It was another suspenseful postseason for my precious Boston Red Sox. Although the fat lady has shattered the Nation’s dreams and any glass in her vicinity, the Fenway Faithful were treated to another epic battle. You just cannot say that this team is boring. Even I was surprised that they tied the series after being down 3-to-1 to force the seventh game! The Tampa Bay Rays played well and showed how formidable a force young hunger can be. They won handily, but the last game could’ve been won by either team. The real World Series has already been played and if Tampa plays like they’ve played all through the playoffs, they should easily defeat the Phillies. As the cold winter approaches, I can only look forward to the renewal of spring and the opportunity for the Red Sox to get better.

In Theo I trust. In the quest for perfection, Theo Epstein has the opportunity to get much more capital efficient. While everyone else worries about what the Yankees are going to do in the offseason and how much money they are going to spend, I want Theo to focus on capital efficiency and roster efficiency. The team has the ability to improve not by addition but by subtraction. Do not sign any high-ticket free agents. The youth movement consisting of Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lowrie, Lester, Masterson, Delcarmen, Papelbon, Youkilis, and Buchholz keeps the machine lean and mean at a relatively low cost. Please do not bring the following fellows back – a few responsible for some of the fondest championship memories of the last few years. Sentimental attachment seldom leads to good decision making.

Jason Varitek – The Captain’s armor is getting heavy. It doesn’t weigh any more than it used to. If anything, it weighs less as space age materials are being used in all manner of sports equipment. The Captain is simply suffering from the ailment all major league catchers fall victim to – accelerated aging. The bat is heavier. The chest protector is heavier. His near automatic out in the bottom of the lineup is the heaviest burden of all. He was a great player for the few peak years he spent in a Red Sox uniform but it is time to say goodbye to the Captain. While we are at it, let’s not try to find a replacement captain – it’s an emotional and outdated convention that has little impact on the overall performance of a team. If the Yankees want to keep the foolishness alive, let them keep Jeter as their glorious captain. Players simply understand that someone will usually step up to become a leader – there need not be a public declaration of who this person is. It’s obvious to all without having to designate someone and have him wear a special patch on the uniform. Please don’t hype Pedroia as the next captain.

Designating a captain also makes getting rid off him exponentially harder and a lot more political. Inevitably, teams end up keeping a player around longer than he is useful because of the emotional attachment the organization and fans have built up through the years. Derek Jeter will probably wear a Yankees uniform well into his ineffective late thirties and maybe even his early forties. Every stinking Yankees fan will secretly want to be rid of the captain but they’ll be unable to imagine life without the great leader. Nonsense.

Curt Schilling – He will always be remembered for bleeding his way to victory on the mound. There have been few more heroic moments in all of sports. Such is the special position of a great pitcher – he can carry the whole team on his shoulders with a superhuman pitching effort. Schilling’s salary has weighed on the payroll all year long without him pitching one measly inning. He will likely retire and his expiring contract affords the team some significant dollar savings. Does anyone doubt that he will go down in history as one of the greatest Red Sox ever? That he did more, in his shortened and injury-filled Boston career, for the team than Pedro Martinez ever did? He is the hero but all heroes must die or at least walk off into the sunset to never fight again.

Mike Timlin – In the pantheon of heroes stands a blue collar workhorse named Mike Timlin. He pitched and pitched and pitched until he couldn’t pitch anymore. Few pitchers have appeared in as many games as the prolific Mike Timlin. Longevity itself is a great accomplishment in the world of professional sports. The daily physical grind and emotional stresses are efficient agents of destruction. Few men survive to fight as long as Mike Timlin and Cal Ripken. But in the quest to break records for pitching appearances or games played, the team put a cute personal achievement above the purer goal of winning. For the last two years, we’ve endured watching this once reliable warrior get fed to the lions. He blew leads in dramatic fashion and lost games in gut-wrenching displays of futility. How does one say goodbye to a loyal company man? It calls to mind the indignity of a cheap gold watch for the corporate retiree.

Julio Lugo – Here is one player I won’t miss and would like to forget quickly. Julio Lugo’s contract is not over yet but we need to get rid of him somehow. We’ll likely have to pay someone to take him off our hands. This isn’t so much a case of capital efficiency as it is a case of roster efficiency. He’s a terrible defender and an even worse hitter. His amazing ability to make outs is only surpassed in absurdity by the dearness of his salary. Theo Epstein has made few mistakes since taking over as the general manager but this one is probably the worst. You can’t win them all even if you have won two championships in the last handful of years. Even Warren Buffett isn’t perfect. Theo Epstein has been a great value investor in baseball talent on balance. Lugo represents one of the few investments he made in a dubious growth prospect at its peak price. Lowrie cannot do much worse at a much lower cost.

The next season is full of possibility. The young players will only get better and the Red Sox have the potential to get younger, better, and cheaper at the same time. In the meantime, I’ll be lamenting an enjoyable yet depressing defeat.