The Boston Red Sox won the American League East in 2016 with John Farrell as the manager. Please do not for one-second think that fact alone means John Farrell deserves to be the Red Sox manager even next year, yet alone in 2018. What John Farrell accomplished in 2016 by winning the A.L. East with the talent on that roster, does not impress me. A lot like when a handsome dude can take a hot girl home from the bar solely based on looks. It’s what is supposed to happen. When someone fat or ugly pulls it off then I'm impressed. Whether or not you capitalize on the situation is a completely different story. John Farrell did not capitalize in 2016. He was basically the good-looking guy at the bar who got the pretty girl who wanted to sleep with him to come home, all he had to do was the obvious right moves. Yet he proceded to do every single thing possible to blow what seemed like a sure thing. That's basically how John Farrell manages baseball games. In 2016 with the best offense in baseball, and the A.L. Cy Young winner John Farrell only lead the Red Sox to 93 wins. Which is a good season, don't get me wrong, but there were about 10-15 games where you could put the majority of the blame on his shoulders. Not ideal from someone who is supposed to be putting the team in the best situation to win everyday. Then in the playoffs he proceeded to get swept. After the Red Sox had a stretch of 11 straight wins in September, they ended the season 1-6 mainly because Farrell took his foot off the gas which in baseball you simply cannot do. The hottest team in baseball suddenly became ice cold and it carried into their early exit from the playoffs. Again, it’s awesome they made the playoffs and as a Red Sox fan this (regular) season was an amazing ride. But just because John Farrell is “respected” and “well-liked” it does not mean he should have his job. He basically just didn't fuck up enough to cost the Red Sox a playoff spot, if the season was two weeks longer he most likely would have. Talent as a manager, in this case in-game managing should matter, yet for Farrell it does not. Even in 2013 they won in spite of him. He benched Daniel Nava in the playoffs who hit .303 that season for Jonny Gomes who apart from 2 hits did nothing all playoffs. He let a relief pitcher hit in the 9th inning of a tie game in the World Series. He does not make the right calls. I can think of about 10 instances this season where Farrell made a move that nobody understood that ultimately cost the Red Sox a game. Even people who like Farrell that I’ve heard on the radio and read on twitter have agreed that his “in-game managing” is poor but because of his clubhouse presence it’s okay. What fucking world am I living in where that is acceptable? The guy makes the same bad decisions, time after time and the Red Sox just don’t seem to care. It's like if a teacher was really well liked by his or her students but didn't teach them a single thing all school year. Would you call that person a good teacher? I sure as hell hope not. The biggest reason I hate this move is because Farrell is already under contract for this season. They didn't need to make this move. Sure he would be going into a "lame-duck" season but tough shit that happens. You have to earn it, and from what John Farrell has done as a Red Sox manager with 2 last place finishes, an affair with a writer for the team and their late season collapse in 2016 he has not earned the chance to be given the title of Red Sox manager past this upcoming season. John Farrell needs to prove what he can with this team in 2017 before we start talking about 2018.
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