Sox sign Farrell

[Danzz]

Avilles sent to Toronto for compensation. Looks like Ciriaco or Iglesias at SS.

 

[Waquoit]

Cherington is the worst. Why bring in a proven failure of a manager. At least Booby V. went to the WS.

 

[60'sfan]

Cherington is the worst. Why bring in a proven failure of a manager. At least Booby V. went to the WS.

I certainly am less that thrilled with Ben Cherington. He has made some really bad/no decisions in his tenure, but I will give him this. He acted quickly in unloading Valentine and bringing Farrell back. Trading Aviles cost them nothing. He was destined to be at best a utility player. His OBP was pretty bad. Farrell's W/L record doesn't bother me too much. His GM did not do much to improve the roster for him. I am a little concerned about the problems he had in the clubhouse at Toronto with some of the players however. Managing the clubhouse is something that Francona did well and Valentine did not. That aspect of managing is always a big issue in Boston and New York.

 

[Waquoit]

The more I read about Brad Ausmus, the better he sounded.

 

[Danzz]

Farrell has the respect of the veteran Sox players and that is why he was hired. We'll have to see if that translates into something positive. He won't be taking over a contending team and the expectations may be low enough for him to survive.
Cherington has to let him bring in his own coaches and not burden him with people he doesn't want as they did with Valentine. I may not be a Valentine fan but they gave the guy no chance to succeed. Management has to back Farrell when player/manager issues happen. The players need to know that Farrell is running the show and that has been a problem in Boston.

 

[60'sfan]

Farrell has the respect of the veteran Sox players and that is why he was hired. We'll have to see if that translates into something positive. He won't be taking over a contending team and the expectations may be low enough for him to survive.
Cherington has to let him bring in his own coaches and not burden him with people he doesn't want as they did with Valentine. I may not be a Valentine fan but they gave the guy no chance to succeed. Management has to back Farrell when player/manager issues happen. The players need to know that Farrell is running the show and that has been a problem in Boston.

Cherington has to bring in some players who can contribute right away. If the Red Sox finish last again, the fans will be asking for Farrell's head. Unfortunately, Cherington has been much better at unloading talent than bringing it in. As I have said before the Red Sox are weak at catcher, first base, short stop, left field, right field, starting pitching and they have no closer. Other than that, they are fine.

 

[zls44]

Anytime you can give up talent to get the manager of a team that finished in 4th place in order to get back in the good graces of key members of the worst collapse in baseball history, you have to do it.

 

[Husky25]

The worst collapse in Baseball history is being 3 outs away from the 2004 World Series with the greatest closer of all time on the mound and losing 4 games in a row.

more than a few key members of the 2011 Red Sox have been traded (Gonzalez, Beckett, and Crawford), not playing (Lackey), left via Fee Agency (Pap) or retired (Wakefield). I loved Wake as a Red Sox and only mention him because while he gave his heart to the Red Sox for 17 years, he just could not win in September 2011 for whatever reason.

Finally, an argument can be made that the Braves' 2011 collapse was worse than that of the Red Sox.

 

[mauconnfan]

Having a little white thing roll between your legs with the champagne uncorked already has to fit up there somewhere!!!

 

[Husky25]

Cherington is the worst. Why bring in a proven failure of a manager. At least Booby V. went to the WS.

Bobby V was Lucchino's choice, not Cherington's. My guess is Lucchino had little to no input this time...I'm not convinced that Farrell is the right guy, even though he succeeded as a pitching coach in the Boston Baseball Crucible. All things being equal, I'd rather have a former catcher as a field manager, because they have been exposed to both sides of the game and see the field completely different than any other player. Additionally, I can't think of a recent former pitcher or pitching coach that has really succeeded as a manager. Only time will tell, but I am willing to give Farrell the benefit of the doubt. One thing I find it interesting that Terry Lovullo has been named bench coach. He was in the running for manager last year.

 

[Waquoit]

Bobby V was Lucchino's choice, not Cherington's.

I refering to Farrell as the proven failure.

 

[Husky25]

I refering to Farrell as the proven failure.

But you did say that Cherington is the worst and mentioned Bobby V.

My only point is that Bobby V. was hand selected by Lucchino for some unknown reason after some candidates had a many as 3 informal talks with the Sox. I was personally in favor of Sndy Alomar Jr., but what do I know? I'm the accountant who can't hit a curve ball.

 

[The Viking]

Why are we bashing Farrell, because he had a losing record for a team with so-so talent and a ton of injuries these last two years? How was Francona in his first gig at Philly?
Farrell was great at overseeing the Indians minor leagues in the five years leading up to their ALCS against the Sox in 2007 and he was great as pitching coach for the Sox for four years.
The players respected him in Boston and that's half the battle. He said watching from the Toronto dugout he could see Lester had a few major mechanical flaws. Having him get guys like Lester, Buchholz and Bard back on track was a huge part of bringing him back. Let's see if he can do it before assuming he'll suck, eh?

 

[The Viking]

Having a little white thing roll between your legs with the champagne uncorked already has to fit up there somewhere!!!

