Major League Baseball

Why John Farrell didn't lose the blame game for the Red Sox

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:43 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Ken Rosenthal

Congratulations to the Red Sox on retaining John Farrell as manager, just when I was about to write, "Here comes their 19th nervous breakdown."

Oh, I know the number isn't 19; it just seems that way. Because when the Sox end a season in disappointment, things get ugly. And who knows, they still might get ugly if Farrell insists that the team exercise his 2018 option and ownership says no.

I doubt that will happen; Farrell knows that he is not in position to force the issue after getting swept by the Indians in the Division Series, and he would not be the first manager to work under a one-year deal.

Sox ownership might be stewing — ask Terry Francona, Theo Epstein and Ben Cherington about how John Henry and Co. react to defeat — but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced Tuesday that Farrell will be back.

As if that wasn't enough to defy the bloodthirsty masses, Dombrowski also told reporters that he also believes a manager's most important task is getting the club to play up to its capabilities, not in-game strategy.

It's true, despite what all of the would-be managers on Twitter and in the media will tell you. We all can cite countless examples to demonstrate that Farrell is a less-than-gifted strategist. But the Sox won 93 games during the regular season, led the majors with 878 runs scored and found their pitching equilibrium after the All-Star Game.

That matter? That count?

Sure, the Indians beat their (butts), as David Ortiz so delicately put it. But the starting pitching and offense underperformed for three games, a sample that amounts to 1.85 percent of the length of the regular season. The Indians, on the other hand, played inspired, efficient baseball, much as the Blue Jays did against the Rangers in the other American League DS.

This wasn't the collapse of 2011, which led to the departures of Francona (manager of the ALCS-bound Indians) and Epstein (president of the powerhouse Cubs). Nor did it resemble the back-to-back last-place finishes of 2014 and '15, which led ownership to dump Cherington for Dombrowski in Aug. 2015 with the disintegration still in progress.

Turns out that even Cherington's tenure looks better in hindsight, unless you're somehow not impressed with the Red Sox's young core. Even Hanley Ramirez revived this season, and Pablo Sandoval still might contribute again, too.

Meanwhile, Dombrowski's big additions — left-hander David Price, closer Craig Kimbrel and left-hander Drew Pomeranz — all performed below expectations. No reason to panic over any of them either; Bill James, a senior advisor with the Sox, has spoken internally about a "transition tax" that leads to diminished performance during a player's first year in Boston.

Of course, not everyone in New England wants to hear such rational thought — not about the players, and certainly not about the manager. But the reality is, it's baseball. Sometimes you can't really blame anyone. Sometimes you just get your (butts) beat.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball