As if this Whole Mess is Terry Francona's Fault

According to several sources, including Ken Rosenthal, Terry Francona and the Boston Red Sox will be parting ways this offseason, which began some time Thursday morning when Sawx Nation woke up and realized this was all not just a bad dream, and they indeed had missed the playoffs.

The decision to let Francona go was on the shoulders of principal owner John Henry, who has apparently seen enough over the past month. He would not be fired, rather the club would simply not pick up his 2012 and '13 option.

Of course, now that Ozzie Guillen has left the Chicago White Sox to spend the next four seasons with the Miami Marlins, there is some speculation that Francona could take the job on the South Side, since he already managed five seasons with their minor-league system in the early 1990s. Speaking of Chicago, Mike Quade is bound to get canned, so there's a possibility Tito could end up on the North Side as well.

In what has been deemed one of the worst collapses in the history of baseball, Boston and their $161 million payroll (third highest in the majors) dropped 20 of their 27 final games due to a lethal combination of untimely injuries, crappy pitching, lethargic offense, and perhaps even some mismanagement. Yes, 2011 was a complete failure.

General manager Theo Epstein said, "nobody blames Tito for what happened in September. That would be totally irresponsible and totally short-sighted."

Totally.