The Red Sox have begun talks with the Blue Jays in an effort to work out compensation for manager John Farrell, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). General Manager Ben Cherington is set to meet with Orioles third base coach DeMarlo Hale tomorrow but there is currently nobody scheduled to interview after that.
Boston has long been linked to Farrell but the skipper said in an interview late last week that he is happy in Toronto and has yet to speak with Cherington & Co. regarding their vacancy. Meanwhile, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulous has said repeatedly that the club's policy precludes personnel from leaving for a lateral move. While Farrell is said to be at or near the top of the Red Sox's list, Padres special assistant Brad Ausmus and Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach have also been linked to the position.
Oh God…
i like john farrell, don’t get me wrong, but the red sox need to stop going after him before they accidentally give up too much for him. Not to mention this whole thing is getting kinda annoying.
The big problem as I see it is if they keep this up then whoever they choose is going to seem like “the guy they got because they couldn’t get John Farrel,” which is obviously not a strong position. They can’t be undermining the new manager’s credibility from the start x_x
I agree its getting kind of annoying and on the surface it doesn’t seem like John Farrell is THAT amazing of a manager but what Boston is looking or in a manager isn’t what most us would look for. Sure, the actual baseball management matters, but that isn’t what has been hurting the Red Sox for the most part. They’re looking for a guy that can handle pressure, the Boston media, is respected, and keep players in line. Other candidates like Ausmus and Wallach might be great choices but they’re completely unproven as far as the things needed to handle a Boston job.
Pedro Beato or Zach Stewart would be too much for Farrell. You don’t trade a player, any player, for a manager.
Maybe Cherington can give Theo a call and ask him how he got the commish to sign off on a 26 year old reliever who needed elbow surgery as compensation. That wouldn’t be so bad.
Just let Farrel be. Pena or Ausmus please.
Agreed! So many great candidates out there who dont require giving up prospects, just pick one already!! I doubt Ausmus or Pena can possibly be any worse than Valentine.
I don’t get what the BFD is about Farrell… I guess the Sox know something we (and Toronto) don’t…
Here are the reasons they want Farrell: 1) he is universally respected (and even feared supposedly) by virtually everyone in the organization including the players, Cherington, and ownership. 2) He knows the ins and outs of the entire organization so will have pretty much no learning curve and will be able to start working right away. 3) He knows what it’s like to work in Boston in terms of media, scrutiny, pressure, etc. and seems to be able to handle it just fine. 4) He knows pitching and that is the Sox current biggest problem.
what about all of the aspects that aren’t mentioned.. like being a good manager. lol
What makes Farrell a bad manager? The Blue Jays’ W/L record under him? Would you would prefer they hire someone like Tim Wallach who has no MLB managerial experience at all? No one is saying he is the Greatest Manager of All Time..but the reasons listed above should make it clear why he is the Sox #1 choice.
lineup construction, bullpen management, views on base running..
he’s pretty meh. Wins and Losses have nothing to do with it, thats the GM’s fault
For the most part, I actually liked JF’s views on base running. What I didn’t like was his bullpen management. However, I think too many managers are beginning to over manager their bullpen.
Actually the reason the Sox want him is that the Sox clubhouse respects and loves him. Oh wait, they could have just retained Tito for all of that and not been forced to give a division rival valuable players in return.
But Tito was the ultimate player’s manager. Farrell will be much more stern and authoritative in his managing style and, from everything that I’ve gleaned, it seems the players will actually listen to him unlike Bobby V. That means you certaintly WON’T be hearing Pedroia making comments to the media like “I don’t know what [Farrell’s] trying to do but that’s not the way we do things here” and you won’t have players sending text messages to the ownership and stuff like that.
This is getting ridiculous…Farrell isn’t going anywhere. Why do so many reports get the rumors all wrong on the Blue Jays all the time? First Jays are going for Darvish, now Jays are going to trade EE, and now they’re gonig to let Farrell walk? I doubt it. Going to take like a good starter to get him from us and AA won’t do it because he thinks Farrell is a good fit for the club, we just gotta stay healthy.
