Well, this is not what I was hoping for.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Red Sox and Jays are making progress on compensation talks for Toronto manager John Farrell. Jimmy Golden of the Associated Press has also reported that the Red Sox have asked to speak directly to Farrell.
This isn't to say that I don't like John Farrell. I do, just not as a manager. His in game decisions over the past two seasons have been mediocre at best, and Toronto looked like they had no idea what the hell was going on around them the past two seasons.
Also, it appears that Farrell doesn't have the same kind of respect with the Red Sox players that he once did. CSN's Mike Giardi spoke to one unnamed player, who said, "He (Farrell) is a hell of a pitching coach, but did you see Toronto play this year? They were as lost as we were." The player also stated that he "has great respect for Ausmus, Pena, and Wallach, unlike the guy they hired last year."
It's fairly odd that the Red Sox have such a hard on for Farrell. I'm still picking my brain to find out why they would want to hire a manager whose current team has soured on him?
If Boston does indeed hire Farrell, they are missing out on a great opportunity with Brad Ausmus, who has become my personal favorite for manager. Ausmus is very widely respected, as well as highly regarded throughout the league. He's a former all star, three time gold glove winner, and currently the manager for Israel's national baseball team. It seems as though Ausmus has great potential as a big league manager, and it would be a damn shame if the Red Sox pass up on him, only to see him be hired and have a long, successful managerial career. Tim Wallach, Tony Pena, and DeMarlo Hale are also very good candidates, and Hale has long been considered to be very good manager material.
If the Sox do indeed hire John Farrell, one has to wonder why they interviewed the aforementioned candidates in the first place. If they had Farrell in their minds as the top choice all along, what was the point of interviewing any other candidates?
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