Dave Dombrowski Announced That John Farrell Will Return As Red Sox Manager In 2017
I don’t know if I’m just still numb from the Red Sox getting swept, and the end of the David Ortiz Era in Boston, but this news really doesn’t bother me all that much.
I honestly can’t tell if it’s just a matter of, we have bigger problems right now, or if I’m content with John Farrell remaining in his position as the Red Sox manager. Put it this way — I complained about a lot of Farrell’s managerial decisions this year. Back in May, I pitched an idea to the Baseball Show on Comcast to do a segment called, “Did John Farrell actually do that?” The concept would’ve been, we put a bunch of idiotic managerial decisions on the touch screen, and then see if we can figure out which ones he was actually responsible for. We didn’t end up doing the bit, but that’s how bad it was for Farrell during the earlier part of the season.
So, I kinda just made it sound like I only disagreed with Farrell in the earlier part of the season. Come postseason time, I have no idea why he flip-flopped David Ortiz and Mookie Betts in the lineup. There was literally nothing wrong with the lineup the way that it was with Ortiz batting third, and Mookie batting cleanup. I have no idea why you’d tinker with something that’s working so well for you, especially when it’s your greatest strength, even more so when these are the most important games of the year. Not exactly the time to experiment with things. Not that we can pinpoint that decision as one that cost the Red Sox the series, or even a game, but it’s just little things like that, decision-making that goes against logic and reason, that’s what drives me crazy about Farrell. He does it a lot.
This begs the question of, was Dave Dombrowski right or wrong for informing Farrell that his job is safe to start 2017? By default, I think he was right. I do. That’s not me saying that Farrell is a good in-game manager — he’s not — but I truly believe that if the Red Sox had a better option in mind, he would’ve been here by now. And maybe he is. If you wanna tell me that Torey Lovullo is the guy, then I’d be all for giving him a shot, but the Red Sox had every opportunity to go with Lovullo over Farrell in 2016, and they didn’t.
We were told by the higher-ups that Farrell had the stamp of approval because of the way that he manages a clubhouse, and how he gets his team prepared to play. Did they look prepared to play against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS this year? No, they did not. I went into the postseason with the mindset that Farrell’s job was safe, as long as he didn’t make a Grady Little-like decision to cost the Red Sox a series. Again, I don’t think that Farrell cost the Red Sox the series with any decision-making, but I also never considered the scenario where they might get swept in the first round. Is that a fireable offense?
Not in the eyes of Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox ownership, it’s not. We’re four years into the Farrell Era as Red Sox manager, and we’ve got a World Series title, two last place finishes, and a first place finish with a first round exit without winning a single postseason game. That’s quite the mixed bag. I think it’s fair to say that Farrell starts the 2017 season on the hot seat, much like he did in 2016. That season ended in a division title, but we’re now conditioned to believe that a team managed by Farrell is just as likely to finish in last place as they are to finish in first.