With the Red Sox coming off a disappointing season and Joe Maddon opting out of his contract with the Rays, I expected to see some discussion somewhere about the possibility of Maddon coming to Boston. Instead, it's been total silence. It appears as though the fans still have lots of faith in John Farrell.
But should we? Obviously the World Series championship buys a lot of good will, but even during the championship run I didn't have the faith in Farrell that I did in Francona during his tenure at the helm. And last year in particular I feel as though there were lots of baffling management decisions - poor bullpen usage, bizarre line-up construction, plays seemingly designed to create outs on the basepaths, and a general sense of underachieving. Obviously there's no way of knowing how much of that was on Farrell, but even still, it feels as though there's a disconnect here. Should we give Farrell a mulligan on 2014, or should Boston be (quietly) looking to move on?
But should we? Obviously the World Series championship buys a lot of good will, but even during the championship run I didn't have the faith in Farrell that I did in Francona during his tenure at the helm. And last year in particular I feel as though there were lots of baffling management decisions - poor bullpen usage, bizarre line-up construction, plays seemingly designed to create outs on the basepaths, and a general sense of underachieving. Obviously there's no way of knowing how much of that was on Farrell, but even still, it feels as though there's a disconnect here. Should we give Farrell a mulligan on 2014, or should Boston be (quietly) looking to move on?