Blast from Farrell past
Thames fan of 1st manager
MILWAUKEE — There’s no sound of regret in John Farrell’s voice when the Red Sox manager talks about Eric Thames, the sweetswinging Milwaukee Brewers first baseman who entered yesterday tied for the major league lead with 13 home runs.
RED SOX BEAT Jason Mastrodonato
But how could he not wonder what might have been?
Farrell was Thames’ first big league manager back in 2011, when the Toronto Blue Jays called him up from Triple A to make his debut at age 24.
“At the time, you didn’t know,” Farrell said. “As a complete player, was it going to be in a platoon? Or an everyday guy? It was just a lot of unknowns.”
Thirty games into his major league career for the Jays, Thames was hitting .330.
He eventually slowed down, finishing the 2011 season with a .262 average, 13 homers and a .769 OPS. He got a chance again in 2012 before the Jays sent him back to the minors at the end of May. He was traded to the Mariners two months later.
“For a while it broke my heart because I felt like I had an opportunity to do something great with that team in that time,” Thames said. “And I lost it.”
Thames, 30, flamed out in Seattle, was traded a year later to Baltimore, was waived and claimed by Houston, then released in the winter of 2013. He then put up the first 40-40 season in the history of the Korea Baseball Organization, completed three dominant years and returned to the U.S., where the most lucrative contract offer he could find came from the Brewers. The deal is for three years, $16 million.
The Red Sox, in need of a slugger with David Ortiz retired, showed only the slightest bit of interest, contacting Thames in the offseason but not getting too deep into the discussion, according to the player.
“I think they did, but I don’t know about money, situation, stuff like that,” Thames said.
Said Farrell: “There were conversations. But beyond that, I’m not going to talk about a player with the Brewers.”
Obviously, the Red Sox missed a whopping opportunity. Thames’ quick hands and potent bat have invigorated the Brewers lineup. In addition to his 13 home runs, he entered yesterday ranking among the MLB leaders in average (.333, 15th), OPS (1.182, fourth), total bases (87, second), runs created (39, second) and WAR (1.8, ninth).
But the Sox weren’t the only team to miss on Thames. And they weren’t the first.
Speaking to the Herald yesterday, Thames offered a glimpse into his 11⁄ years playing for Farrell in 2011-12.
“I thought the first year was awesome,” Thames said. “I was playing every day. I had struggles here and there but I felt really good playing every day. The next year is when things, I don’t want to say took a turn for the worse, but I kind of battled myself trying to make the adjustment of second year in the big leagues, guys throwing me off-speed, making me chase.
“Platooning with Rajai Davis, I felt like that was a tough deal for me.”
Thames put the blame on himself for his eventual failure, hitting just .232 with a .672 OPS in 2012, before the Jays sent him to the minors and eventually traded him.
“I was trying to overanalyze stuff,” he said. “It just got to be too much. I knew I was a prospect, I was a young guy, so I knew if I went 0-for-10, who knows what could happen? I could get sent down. I could lose my job. It was a little rough. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I kind of sucked.”
The Blue Jays must wonder if they could’ve gotten more out of Thames while they had him. Farrell, too.
“It was so early to tell (how good he’d be) because he was so quick from the minor leagues to get to the big leagues,” Farrell said. “Sometimes it’s hard to know where your holes are (until) the scouting reports begin to get around.”
Thames agreed that he didn’t know himself well enough at that time. It took three years in Korea for him to learn how to relax.
“I was in Korea like, ‘Well I might as well make the best of this situation,’” he said. “Then bam, I’m back here again. I got a second chance.”
Managers can only do so much.
“Certain managers are different,” Thames said. “(Brewers manager Craig Counsell) was a position player, so he understands the grind, mentally and physically. With John, he was a pitcher. He was a good manager, but managers that were pitchers have a different mindset compared to one that was a position player.
“I feel like from my standpoint, he was a very good manager. I thought he treated me fairly. That’s all you can really ask for.”
Taking a break from watching Thames beat up on his team this week at Miller Park, Farrell said, “I’m just happy for him for the way things turned out. He’s off to a monster year.”