9:41pm: It would be surprising at this point if Farrell turned down the Blue Jays job, a source familiar with the situation told Alex Speier of WEEI.
The Red Sox will look at both internal and external candidates to fill their pitching coach void if Farrell leaves. However, it is said that the club is underwhelmed with their in-house options.
8:23pm: Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell has been offered the managerial job in Toronto, multiple industry sources told Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. Now the 48-year-old and the Blue Jays must work to come to an agreement on a contract.
McAdam notes if Farrell ends up taking the position, this would mark the second straight season that the BoSox have lost a key member of their coaching staff to a managerial vacancy. Last winter, former bench coach Brad Mills left Boston to become the manager of the Astros.
It would seem that the Blue Jays have left no stone unturned in their managerial search. By some estimates, McAdam writes, Toronto spoke to upwards of 20 candidates.
Awesome. I totally trust AA and looking forward to next season!
Can the season start now? I miss the Jays already. =(
Why? Are you looking forward to finishing in 4th again?
Yeah I am. Got a problem?
Classy.
You’re living up to the reputation of Red Sox fans.
So classy of you to bring it up eh? 😉
lol – Internet Tough Guy Alert!
You mean second?
Probably third. Rays might have a really though season.
The Jays aren’t going to be as good next year because the league will suspend Joey-Bats for roids before the season
Oh look – the dumb comments continue!
BTW he just had hernia surgery, something that’s bothered since May but I can understand a Pirate fan mad, you guys got basically nothing for a guy who hit 54 homeruns, not to mention the Pirates itself, awful, just awful.
Believe what you want to believe, the guy was a below average platoon player at best for most of his career, at his age something doesn’t start to click and one minor adjustment in a swing doesn’t affect power totals that much, but that, along with a little trip to Dr. Canseco may.
Minor adjustment? Seemed nothing minor about it.
That’s what I’ve heard them refer to it as
From who? Look at his swing this year compared to previous years. It’s a pretty big adjustment and even Bautista said so along with the rest of coaches and teammates. He also said he is getting ready earlier.
Not to mention he said he’s already been randomly checked a few times and passed them all but you’re right. He’s on steroids.
Bautista was a guy of whom it was thought early on that he would be a serious player. The GM who drafted him was very high on him. He never got much in the way of playing time, nor did he get much developmental attention at the major league level. Nobody on the Pirates bothered to examine his mechanics or try to fix them. Either that, or they didn’t know what to do, or how to do it, which isn’t surprising given the Pirates’ lack of success with prospects in recent years.
Last August, the Jays staff made some adjustments to his swing mechanics, and he went on to hit 10 homers in September. He continued to hit well in Spring this year, and we all know about the season’s results. Like everybody else in MLB, he’s been subject to random tests, and has passed.
I watched just about every game he played this year and last, and I can see the before and after difference. He wasn’t hitting a bunch of fly ball outs short of the fence in previous years. He was swinging and missing on balls low and away from him, and now he is able to lay off those pitches. He’s generating terrific bat speed as he’s always done, but now the bat is square to the ball a micro-second earlier, and he’s driving the balls he’s able to square up on. I have no doubt he’ll continue the same level of performance next season: maybe not fifty homers, but I expect at least 35 and more than that wouldn’t surprise me. He’s a very good hitter.
On top of that, look at the body. It’s not a body that’s on steroids. He’s lithe, sloped-shouldered, highly mobile and athletic, as he’s always been. Sometimes players develop late, when they get playing time and decent coaching. It must be sad to be a Pirate fan, cause you know your prospects aren’t going to get to reach their potential.
You are right about Bautista. He slipped through a few organizations, and no one quite knew what to do to fix his swing. Give Bautista credit for continuing to work on everything. Plus, he’s the guy they assigned to help Yunel Escobar-to make sure he “understood” what the Jays expected of him day in and day out. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think he was a positive clubhouse presence; so he’s got that going for him too.
He’s gone from a nice utility guy, to a key part of the Jays line up. He is almost small compared to some other major leaguers. Bautista was one of those guys that drove coaches crazy because they didn’t know what to do with him. Good for the Jays that they figured it out.
I can guarantee that you will not be sayingthat in a few seasons when guys like Pedro Alvarez, Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, and Jameson Taillon to name a few are dominating the big leagues and winning championships at beautiful PNC Park while the Jays are playing with over the hill vets, playing for fourth place, and living in Canada
Well, I wish the Pirates well; they’ve been lost in the wilderness for awhile and do seem to have some nice young talent emerging.
