Mute Button Is On

It's not really a surprise that Shank waited until after Stephen Drew was signed by the Red Sox to offer up a milquetoast take on the Sox' recent performance:

So there. The free-falling Red Sox are not giving up on the season, after all. They are not going to commit consumer fraud by selling “championship-driven” when they are actually giving you a bridge year. They are not going to pretend they are smarter than everybody else, just because things went perfectly last season.

They are not going to be hard-headed. They are willing to admit a mistake.

The Xander Bogaerts-at-short/Will Middlebrooks-at-third experiment was officially dissolved Tuesday when the Red Sox re-signed Stephen Drew as their shortstop for the remainder of the 2014 season.

This is a good move, and I’m not just saying that because John Henry (a.k.a. “greatest person ever”) owns the Boston Globe. (ha, that's a good one! - ed.) It’s a good move because it makes the Sox better for the rest of this season. It’s an indication that — despite the dreadful start to this title defense — the Sox know the American League East is up for grabs and they are still going for it this year.

Compare and contrast this tone to that of one of his columns from two years ago.