Where does it say they are going to let Farrell walk? If Boston was willing to give up a decent player then sure AA would likely do it .
Chris Carpenter. Then it will be like trading Theo for Farrell!
This is typical under the current LL and BenC team floppo–AA and the Jays want to fire Farrell–the Team Red Sox want to obtain Farrell and send a top prospect to the Jays. This is actually the second smack the Jays have laid on the Sox–when they made the big Beckett trade the Jays blocked the Sox from acquiring Rubby DLR and Jerry Sands by claiming them and the Sox had to wait until the season was over to finalize the trade.
…Yes the pain. If only we had De LaRosa and Sands… we could have been in the playoffs.
*Imagine that in a monotone voice for effect.*
*Imagine that in a monotone voice for effect.*
“Paging Vin Scully to the Mic”…. SWP requires your presence at once….
Uh Oh. If Jays are blocking Boston from getting Farrell just like they did with De La Rosa and Sands…
Farrell isn’t the answer, but hey, who am I to say.
Maybe Boston is having trouble convincing AA that Farrell isn’t eligible for draft pick compensation.
I like how everyone conveniently avoids the reality here. No one knows whats really going on, but it’s ultimately is Farrell’s choice. If the Sox want Farrell and Farrell wants the Sox, the Blue Jays don’t have a whole lot of leverage in the matter. If Farrell wants to stay, then the Sox move on.
If(and I think this is the likely scenario) the Sox want Farrell, and Farrell wants to leave Toronto, then the Red Sox are going to lay out their offer for compensation to Toronto. They’ll negotiate very briefly, and then if they can’t come to an agreement quickly, like say, in a week, the Red Sox will proceed with the best candidate they interviewed. Frankly, I really like all the candidates they interviewed with the exception of maybe Wallach, though he seems like he’d be fine too.
How exactly do the Blue Jays not have any leverage in this matter?
Regardless of whether Farrell wants to leave, he is still under contract with the Blue Jays for one more year. He is not going anywhere without the Blue Jays permission. If the Jays do not provide that permission, then the Red Sox will have to move on and hire one of the other candidates. The Red Sox surely aren’t going to hire a one-year temporary manager, so when Farrell is a free agent next off-season there will not be a managerial job waiting for him in Boston… It seems to me that the Blue Jays are the ones with much of the leverage.
I don’t get how you can think the Jays have the upper hand in leverage. Your point says it all about Farrel not having a spot in Boston next year. They have 3-4 candidates that would be fine for the job which leaves Boston with the higher leverage. If the Jays try to get cute, Cherington shoots them down and hires on of the guys they’ve interviewed.
If those 3-4 candidates would be fine, why don’t they just hire one? Red Sox fans might not like it, but the Jays have the upper hand. If they want Farrell, then pay up. If not, for god’s sake move on.
Last scheduled interviews are today with Hale, so that’s why no decision has been made. Nice try, though.
Let me see. The Jays have something that the Red Sox want, but you think the Sox have the upper hand. lol. If I was a sox fan, I would be concerned that the FO can’t seem to find a manager, without messing up. Valentine ring any bells? How is any manager the sox hire going to feel knowing they were second choice to Farrell? So if the Sox really want Farrell, which seems to be the case, then they are going to have to pay. Or do you think that the Jays should just give up their manager, because those mighty Sox says so?
All it means is they’re talking to Toronto. Boston does have leverage by saying, thanks but no thanks at any time. After today’s interview would be a good time to do that if they can’t interview Farrel.
The Red Sox are the ones who are trying to pry Farrel away from Toronto. It is not Toronto who are necessarily trying to unload Farrell.