But I don’t wish ill on the Jays; they’ve got a tough road to walk to get to the top. It may never happen with the strength of that division. At least the Pirates are in the putrid NL Central. Their road to the top should be easier.
By the way, I love Andrew McCutchen. What a really nice all around player you have in him. If the Pirates ever get close to contention he’ll be a household name.
carlos perez, jp arencpia ,travis ardunud ,anthony rose, adeiny heccriva , kyle drabek and much more so suck on that
Have you ever even been to Canada? Our outside your basement for that matter? Toronto is a great city. I’d think players would be averse to playing in Pittsburgh if they were averse to playing in “Canada”.
Yes I have been to Canada, it wouldn’t exist if not for the U.S., and Pittsburgh is Americas most livable city, so that’s just not true
So stupid, so pathetic. So sad.
Canada wouldnt exist if not for the U.S?
What about it wouldnt exist exactly? Our free health care? our higher standard of living? our phenomenal international reputation? our lack of crippling debt?
Next time you head to europe and have to tell people you’re canadian just so you don’t get beat up, remember this little convo d bag
WOW…
I swear some Americans are just so dumb…
Just to let you know, I don’t want to comment on the Last Pirate fan’s comment, but I agree with all of you. People need to know the Jays more.
And Canada apparently.
How mad do you have to be????
It’s not our fault that your team trades away future and current talent for garbage below replacement level players every year. Don’t take it out on us because you’re so mad about your team.
The Jays will make the playoffs at least one time before the Pirates do, if not more than one time.
It’s one thing to call Jose Bautista a steroid user.. I mean don’t you think that EVERY player would be hitting 54 home-runs a year if all it took was to take some drugs. But it’s another to completely embarrass yourself with the ‘Canadia sucks’ comment. The last refuge of an American with no other salient points in his argument – “Insert country of choice here” sucks! Please educate yourself and stop being so ignorant.
Ignorance suits you very well…perhaps it comes with your team finishing in the tiolet of the MLB every year. Imagine what might actually happen if the Pirates got put in the AL East…your insigificantly pathetic life might actually expire before the Pirates made the playoffs again
FYI dawg, we went 85-77 after playing 48 games against the 3 toughest teams and their ballpark in Baseball. Put us in another division and we have the best record in Baseball. We were actually one of the best teams in Baseball but the most underrated. Thanks you and your welcome.
I’m not saying the Jays aren’t a good club, but having the best record in baseball if they’re not in the AL East is probably a stretch. They would’ve needed 13 more wins.
And they would have gotten it if they played Pittsburgh instead of the Yankees.
You trying to label the Pirates as a pushover??? The nerve…
Hey hey hey, no need to bring my bad buccos into it
Doubt they would get the best record in Baseball but they could win a division somewhere else or at least be in the race until the end.
Also, our team would likely upgrade at the deadline if our team was competing.
I’m not quite getting what team you are a fan of…your name says something about Span, possibly Denard, who I beleve is a twin…but now you talk about the Jays as “we” so ya, I don’t get it.
Just a fan of baseball, likes all the teams I think.
span I think is a fan of multiple teams and is quite knowledgeable of the baseball world so I’m glad he’s a Jays fan too. He’s got a lot of info on a lot of things concerning baseball^^ Go Jays! I trust in whoever AA picks to be the next manager, even if we digress a little bit this year, we’ll still be an exciting young team and will be ready to compete in the near futureeeeeee
Ok fair enough, it’s good to see that, quite rare these days if ever.
Every team, all the time, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, Denard, Neftali, Corky Miller, on and on and on…
Not if they goto the NL,because they’d lose a big bat and that just wouldn’t translate the same way.
stick them elsewhere in the AL and that might be more likely.
In terms of geography, they are really in central north America. So if you put them there and put the
Indians in the East, there you go. Is my idea a horrible idea? Yes, but just a thought.
Braves played in the West, Jays could too. It’d be a nice test for the Jays and would force Yanks, Rays, Sox to play each other more. Rangers are showing that they are a solid team however, WS-berths help with that.
They need to even out all of baseball, get 15 teams in each league, with 5 teams per division, and put the Pirates back in the NL East to get us some rivalries again, regardless of the better competition!
I would rather if they made it to 10 playoffs team. 8 is not enough IMO.
