April 14, 2016

Will Farrell Rise from the Ashes and Soar?



A  familiar undercurrent has been flowing since the 2016 Spring Training began. When will John Farrell finally wear out his welcome? No one has faced more scrutiny and adversity than the beleaguered Boston bench boss in the past two seasons. In 2015 as the team was plummeting to its second straight last place finish, Farrell's life took a very mortal turn as he faced a cancer diagnosis, forcing him to leave baseball to battle the deadly disease. After bravely defeating his illness, it then became his crutch as many felt Dombrowski had no choice but to start the 2016 season with Farrell. I mean, what's he going to do? Fire a guy who just won a battle with cancer?
In Farrell's stead, bench coach Torey Lovullo took over and turned in a very competent 27-20 record while proving to be an effective communicator. He impressed the Boston brass so much that Dave Dombrowski wanted to make sure he had an insurance policy for 2016 against Farrell. Lovullo was granted an increase in pay with a two year extension that Dombrowski claimed would put him in the "upper echelon" category for a bench coach. There it was -  manager in waiting. Lovullo could have printed T-shirts. The vultures began to circle.

When you look at how the season has played out to date, the jury may still be out on Farrell. However, it might be time to cut him some slack. Being laden with the egregious contracts of underperformers such as Rusney Castillo, Pablo Sandoval, and Rick Porcello along with questionable starting pitching hasn't helped with Farrell's detractors.  I really don't know how John could have done anything about Sandoval's overeating in the off season or avoided Castillo's inability to hit a 93+mph fastball or remedied Porcello's flat sinkers. The obvious reality is that when the team fails to meet expectations, the manager get axed. That being said, a lot of Farrell's problems seem to rest with the generosity granted to some of the players assembled by former talent evaluator Ben Cherington.

Listen, nobody is going to mistake John Farrell for Tony La Russa. He is far from a gifted tactician, and I like to take the odd jab at him as much as anyone. This is the same guy that pinch hitted Will Middlebrooks for a pitcher in St. Louis and had him bunt. Lately, he's been poking the Faithful in the eye with his obsessive pattern of pinch hitting for Travis Shaw any time an opposing lefty comes into the game. Really, the move to Chris Young on those occasions hasn't cost the Red Sox games unless we are sure he'd hit a 2 or 3 run homer each time he was called upon due to the fact that the starting pitching has been brutal. Honestly, I'd liken this "Farrellism" to going through the McDonald's drive thru and discovering they forgot to put the straw in the bag. It's annoying but you're still going to be able to drink your Coke.
You do have to give Farrell credit. He said he was going to do things differently and he has. There was once doubt with regards to Farrell's ability to aid in developing young players, but now he is championing them. Baseball organizations these days are very much an intricate, concerted effort between owners, GMs and managers. Gone are the days of the Earl Weavers and Billy Martins who had the freedom to make lineup decisions the way they saw fit. The autonomy field generals once enjoyed has been replaced by the coddling of mega million dollar players along with obligatory evasive protective double talk to sooth bruised egos. The idea that Jonh Henry and Co. gave Farrell carte blanche to construct his lineup in the way he saw fit was a refreshing change. He wasted no time in sitting Sandoval's ass on the bench and went with Shaw. It would have been easier to go with the established guy. Then he pulled the plug on Castillo, opting for super utility savant Brock Holt in left field. More money on the pines. Now the "heavy iron" has made its way to differing locales. Sandoval hurt his shoulder (please...) and is headed for extended spring training to get into shape. Rusney has been banished to Pawtucket to log some playing time and ABs. Now if we could only do something with Porcello...
Getting back to Lovullo, the fact that Farrell has him by his side could be the tonic that actually helps him survive in the Boston baseball fishbowl. To Torey's credit, he could have sought greener pastures but instead wanted to see things through with his good friend of 20+ years. Now, if the young talent continues to shine, and Dombrowski makes a shrewd move or two (Pitching, anyone?), I can live with Farrell in the dugout for another playoff run. From the way some people spoke after the unexpected 2013 championship, the success had more to do with the jelling of personalities and unexpected contributions than it did Farrell's leadership. If we are not going to give him credit when the team wins a world title, then maybe he doesn't deserve the huge pile of shit that gets dumped on him continually. 

Well, there is my moment of weakness for old Johnny. Now back to the shenanigans...
at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)