Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski issued a public vote of confidence to manager John Farrell on Friday, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. “I think John Farrell has done a fine job managing our team,” Dombrowski said. “The only thing I would tell him is the same I would tell any manager: You need to manage with your conviction. Whatever you believe is the right move, you’re the one who is most knowledgeable in the case, and you do what you think is the right thing to do.” The Red Sox won the World Series under Farrell in 2013, but they’ve endured back-to-back sub-.500 seasons since and are a so-so 8-8 this year, leading to calls for his ouster from the team’s fan base. Mastrodonato defends Farrell by pointing out that the Red Sox have played disciplined baseball under him this season (they entered Friday with only six errors and just one caught stealing, as the writer notes). Further, Farrell was right to award Travis Shaw and Brock Holt the third base and left field jobs over Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo, respectively, and has handled the team’s various personalities well – including Hanley Ramirez’s – Mastrodonato offers.
Here’s more from Boston and two of its American League East rivals:
- Red Sox starters are currently toward the bottom of the league in ERA (5.38) and FIP (4.52), and if the team is looking for outside rotation help around July’s trade deadline, Mastrodonato lists five potential options: Jered Weaver (Angels), Mat Latos (White Sox), James Shields (Padres), Andrew Cashner (Padres) and Scott Kazmir (Dodgers). Of that group, only Shields and Kazmir are signed beyond this season, but both have opt-outs in their contracts at the end of the year. Barring an unexpected fall from contention by the Dodgers, Kazmir seems unlikely to be dealt. If the White Sox continue their winning ways, Latos probably won’t end up on the block, either. In the immediate future, the forthcoming return of lefty Eduardo Rodriguez from a knee injury should buoy the Red Sox’s rotation.
- There was a report that Orioles right-hander Yovani Gallardo would see team orthopedist Dr. Mike Jacobs regarding his injured shoulder on Saturday. That examination will actually take place today, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. An MRI should offer more clarity on the status of Gallardo, who landed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with tendinitis.
- With Gallardo on the shelf for at least two weeks, the Orioles need another starter. They may have found a temporary solution in righty Tyler Wilson, who threw five innings of three-run ball in an 8-3 win over Kansas City on Saturday and impressed manager Buck Showalter in the process. “Things don’t seem to bother him mentally. He’s very mentally strong and that bodes well up here,” Showalter told reporters, including Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Showalter indicated that Wilson will start again, per Ghiroli. Wilson, who had been in the Orioles’ bullpen until Saturday, made five big league starts last season and put up a 4.32 ERA/4.05 FIP/5.01 xFIP in 25 innings.
- Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch a major league-record-tying three times Thursday, a feat that had only been accomplished on 22 previous occasions. Guyer also did it once last year, when he was hit an American League-leading 24 times. Guyer, who has already been hit by five pitches this year, told David Laurila of FanGraphs that there isn’t a special skill involved. “There’s no art to it. I promise,” he said. “It’s not something I’m out there looking to do, it just happens. I don’t know how to get out of the way. It’s just instinctual that I don’t move. I’m not afraid.” Thanks in part to his fearlessness, Guyer got on base an impressive 35.9 percent of the time in 385 plate appearances in 2015 and has a tremendous .485 OBP in 33 PAs this season.
jakesaub
John Farrell is a great manager with a pretty glaring exception of bullpen management. But ultimately, how he manages the clubhouse and keeps personalities in check is more important in my opinion, so I see no reason why he should be fired. And as the article points out, Holt and Shaw were great, gutsy decisions that have panned out early so far.
joefriday1948
You are right. The Sox will finish near the top.
vinscully16
“Great” managers do not have “glaring” exceptions. John Farrell is entirely mediocre as a manager and that does not cut-it in the bigs. Here’s hoping this vote of confidence from Dombrowski, as is the case with most votes of confidence, brings on the end of Farrell’s time in Boston. Farrell needs to go.
Friarfaithful117
Anyone have thoughts on the Padres pitchers? Andrew Cashner or James Shields for Teddy Stankiewicz and Trey Ball? Cashner has a lot of potential but has not been able to put it all together whereas Shields is proven but has had a HR problem which could be worsened by pitching at Fenway.
Samuel
Now that Sandoval has passed, I look forward to more Farrell stories until a name player becomes available in trade. Then word will filter out that “the Red Sox are interested in him” and I’ll be reading stories about that player and others as well, along with thousands of one-sided trade proposals from Red Sox fans in the comment section right through the trading deadline. Then the stories will go back to Farrell and who should play in 2017.
Red Sox baseball never has to do with what they’re doing at that time on the field. That’s no fun. It’s like John Lennon said, “life is what we do while we’re busy making plans”.
vwnut13
Damn, I didn’t realize his shoulder injury was that bad.
RIP Panda.
Overbrook
I see where the RedSox fans get their sense of entitlement from: the writers. So the RedSox, fresh off two straight years in which they finished in the cellar (and looking like a mediocre bunch this season), can just pluck pitchers off of the staffs of contenders.
Last month, a Boston writer said DD should get Chris Sale for their 4th and 5th best prospects.
rocky7
Overbrook.
