Red Sox Extend Manager John Farrell
Much like the man he replaced did in 2004, Red Sox manager John Farrell won a World Series with Boston in his first year at the helm.
Only his predecessor, Terry Francona, followed up with a sophomore season of 95 wins and a playoff berth, while Farrell’s second year saw the team drop to last place for the second time in three years.
It was rumored just a couple of days ago that the two sides were talking about an extension, and today the team announced that it was official. Farrell’s contract was extended through the 2017 season with a club option for 2018. Prior to the extension, Farrell was under contract for the upcoming 2015 season with a club option for 2016.
The Red Sox had the luxury of focusing their attention on the contract situation of their manager, because they have no major free agents who are up at the end of the 2015 season. That is, unless you want to count Rick Porcello, who many believe is inevitably going to test the free agent waters. And all due respect to Mike Napoli, but I don’t think he falls into the category of “major” free agent.
When Boston finally rid themselves of Bobby Valentine he who shall not be named at the end of the 2012 season, Farrell was general manager Ben Cherington’s first choice, and presumably was his first choice prior to the whatshisface hiring as well.
While it might seem strange to extend your manager after a last place finish with the fifth highest payroll in baseball — somewhere north of $150 million — the Red Sox are ultimately looking at the big picture. Farrell’s specialty, as we saw during his tenure as Red Sox pitching coach from 2007 through 2010, is the work that he does with his pitchers.
Well, the future is bright in that department for the Red Sox, as five of Boston’s top ten prospects — eight out of their top sixteen — are promising young pitchers like Henry Owens, Brian Johnson, and Eduardo Rodriguez.
And how soon we forget that Farrell finished second in the voting for American League Manager of the Year in 2013, and was named American League Manager of the Year by Sporting News in that same year.
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In addition to that, the Red Sox have come a long way from the disaster that was their clubhouse environment in 2012. It goes without saying that Farrell’s influence is largely responsible for the drastic change in such a short period of time. And we all know how much the Red Sox organization values clubhouse chemistry since the shit show that was the 2012 Red Sox season. This, of course, was reflected by the emphasis that the Red Sox put on adding “good clubhouse guys” like Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino, Ryan Dempster and David Ross in the offseason prior to 2013.
I’m sure fans will be criticizing the extension, given that the Red Sox only won 71 games last year, but keep in mind that of the 55 players who appeared in a game for the Red Sox last season, 19 of them were rookies. Both figures were career highs for Farrell as a manager.
In his first two years of managing the Red Sox, Farrell has certainly performed on both ends of the spectrum, but it’s evident now that the World Series title bought him more leeway than the last place finish dragged him closer to the hot seat. It’s clear that the Red Sox have a long term plan, and their willingness to extend Farrell before they had to indicates that he is a big part of that plan moving forward.