On Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, Red Sox manager of five years, John Farrell, was dismissed from his role on the team. Due to their season-ending loss in the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros last Monday, the Red Sox’s President of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, felt that Farrell was partly responsible for their limited success – as he announced in his Wednesday morning press conference.
During Farrell’s time with the Red Sox (2013-2017), he guided the team to their first World Series Championship in six seasons as his first year as manager. Following the big win, the Red Sox were on a downhill slope, finishing in last place in 2014 and 2015, respectively. 2016 showed potential for the club and for Farrell as they finished first in the AL East, however, they lost in the first round of playoffs to the Cleveland Indians – much like what happened this season with their first round loss. Overall, Farrell holds a 432-378 (.533 WPCT) record for the past five seasons.
Although Farrell was the first Red Sox manager to lead his team to back-to-back AL East pennants in ’16 and ’17, Dombrowski still felt that the bad outweighed the good. Farrell still had one year left in his contract.
Farrell ran into several blunders throughout his tenure with the Sox, including the two-season drought, but also his ejection in Game 4 of the ALDS, the final game of his career with the club. Internal operations for the team alongside Dombrowski, have made it apparent that they want a fresh face in the dugout in hopes of turning things around for the 2018 season and on.
Per ESPN’s Scott Lauber, Dombrowski expresses how difficult it is to manage the Boston team: “‘Managing is a tough job, period. I think it's a tougher job here than maybe anywhere else,’ Dombrowski said recently. ‘The scrutiny you receive -- being in the game as long as I've been in the game, I'm amazed somewhat [by] the scrutiny aspect of it. And then when I look at the names behind [Farrell's] desk, the number of pictures and how few guys have stayed a long time, it just shows you it's a tough job.’”
As the Red Sox make way for their transition, Dombrowski has already began their search for a replacement. He wants to consider guys like Jason Varitek, who is a former catcher for the Sox and Alex Cora, who is the Astros’ bench coach and former Sox player.
The Red Sox will open their 2018 season against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 29, lead by a new appointed manager.
