Terry Francona has been the Red Sox manager for eight years now, and has two World Series wins and has been to the ALCS three times. Though the Sox have missed the postseason for the second straight year, it hasn't been Francona's fault.
At one point in the later part of the 2010 season, the Sox had 12 players on the disabled list, including Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Josh Beckett, all three being major contributors this season.
This year, the Red Sox went most of this season without star pitcher Clay Buchholz and flame throwing reliever Bobby Jenks. Also, the players didn't play up to par. For the second year in a row John Lackey didn't pitch at all like he did for the Angels, John Lester, Josh Beckett, and Daniel Bard ended the season poorly.
The Red Sox finished the season with a number of players who were playing in pain, including Adrian Gonzalez who had a bad shoulder, and Erik Bedard as well. Gonzalez hit only .250 during the last week of 2011, and Bedard had an ERA of 5.25 in the month of September.
The point is, the Red Sox players were too relaxed and didn't want it enough, which is on the players not Francona, who has been so valuable to the Boston Red Sox over the last eight years.
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