Local coaches give insights on changes

Going, going, gone was the theme of the day Thursday when the Red Sox unloaded one player after another as the trading deadline loomed. When the final bell sounded seven players from last year’s World Championship team were out the door.Red Sox fans, from the diehards to the bandwagon jumpers, all have something to say about the wisdom of blowing up the team and whether the individual moves make sense. Several local high school baseball coaches also weighed in on the subject.”It was tough keeping up with all the moves that took place the other day,” English High baseball coach Joe Caponigro said. “They really blew that team up. I guess they’re looking at their payroll and their future.”Although he questioned getting rid of pitcher John Lackey given the year he’s had, he said it comes down to busines and the owners and General Manager Ben Cherington have a pretty good track record.”Those guys seem to know what they’re doing … They’ve been very successful. they’ve made a lot of good moves,” Caponigro said.Saugus High baseball coach Steve Freker wasn’t surprised by the moves.”I think all this trading just drives home the fact it’sjust a business,” he said. “It’s hard to build loyalty with players on pro teams or loyalty among the fans when it become a merry-go-round of players.”Freker said he’s been running a camp for young players the past couple of weeks and he asked them if they were bothered by the trades, particularly the Jon Lester deal.”They said no, as long as we got a good player back,” he said.Freker it’s kind of sad seeing the young guys not caring when players come and go, but he wasn’t surprised. He said younger people have seen the Boston professional sports teams win one or more championships in the last 15 years.”They’re spoiled. They think wait a couple of years, we’ll win another one,” he said.Freker said Lackey did a “hell of a job,” but he isn’t surprised he’s gone. He was, however, taken back by just how many moves the team made.”I was surprised they did such a big overall (particularly with the pitching staff),” he said.Swampscott High coach Jason Calichman is holding out judgment. If the Red Sox re-sign Lester he thinks it’s a genius move, but if they don’t get him back, he can’t see being without an ace, a horse at the top of the rotation.Calichman said getting rid of Stephen Drew and seeing what Bogaerts can do a shortstop is a great move.”I understand being loyal Red Sox fans and wanting to keep all the guys who brought a championship to the city, but in the end it’s a business. These guys are going to go where the money is,” he said.St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana didn’t have a problem with the trades.”They’re making a big move, trying to find some power and they’ll work out the pitching next year,” he said.Although he can’t imagine losing all that pitching, Dana said the Sox have shown in the past that when they need to make a big move, they make it.”They know the landscape better than the fans,’ he said.Dana said he didn’t expect them to get rid of Lackey, but said you don’t know what’s happening in the background, whether he’s saying he wants out.Dana said the guy they got, Allen Craig, has been an excellent hitter five of the last six years and “the other kid (Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes) has more home runs than all the other Red Sox outfielders combined.””They were definitely looking for power. What they had going wasn’t working. It’s a little different than a high school 20-game sprint,” he said.Lynn Tech coach Harold German was a fan of the trading spree.”I think it was tough, but it’s a good thing. They needed to make some moves,” he said.German said the decisions they made give them a lot of flexibility for the years to come. He said the Red Sox have a lot of assets that can be packaged in the off season to complete the big picture.”They got some right-handed power, which is what they really needed,” he said, adding that he’s also optimistic about the addition of pitcher Joe Ke