Not just that, but let the Jays over the last 5 or so years play in the NL and get to face the talent that league has and they would be have been in the post season almost every year, regardless of what NL division they had been in as either a DC or WC.
Please go stick your head in the sand somewhere.
hahahahahhahahahahaahahahhahaa woowww thats super funny dude!
What time are you performing at yuks yuks tonight?
Hard to say whether or not for sure this is the right decsion because he has no prior managerial experience. However, AA did interview 20 canaditates or so, so you would think Farrell was the best fit to manage this team. As a Jays fan, I am disappointed that they didnt offer the position to Brian Butterfield who has been with the organization for 9 seasons, but they must of seen something in Farrell they really liked and were willing to lose Butter to another team(Orioles most likely) but not offering him the position.
I figured from the beginning that if they were going to make as exhaustive a search as they’d said, it’d be unlikely that the end result would be that the guy best suited to manage the Jays at this point would be the guy they’ve had right in front of them all these years. I hope Butter gets his chance someday. I guess it’s likely he’ll be gone to Baltimore now, which is understandable.
SON OF A BEE-STING!
I realize I’m in the minority here, but I’ve never like Farrell as a pitching coach, so this comes as terrific news to a Sox fan!
no one cares
Jimmy needs a Jameson! (my obligatory comment to every Bunk statement)
well done.
Yeah I’m kind of worried about this choice… He certainly didn’t do any wonders with the Sox staff last season… Not to say the blame should be placed on his shoulders but still…
If I recall correctly, one of the criticisms of Farrell was that he works better with younger pitchers than he does with veterans. Proof being the season Lester and Buchholz had compared to Beckett and Lackey. Considering the Jays have a pretty young rotation, this should probably be good news for you guys.
that’s a good point…
yep
Farrell is given lots of credit to the emergences of Lester and Bucholz
So does this mean he develops Romero to next Lester and Morrow to next Buchholz. :PIt’s a young team so that’s a good quality for a manager to have. Beckett will be better next season. He’s been a solid ace throughout his career and had an injury riddled season and face it, the entire team was injured and just a tough overall season for the Red Sox.
Awesome! Great success!
Very nice!
As a Blue Jays fan if it weren’t for the injuries Boston probably wins the Wild Card if not the division. The Jays have as lot of pitching and it needs to be sorted out Zep, Mills, McGowen, Litch, Hill even Draebek just aquired Buckholz. This is a second starting rotation. Farrel will sort it out.
Well,as a Boston fan, I’d LIKE to agree with you but I just feel like we got more out of the bats of nava and McD than cameron’s defense might have made up for. Another large issue was Ortiz being a instant out for the first month or two.
As for the rest, yeah having healthy pitching and catching would have been great. Ten 2 of the best bats on the team getting injured at the end was a nail in the coffin.
I think they could have gotten the wildcard but more than that I’m very skeptical about.
The WC and division were pretty close so really if you were to win WC, it’s not crazy that you could have won the division.
Oh pssh on your second point. Teixeira was equally bad in the beginning of the season as Ortiz was; in fact as I remember, Papi broke out of it before Mark did. And yet the Yanks were able to still win 97 games. I really think his effect on the team is being overblown sometimes. I mean, he’s great and really good for the team, but it sounds sometimes like people believe if he has a slump then the whole team falls apart or something.
I agree about Nava over Cameron and all that. I think Cameron’s right on their level at best; that situation didn’t affect the team too much. Losing people like Ellsbury and Pedroia and so forth is what beat us up.
Bad move. Worst guy for the job. Pitchers make terrible managers.
lol a good stereotype to make a decision on…
Like Bud Black? P.S. NOBODY can be worse than Cito was.
gibbons?
I’m sure Gibbons used a pinch hitter at least once over the years. I can’t say the same for Cito.
Gibbons was a vastly superior in-game manager than Cito Gaston.
but he employed a terrible terrible offensive strategy in which, our top of the line rotation seldom had any help.. I agree that game evolved past cito, but i think there were many good aspects to him as well.
And your qualifications that justify such a broad statement are?
I know there’s only a .1% chance of it happening, but I’m trying to fantasize having Dave Duncan in Boston.
I’m with ya there bud, I’m with ya there.
Although I’d make that a .00001% chance. Just sayin.
Something tells me even those odds are optimistic.
So, you’re saying there’s a chance. Sweet!
Thank you, Lloyd Christmas.