Well said man….Word out of Beantown Baseball is always about how good their prospects are and that the rest of the league will gladly let the Sox FLEECE them in a trade for “prospects” who never seem to pan out.
Panda, Hanley, and Castillo are just more reminders of exactly how good they are at finding players that can produce and blend in the clubhouse while they make them rich beyond all get out..
And now all we’re going to hear about is Eduardo Rodriquez being the next Sandy K after notching a total of 121 innings of big league ball. And he even has a nickname!
BlueSkyLA
Yup. This site feeds the beast by publishing an average of 2-3 Red Sox articles a day. Four were posted just yesterday alone! No other team gets this sort of saturation coverage, so yeah, it enables their fans to feel hugely self-important, like the rest of baseball exists to serve their interests.
jkim319
Spot on! I got in on the silliness of what was offered for sale… With the price paid for Shelby miller, the notion of 15-40th ranked prospects in the Bosox system was a joke..
BlueSkyLA
Kazmir? Not only is that guy a total sack of potatoes, he was pulled early from his last (awful) start with thumb soreness. Maybe he can stick out that fat thumb and hitchhike to some other team. The Red Sox will do.
On the bright side, at least a Dodgers player was mentioned here, even if it took yet another episode of As the Red Sox Turn.
chesteraarthur
This season the red sox deserve the coverage they’re getting. They were supposed to be good. Much like everyone thought, that rotation after David Price is absolute garbage. They’re a big market team that has made splashes, but for some reason refuses to either admit to themselves that their 2-5 are very bleh, or just can’t/wont fix it.
So yes, there are a lot of red sox articles, but it is in large part because their season has been newsworthy so far, just not for positive reasons.
BlueSkyLA
Ten stories in the last five days. Unlike other teams, no story is considered to be too small to run, including minor moves and injury updates that are apparently considered to be of no interest when they happen on other teams. I could list five on the Dodgers during the last few days, none of which surfaced here. Whether they are good, bad, or indifferent, the Red Sox get wall-to-wall coverage, and they get it at the expense of the other 29 teams.
staypuft
Which Red Sox article from the past 5 days did you feel wasn’t newsworthy? Keep in mind, this is an AL East notes article and not solely a Red Sox one…
BlueSkyLA
I believe I explained my point already, but just to be completely clear, Boston is covered in far more detail than any other team. The team is tagged in stories 2-3 time more often than most of the other teams in MLB, consistently. Not just now, but in any given month of any given year. You are welcome to check my work, if you don’t believe me.
BadCo
Guys welcome to REDSOX NATION yeah they have s bunch of under achievers but take away the Nats and the Cubs and so does everyone else
jkim319
What are you talking about? Are you calling 14-6 (113 wins/white sox), 12-7 (103 wins/Royals), 11-7 (99 wins/Baltimore, mets), 12-8 (97 wins/Dodgers) stumbling? Your comment just reinforces everything being said abut ‘Red Sox nation’ logic and thinking
friars1973
Coming from a Red Sox fan I believe Farrell is NOT a good manager 2013 he got lucky basically every move he made worked and every starter that year stayed pretty much healthy. The past 2 seasons have shown much more of the kind of manager he is. He is terrible with the bullpen and in game strategies. I look at how the Red Sox played the second half of last year under Torrey luovollo and believe he is the one who should have been the manager to start this year. The only reason the doc didn’t have him as manager bc Farrell was coming back from cancer and with all of the work the Red Sox do with the jimmy fund it would have a been a pr nightmare but the time has come to make a change
friars1973
Sox not doc
southpaw777
Besides a few idiots in RSN as well as clowns like Cafardo making ridiculous trade proposals, most of us are pretty realistic about things. Cant help what MLBTR posts on their site.
Also, most of the nation lokes our farm system. Mostly in A ball right now because guys like Xander, Betts, Vaz, JBJ, etc, have all graduated thenlast couple years.
Moncada, Benintendi, Devers, Espinoza, Kopech, and Travis, etc will be the next wave over the next year or two.
The FO and Ben made some splashy moves that once again didnt work out. And DD has the difficult job of losing some contracts and players that have no biz in Boston. I believe we will see another trade or two before the seasons out. I also think he will be very busy again this coming offseason. Lots to look forward to with this organization.
As far as Farrell goes? Ive never questioned a Sox Manager as much as I have this guy. Mis manages his roster as well as head-scratching in game moves. I agree that TL would make a better Manager, so Im hoping that “vote of confidence” was a preview of Farrells firing soon.
If I had to make a trade proposal…Swihart, Owens and JBJ for Salazr….
jkim319
Good point (a few vocal fans is not ‘everyone.’).
I think the Red Sox have a lot of ‘good’ talent (and some really special talent) coming through the system, I hope dombrowski doesn’t trade it away in ‘bundles’ (as has been his M.O.) in the name of win ‘now.’ I am sure the A’s, Rays, Braves, Phillies and Padres are scouting your minor league teams like crazy
Your targeting Salazar is right on. Kluber is likely too expensive … Carrasco might be damaged goods for most of the year (not sure about his hammy)… I like archer, but worried about what the Rays would command (also not sure if his early troubles are anything more than a ‘slow start’)