The cries across Red Sox Nation were heard and apparently the higher-ups in the organization delivered. John Farrell is now officially a former Red Sox manager.
Wednesday the team cut ties with their manager who led the Red Sox to the 2013 World Series title, a 432-378 overall record and two last place finishes over a five-year span. Some however question whether or not Farrell was able to keep his job after undergoing cancer treatment back in 2015. Nonetheless Farrell became public enemy number one seemingly in Boston after consecutive back-to-back ALDS exits and a number of leadership questions that have developed in the clubhouse.
For instance back in April during a contentious series against the Orioles, Red Sox pitchers failed to go after Baltimore hitters after a hard slide into Dustin Pedroia. This in turn caused a rift amongst the Boston players as Pedroia took sides against his fellow teammates.
Fast forward to June and another player incident when lefty David Price humiliated former reliever and current Red Sox color-man Dennis Eckersely on a charter flight. The result of that embarrassment for the Red Sox was pretty much more embarrassment as nothing further came to light in terms of an apology for Eckersley who apparently garnered harassment from Price over the former pitcher’s justified baseball criticism of another Red Sox player.
Obviously these back eyes for the organization this season can’t entirely be put on Farrell’s shoulders which might not be the best news for Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox if they’re looking for a quick solution to these leadership problems. In fact Scott Lauber of ESPN.com dives deeper into to leadership woes for Boston that transcend well beyond Farrell. If that’s the case, Dombrowski – whose only hired two managers in his last 12 seasons – will have to take some time finding his next skipper.