Coaches are overrated, it’s all about the talent, and the Cards have had a lot of it
I’ve seen pitchers go into St Louis washed up or just #5 arms and come out as quality pitchers at a much more noticeable frequency than any other team. The major variable: Dave Duncan.
Second major variable: playing in the NL, with less patient hitters and a lineup of 8.
You would think Toronto would hire somebody that has a philosophy like Cito’s? Not sure Farrell matches up that well. I understand he would prefer his team to use their speed – not sure Toronto has a bunch of base burners. Or at least not yet. Oh well. When you guys win the East you’ll be toasting Farrell’s managerial skills. If you finish 5th you’ll be wondering why you signed this bum.
By like Cito do you mean playing Fred Lewis and Kevin Millar over their franchise player? Or putting in Brian fricking Tallet in one run games?
Or in a tied game for the 9th, 10th AND 11th inning only to blow it (I know, I know, I totally wasn’t expecting him to blow it either)
Who says we want Cito’s philosophy? AA wants guys that will get on base, use their speed and hit homeruns. He wants a balanced line-up not just a homerun mashing one.
Look at Texas Rangers and Tampa, that’s what we’re aiming for.
Let’s hope he doesn’t suck!
I wish Butterfield got the job. I’m not too optimistic about Farrell
I wish that the Pirates had interviewed Mr. Farrell, as he seems to be more qualified than any of the other candidates they have interviewed. Probably too expensive for them, so they are going to go with an inexperienced guy and hope it actually works for once.
Be happy you’re not getting Gibbons.
I actually thought Gibbons was a very strong in game manager. Handled the bullpen really well. His clashes with Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly were the only real blemishes I can think of..
seriously… he might punch-out anybody who pisses him off! you don’t want your young prospects on the DL cuz the coach beat em.
But yea, I want to see Gibbons manage another team though, see whats he con do
Ya that was my fear with him, the only good thing was his .500 record, something the Pirates haven’t had in 18 Years!
Gibbons was an excellent manager.
He had the best jays team that took the field in a long time and didnt get the team in to the playoffs… so excellent is a bit of a stretch.
But we’re delving back into the nonsense here…!
DJF drop?
I would prefer that the Jays hired Leo Mazzone as their manager.
Although I was hoping it’d be Alomar, I’m happy with Farrell as the choice. I watched a bunch of interviews with him on YouTube, and he’s obviously an intelligent, articulate baseball guy, with a lot of range to his thinking. His background in player development can’t hurt. His familiarity with Latin American leagues and players can’t hurt either.
One of the other things I think he might bring to the mix is this: sooner or later the Jays are going to have to trade one or more of their young pitchers to get the player or players they need to contend in the AL East. The question is always going to be: which pitcher to trade? Farrell has the capability to provide one more experienced evaluating eye to answer that question, and having that sort of capability coming from a manager is a good thing. Certainly it’s not something the Jays had with Cito, or Gibbons, or any of their recent managers.
I think he’s likely to be able to operate in partnership with AA and the front office, and presumably they think he’s the guy to be on board with the development plan that’s already in process. So I’m happy.
Red Sox next pitching coach?
Rich Sauveur @ Pawtucket?
Bob Kipper a@ Portland?
Dick Such @ Salem?
Whoever says “I will slap Papelbon in the face and remind him he’s not a rock star”?
Outstanding!
You know, even though the Red Sox team ERA was down this year, I have a feeling that Farrell was wearing out his welcome in Boston. When the 2010 season began must pundits agreed that the Sox had the best starting rotation in the AL, if not in all of MLB. That didn’t pan out and there may have been some recent whispers circulating that John would be better off elsewhere.. Just my opinion…but it doesn’t seem as though the front office is saying as much about Farrell’s move as one might expect..
Curt Schilling for Red Sox PC
MORE PITCHING COACHES!!!!!!
Bruce Walton already adds about 10% to swings and misses on your changeups, Farrell can only improve on that!
good that were bring this guy in, maybe he will teach our guys to have some disciple once in a while. we did hit 254 HRs but where did we finish? sure the long ball looks nice but you need a well balanced team to win games, as proven by the rangers this year.
i’ll be waiting the next 5 years until Gose is called up. as he will make or break this team most likely.
Gose will not make or break this team, its baseball not basketball, one player doesn’t make or break a team.
Secondly, you can’t teach players how to be good 2 strike hitters, how to have good plate coverage and a good eye, if all you have is homerun hitters, then you work that angle. . Its up to the GM to field a balanced attack and upto the manager to get the most out of that lineup.