The Boston Red Sox and John Farrell will be parting ways just a day after the Red Sox got so thoroughly bounced from the playoffs by a far superior team.
Farrell, 55, completed his fifth season as Red Sox manager in 2017, leading the team to a 93-69 (.574) record and the club’s ninth American League East division title. Boston finished the season with the third-best record in the American League, tied for fifth best in the majors.
During his Red Sox tenure (2013-17), Farrell’s clubs went 432-378 (.533) and earned three division titles (2013, 2016, 2017). His 432 managerial wins and 810 games managed both rank sixth in club history, and he is the only manager ever to lead the Red Sox to consecutive division titles. His first season was highlighted by Boston’s eighth World Series championship, as he was named American League Manager of the Year by The Sporting News.
This is just wild speculation on my part, but I have to wonder if the reason Farrell was given the old boot was because the locker room wasn’t big enough for all the egos it was trying to contain. Farrell and his team completely mishandled the Manny Machado situation and came across looking like petty children, and Farrell reportedly clashed with suprise suprise Chris Sale, as well as David Price. There was also a noted headed exchange with Drew Pomeranz. Additionally, ratings have dropped and Farrell has become a common punching bag on Boston talk radio. All of this despite actually tactically making mostly sound decisions as a manager. Farrell handled his bullpen very well including making some very ballsy decisions in the playoffs, favoring to work his key starters out of the pen in high leverage situations.
Another factor that worked against Farrell was that he was already in place when Dave Dombrowski was given the reigns, so maybe Farrell was never his first choice, and now he can go out and get one of his guys to work for him. I also suspect the termination shifts blame to Farrell for not managing the massive egos, rather than on Dombrowski for putting all those egos into one room in the first place.
Over 5 season with the Sox, Farrell posted a 432-378 record, including a World Series championship in 2013 and two consecutive AL East titles.
Fan Interference 
The Beanbags have a long history of using the backs of their departing managers for knife-throwing practice (kinda like Daniel Auteuil from “The Girl on the Bridge” but with lousy aim). They punched so many holes in Terry Francona on his way out he still whistles when the wind blows. Maybe with Dombrowski in place it won’t get as ugly this time but I have to think some of the held over lowlives in the front orifice will find some way to make it interessin’ in the days ahead. We shall see.
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Yeah, when you consider Francona’s pedigree, it says more about Boston than anything Farrell did.
I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t on pins and needles, but in fact Boston would have needed a whole lot of big breaks this year to beat Houston. Next year, maybe, if Price is healthy, Sale is not so pitched out, Pedroia is better, and those talented kids are all a year older. But when the other team is on a hot bashing streak, there is only so much damage control a manager can do. I actually thought his use of Price and Sale in the last three games made a lot of sense. Hard to know who they would have pitched in Game 5, but they had to get there first.
But so it is with managing at the MLB level. Dubrowski said he was going to be fired anyway, so I guess this wasn’t really a firing, it was just a layoff. 🙂
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The last time Dombrowski had to pick a manager he went with looks over brains. This choice should be interesting.
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This is a losing battle, but I have to join in anyway. I readily concede that Brad Ausmus did not prove himself to be the new Casy Stengel in Detroit.
But as to smart, I will take issue. He was a tough, smart catcher for several years in Houston – his catching, framing, defensive skills and pitcher management (especially young pitchers) made him a useful commodity for four years after his batting skills departed. And then he put in two more in San Diego. By all accounts a brainy guy and a good clubhouse presence. Manager may just be the wrong job for his skill set.
Or maybe he will still learn and improve.
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Beautiful Brad instead of Billy Beane, how Red Soxie is that?
WWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
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Fingers crossed
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Many good managers are former catchers, but not all former catchers make good managers. You want AJ Pierzynski running your team?
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