boston's face, and it's understandable to feel that way. It may happen. You may blame them for bringing this scrutiny on themselves, and to an extent that is true. But the coverage of the Red Sox in the collective local media, for a team that hasn't thrown a single pitch or made a single out yet, has reached embarrassing new lows.

I shudder to think what the reaction will be like if and when a real problem pops up.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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