According to MLBtraderumors John Farrell has been fired as the Boston manager.  This opens up one very desireable managing job.  

If the pitching can be fixed this job can become a long term playoff hunt for another world series.

Yeah, not a surprise. He was always over rated. He was given a loaded team and won a WS and followed that up with two last place seasons in Boston!

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/farrejo03.shtml

 

 

In keeping with tradition, I suspect the new manager will win the World Series next year.

 

Yeah, not a surprise. He was always over rated. He was given a loaded team and won a WS and followed that up with two last place seasons in Boston!

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/farrejo03.shtml

One of those "last place seasons" was 78 wins... it's a competitive division, and he's won it twice in a row (and 3 times in 5 years).  Wasn't his fault that Sale struggled in Game 1, and Price was hurt...

 

He only had 2 seasons in Toronto, and they were a pretty "meh" team at the time (post-Halladay, pre-Stroman/Donaldson), so his records there weren't necessarily his fault.

Psst.

 

Boston.

 

Doug Mientkiewicz might be seeking employment.

 

One of those "last place seasons" was 78 wins... it's a competitive division, and he's won it twice in a row (and 3 times in 5 years).  Wasn't his fault that Sale struggled in Game 1, and Price was hurt...

 

He only had 2 seasons in Toronto, and they were a pretty "meh" team at the time (post-Halladay, pre-Stroman/Donaldson), so his records there weren't necessarily his fault.

He was given payroll advantages that three other teams in that division would have killed for. I think it's hard to say that the Red Sox didn't underachieve a great deal the last few years.

 

He was given payroll advantages that three other teams in that division would have killed for. I think it's hard to say that the Red Sox didn't underachieve a great deal the last few years.

Sure, Boston had a payroll advantage on 3 divisional foes (I notice you don't address the other one ), but those have also been pretty good teams at times.  And Farrell beat them all, plus the Yankees, for 3 out of 5 years.  (And Boston's high payroll is probably more evidence of GM missteps than managerial under-performance -- Pablo Sandoval, for example.)

 

I could see the last 2 years in totality as a bit of an underachievement, but not much.  They lost to a great Cleveland squad last year, and what looks like a good Astros team this year.  Would have liked them to be a little more competitive in those series, but their SP struggled which was largely out of Farrell's control.

 

And while he inherited a talented club, they finished in last place with 69 wins the year before. Farrell had to do something right to get them to 97 wins (and HFA) plus 11 more in the postseason.  He's nowhere near Gardenhire playoff disappointment territory yet, even adjusting for market.

 

Ultimately I don't think managers make a huge difference, but without any glaring errors, it seems hard to justify at the moment.

 

Psst.

Boston.

Doug Mientkiewicz might be seeking employment.

 

I hadn't thought of that, but it's an interesting thought. A Young core with a player first manager who has ties to the organization.

 

I hadn't thought of that, but it's an interesting thought. A Young core with a player first manager who has ties to the organization.

Doug's "ties" to Boston are minimal -- it's pretty much just the ball.  He only started 26 games in a Boston uniform, including postseason.  No connection to Dombrowski either.

An organization dedicated to winning World Series. How refreshing.

Let's do this!

 

That would be hilarious, if they fired Farrell for playoff underachievement and replaced him with Gardenhire...

 

That would be hilarious, if they fired Farrell for playoff underachievement and replaced him with Gardenhire...

and really, really hilarious if they went on to win a few world series ...

 

and really, really hilarious if they went on to win a few world series ...

 

I absolutely think he'd win a world series or two if put in charge of that team. He's a perfectly good manager.

 

Not going to happen though.

 

Let's do this!

 

Would a team really want to hire Gardenhire as manager when they'd have to play the Yankees 19 times a year?

That would be a hell of a landing place for Gardy. Though I'm thinking they'll lean more towards Alex Cora or another up and coming manager candidate.

If Gardy does go somewhere, wouldn't the Mets make more sense?

I'm not surprised Garda is in the conversation with Dombriwski there.

 

All remains "old school" managers should drooling.

 

Yeah, not a surprise. He was always over rated. He was given a loaded team and won a WS and followed that up with two last place seasons in Boston!

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/farrejo03.shtml

 

Yeah..... but..... Farrell drove them from a 90 win season and just missing the playoffs by a game (2011) .... to a last place 69 win season (-21 wins, 2012),  to a 97 win tied for best in MLB season and World Series championship (+28 wins, 2013)! That should have made him manager of the year, right? (nope... Francona). That makes 83 (missed playoffs by 3 games) - 59 (worst in MLB by 9 games) - 85 (Wild Card game loss) ........look a little underwhelming.

Edited October 11, 20179 yr by h2oface

 

Yeah..... but..... Farrell drove them from a 90 win season and just missing the playoffs by a game (2011) .... to a last place 69 win season (-21 wins, 2012),  to a 97 win tied for best in MLB season and World Series championship (+28 wins, 2013)! That should have made him manager of the year, right? (nope... Francona). That makes 83 (missed playoffs by 3 games) - 59 (worst in MLB by 9 games) - 85 (Wild Card game loss) ........look a little underwhelming.

 

Terry Francona was manager in 2011, Bobby Valentine in 2012. I'm not sure how Farrell "drove" the Red Sox from 90 to 69 to 97. As for 83 to 59 to 85 (I can't believe you're still on this), Molitor inherited a team that averaged 96 losses per year from 2011-14. Now they're a playoff team. 

Molitor inherited a team that averaged 96 losses per year from 2011-14. Now they're a playoff team.

Correction: they *were* a playoff team.

 

Hard to believe it was only 8 days ago though...

 

Correction: they *were* a playoff team.

Hard to believe it was only 8 days ago though...

 

Come on, brutha, don't get all semantic-y with me. 

Terry Francona was manager in 2011, Bobby Valentine in 2012. I'm not sure how Farrell "drove" the Red Sox from 90 to 69 to 97. As for 83 to 59 to 85 (I can't believe you're still on this), Molitor inherited a team that averaged 96 losses per year from 2011-14. Now they're a playoff team.

Correct. He took over in 2013. My bad. He still didn't win MOY.

It's hard to believe that anyone who knew anything about baseball EVER hired Bobby Valentine. As for Gardy, I would think he probably could do pretty well managing the Red Sox.

It's hard to believe that anyone who knew anything about baseball EVER hired Bobby Valentine. As for Gardy, I would think he probably could do pretty well managing the Red Sox.

I would be happy if Gardenhire landed on his feet here. It would continue the running gag of Minnesota folk winning championships for Boston (where the ultimate punchline is Moss as part of the 18-1 team)

 

I confess to suggesting Doug 90% in jest. That he played for the curse breaking team and butted heads over the final out ball gives bite to the jest, as does the fact he subsequently was a Yankee.

 

The other 10% makes me consider buying Red Sox season tickets if they were to hire him. Nah, i probably wouldn't... Or at least i'd need more excuses, and reasonable plan to actually use them. But still...