Peter Gammons On Felger & Mazz: Will Bobby V Return, And Will Sox Ownership Sell The Team?
Peter Gammons of MLB.com joined Felger and Massarotti to discuss the future of Bobby Valentine, the Red Sox ownership group, and the struggles of the New York Yankees.
Would people be surprised if Bobby Valentine returns next season?
"I would be surprised, yes. I would be very surprised," Gammons said. "I just see too much water under the bridge, too much division on all levels of the organization. I just don't think it will happen. Commitment now from ownership is to Ben Cherington."
It's been rumored a bit, so Tony Massarotti asked Gammons if the Red Sox ownership group planning on selling the franchise soon.
"I don't believe so. I think that they like this. They like the notoriety and popularity of Boston. I think they enjoy running the Red Sox. It ran so easily for a while, from 2003 to Aug. 31 of last year, this was a pretty remarkable franchise. They did a lot, they won a lot, they sold a lot of tickets, a lot of advertising on television and a lot of tours and that kind of thing. I think that they would like to be remembered as people who restored it.
"That said, I never understood why Larry [Lucchino] hasn't re-signed his contract," Gammons added. "But I don't believe he's going anywhere. I think he might've gone if he could've gone to the Dodgers, but I don't see another place that he would really be happy, because he does love it here."
Outside of Boston, what's going on with the New York Yankees? Are the Yankees in trouble long-term?
"I think they're in trouble long-term for this reason: they have so much money tied up with [Derek] Jeter and with [Alex Rodriguez] and [CC] Sabathia," Gammons said. "And, Hal Steinbrenner said he wants them down to under $189 million by 2014 so they get the rebate and don't have to pay the luxury tax. That's going to be a struggle for them."