If Boston doesn’t want to pay whatever is the minimum price set by Blue Jays, then the Blue Jays would be happy to just carry on with Farrell as their manager for next year. And once Boston hires some other manager, Farrell really has no place else to go where he is guaranteed a manager’s job, so renewing his contract next year (if that’s what the Blue Jays want) likely wouldn’t be a problem.
Actually the Jays were behind the Sox in the standings at the time of the trade.Rubby and Sands had to clear waivers–the Sox wanted those guys in the trade–by the Jays making the claims the Dodgers had to pull them back and they were PTBNL in the transaction. As a Sox fan I would have liked to have seen them play the last few weeks of the season for the Red Sox.
Please figure out a way to keep Farrell until the Sox hire Pena, Ausmus or Wallach.
Unpopular opinion..
Just let Farrell walk, trading managers is silly. The Jays concern and focus should be on who is going to manage the team next. Whether its Fasano or Alomar, that’s a far more important decision then extracting every last ounce of value for whats certain to be an insignificant return.
Significant or not, you don’t let a Manager go in a sideways move without extracting some form of compensation. I don’t care if it’s a bag of balls or a peice of the outfield grass. You just DONT do it!
why?
Because It’s Boston , if we have something they value why one earth would you not get whatever value you can to make sure it’s not just them getting what they want for free? You have to make it hurt , even a little bit.
I wouldn’t go after Farrell. It’s very doubtful the Jays retain him after next year unless he does something amazing in turning around the team. I’d give Varitek the job for this year as an audition. The players all respect Tek. If Tek turns things around and turns out the be a great manager, GREAT you have your guy and Farrell may need work so he can always come back to Boston as pitching coach/bench coach. If Tek can’t turn it around, bring Farrell in when he doesn’t require compensation and either move Tek back upstairs where he is now or offer him a bench coach position. Either way, let’s not give a division rival anything for someone they may not intend to keep.
pedroia for JF straight up lol
I think you have it backwards as to who has the leverage in this situation. It’s not Toronto that wants to get rid of Farrell.
It doesn’t really matter, if Toronto demands something more than Boston is willing to give they aren’t going to trade for him, so the outcome is the same.
Which does bring up another question, do they really want him? No, seriously. Are the Jays happy with Farrell?
here’s the thing tho..
if the jays are engaged in any sort of ‘negotiations’ with the sox, that just means they aren’t interested in keeping him.
exactly.. if they felt he was the manager past 2013 there wouldnt be any discussions.
Untrue , if AA sensed they were willing to give up legit talent he would be silly not to explore the situation.
he asked for bucholz originally and was told where to go.
I’m sure by now they’d either be close or too far apart to continue discussions.
Reality is JF is going in to his last season and hasn’t recieved an extension, that says A LOT considering AA has spent the last 3 years extending everyone he believed in.
What more could be learned from Farrell in 2013 that hasn’t be learned yet? Either they like him or they don’t
That’s a good point. If they really wanted to keep him it would either be a flat out ‘no’ or they would still be asking for Buchholz and the issue would have been dropped already.
I don’t think that just because the Jays entertain trade offers from the Red Sox it necessarily means that they aren’t interested in keeping him longterm. Every asset – whether it be a prospect, major league player, or manager – has a price. If someone else is willing to offer you something more than the value of that asset, you’d be inclined to accept. If they offer you less, then you reject… But you don’t know what someone is willing to offer until you have those discussions. Just because you engage in those discussions does not mean that you are somehow dissatisfied with your asset. It is just prudent management to listen to whatever offers may be out there.
exactly.
to be fair, that could have happened and this could all just be speculation and rumours. we never really no, especially when it comes from the red sox media.
A lot more can be learned when you give a manager an actual MLB starting rotation that he already requested last season and didn’t get it, a better bullpen goes a long way as well.
right..
but the GM knows that, or thinks its atleast, would he not take the blame and extend him?
Theres no in between, either you think the team and the manager underperformed, or you believe the team lacked talent, depth and ran in to injuries and even joe maddon himself couldn’t save them.