Insomniac Red Sox fans were treated to a flurry of tweets around midnight which proved that Brad Ausmus or Tim Wallach will not be Bobby Valentines successor. Former Sox pitching coach (2007-2010) John Farrell has been signed to a three year deal with Boston to become Manager.
The largest hurdle in the much talked about love interest from the Sox in Farrell, was the fact he had one more season remaining on his pact with Toronto, that seems to be settled via compensation with much speculation that Mike Aviles (whom I speculated may be trade bait last week) will head north of the border, in addition to a Blue Jay, David Carpenter (the Sox must love Carpenters as compensation) player making the trip to Boston along with Farrell.
Many had assumed that Ausmus or Wallach may have a fair shot at becoming manager when compensation was factored into the equation. The debacle which became Theo Epstien to Chicago is still fresh in every Sox fans mind and a repeat of that is not what is needed after the team finished dead last in the AL East in 2012. Granted there is always a chance this process becomes whacky and frustrating (This is the Red Sox we are speaking about here), it seems as if all the important moving parts have already been agreed upon by the two clubs.
John Farrell in his three seasons with the Red Sox garnered a reputation as being one of the top pitching coaches in the game, he was well respected by the rest of the coaching staff, including former Sox and current Indians manager Terry Francona, as well as the players. He will now take over a pitching staff and ball club that he is familiar to from his time here, as well as one he has analyzed for weaknesses while he was in Toronto. While he is certainly his own man, Farrell will be more of the Francona calm, yet precise over the manic showmanship and circus atmosphere that the Red Sox endured under Bobby Valentine.
Yes, this may be the manager that rights the ship after three straight seasons of playoff-less baseball in Boston, but it also bears mention, the Farrell-led Blue Jays finished four games ahead of the Sox when all was said and done for the 2012 season. Hope lies in the ability to find the problems with the pitching staff in time to regain what we expect out of Jon Lester, Daniel Bard and Clay Bucchholz (who was the player Toronto wanted in exchange for Farrell last season) instead of the inconsistency they had shown last season. As the pitching goes, so may the Red Sox in 2013, which is shaping up to be a interesting one so far.