Please.
3 outs away from a sweep just a day after putting up 19 runs in game 3
Greatest closer in the history of the game unable to seal the deal in game 4 or 5
Losing the last two games of the series in your home ballpark
Losing to a guy who had a surgical procedure done just hours before game 6.

1986 doesn't come close.

 

[zyron]

Please.
3 outs away from a sweep just a day after putting up 19 runs in game 3
Greatest closer in the history of the game unable to seal the deal in game 4 or 5
Losing the last two games of the series in your home ballpark
Losing to a guy who had a surgical procedure done just hours before game 6.

1986 doesn't come close.

Yeah, because the World Series compares to the Pennant. They had the World Series won and the Sox had to wait another 18 years because of it.

 

[mauconnfan]

Please.
3 outs away from a sweep just a day after putting up 19 runs in game 3
Greatest closer in the history of the game unable to seal the deal in game 4 or 5
Losing the last two games of the series in your home ballpark
Losing to a guy who had a surgical procedure done just hours before game 6.

1986 doesn't come close.

Never had my champagne uncorked I promise you that..........and as zyron said, WS compared to ALCS........you can look at it through so many colored glasses, you can look at the bounces which went the Sox way in a couple games and how close all but Game 7 were..........no choke, destiny and fate played a part............it's close alright, real close!!! Of course what would a Sox fan know about the big stage vs the pennant, didn't happen enough!! Could be another 85 huh??

 

[60'sfan]

Never had my champagne uncorked I promise you that..........and as zyron said, WS compared to ALCS........you can look at it through so many colored glasses, you can look at the bounces which went the Sox way in a couple games and how close all but Game 7 were..........no choke, destiny and fate played a part............it's close alright, real close!!! Of course what would a Sox fan know about the big stage vs the pennant, didn't happen enough!! Could be another 85 huh??

How about we take the higher road? In 1986 the Mets facing elimination refused to give in and battled back to win the World Series. In 2004 the Red Sox refused to quit and did something that no one else had done in baseball history. Their momentum carried them to a sweep in the World Series over the Cardinals.

 

[The Viking]

Never had my champagne uncorked I promise you that..........and as zyron said, WS compared to ALCS........you can look at it through so many colored glasses, you can look at the bounces which went the Sox way in a couple games and how close all but Game 7 were..........no choke, destiny and fate played a part............it's close alright, real close!!! Of course what would a Sox fan know about the big stage vs the pennant, didn't happen enough!! Could be another 85 huh??

I still remember after 04, Yankees fans start wearing shirts saying next WS in 2090...then we won again 3 years later.
I love when big mouth NY fans have to keep throwing out their t-shirts.
So yeah, you're right. I guess we'll have to wait another 85 years cuz NY fans say so.

 

[The Viking]

Never had my champagne uncorked I promise you that..........and as zyron said, WS compared to ALCS........you can look at it through so many colored glasses, you can look at the bounces which went the Sox way in a couple games and how close all but Game 7 were..........no choke, destiny and fate played a part............it's close alright, real close!!! Of course what would a Sox fan know about the big stage vs the pennant, didn't happen enough!! Could be another 85 huh??

3 outs away from a sweep with Mariano on the hill and you still were cautious about celebrating? Should I start calling you fraudconnfan?

No one in the world believes NY fans weren't celebrating when Mariano jogged in 3 outs from a sweep.

 

[The Viking]

Yeah, because the World Series compares to the Pennant. They had the World Series won and the Sox had to wait another 18 years because of it.

So the only thing that matters is which playoff series you collapse in, none of the stuff that actually goes into the collapse? That's a bizarre way of looking at it.

 

[Husky25]

Many teams have come back from being down 3-2, Only one baseball team has ever won from being down 3-0. Conversely only one team has ever lost from being up 3-0. '86 certainly hurt, but 2004 was epic.

 

[60'sfan]

Many teams have come back from being down 3-2, Only one baseball team has ever won from being down 3-0. Conversely only one team has ever lost from being up 3-0. '86 certainly hurt, but 2004 was epic.

Can't disagree there. I watched Four Days in October on Netflix Monday night. From a sports standpoint, those were the best four days of my life. The September collapse last year and the total collapse this year cannot take that away from me. A close second was the 1999 Uconn - Duke game for the National Championship. Perhaps the best Duke team ever and they were supposed to win easily. It was even labeled the Duke Invitational. I guess nobody explained that to Uconn.

 

[Waquoit]

Farrell has the respect of the veteran Sox players and that is why he was hired.

That's why I would look elsewhere. The vets are the one's that should get the most credit for last year.

 

[60'sfan]

That's why I would look elsewhere. The vets are the one's that should get the most credit for last year.

I think Ben should get the most credit for last year. While Cashman went out and brought in Ichiro when they identified a need Ben brought in Marlon Byrd, Danny Valencia, Brent Lillibridge, Jason Repko, Nate Spears and Guillermo Quiroz. Don't get me started on the pitchers he acquired.