We've hated Curt Young from the very beginning of the season, but it looks like he's not going to be our problem much longer. Curt is applying for his old gig: Oakland A's pitching coach. Heading back to a town where he doesn't have to deal with, you know, actual expectations. And, to be fair, the likes of John Lackey. Or video games. Or fried chicken. And it looks like the Red Sox seem pretty eager to let him go.
If you go back to that original story, and read the quote from Tito about how Young "stepped back" from the veterans because "they're used to what they're doing" we should have seen these shenanigans coming long ago. But that's all in the past now. Assuming he gets the job, Curt can go back to whittling twigs in the Oakland dugout, where no one will care.
Even though he has one more year remaining on his contract, Young confirmed yesterday that he has received permission to talk to the Oakland Athletics about their vacant pitching coach job. If Young departs, the Red Sox will begin next season with their third pitching coach in as many years.
Young served the A’s in that role from 2004-10 before joining the Sox last November to replace John Farrell, who left to become the manager of the Blue Jays.
Under Young’s watch, Sox pitchers combined for a 4.20 ERA, ninth in the AL. And the pitching staff, particularly the starters, faltered badly in the last month. Seven starters notched an overall 7.08 ERA, as the Sox endured the worst September collapse in history.
And the most damning quote of the entire Curt Young era, courtesy of Clay Buchholz:
“They were two different coaches. Hard to compare guys that are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum,” Buchholz said. “I have nothing bad to say about Curt. He talked to me about whatever I needed to talk about. With John it was, I don’t want to talk to him unless I have to because I’m scared of him.”
Just as we suspected all along, Curt was a little too much Oprah, not enough Lombardi.
Good Riddance Best of luck in all of your future endeavors.
