Manageable Problem

The first brick has been laid along the Boston Red Sox' road to redemption. In a move that had been widely anticipated and speculated, the Dark Hose have found a skipper: their former pitching coach, John Farrell.

Farrell, who has been managing the Toronto Blue Jays for the past two seasons, was released from the final year of his contract in exchange for infielder Mike Aviles.  Toronto also sent RHP David Carpenter to Boston in order to complete the move.  After a failed one-year experiment with Bobby Valentine, this move seems to be a return to a familar structure.

While John Farrell's Canadian tenure did not yield any postseason berths, he posted a record of 154-170, very similar what the much more talented Sox squads produced (159-165)  in that same span.  Also, the behavioral issues that arose among the Boston pitching staff seemed to appear shortly after Farrell's departure as Sox pitching coach.   Hopefully, since he has much of the the team's respect, Farrell will able to use his disciplined approach with out the resistance that Bobby V incurred. 

This rebuilding effort will be long road, but the Sox are seemingly off on the right foot.

-Kevin Aherne

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