Sox give Farrell hook
‘Different factors’ for manager’s exit
Yesterday morning, John Farrell’s team became Dave Dombrowski’s team.
Farrell, who endured five seasons as the Red Sox manager, winning three AL East titles and one World Series, was fired two days after his team was eliminated by the Houston Astros in the Division Series.
He had one year left on his contract.
Dombrowski offered no explanation for why Farrell was let go.
“That’s really something I’m going to keep to myself,” Dombrowski said during a press conference that began at 11 a.m., two hours after he met with Farrell at Fenway Park. “I’m not going to get into anything beyond that other than there were a lot of different factors.”
Two Saturdays ago, Dombrowski had a different tone while chatting with reporters in a champagnesoaked locker room.
“I think he’s done a great job,” Dombrowski said of Farrell after the Sox clinched the division title. “He’s a tough guy. He’s a smart baseball man. He’s got a good staff around him, too.”
Opinions change fast in this town.
On Tuesday, Dombrowski said he and his front office group met to discuss the manager’s job. After it was decided that Farrell would be fired, Dombrowski met with principal owner John Henry and team president Sam Kennedy, while dialing in chairman Tom Werner via phone to gather input.
“They said, ‘Well, whatever you feel is the best thing to do,’ ” Dombrowski said.
Had the Red Sox made the move last year, they could have kept Torey Lovullo around. The wellliked Lovullo was a strong communicator who understood how to deal with the media, but he departed to be the Arizona Diamondbacks manager after former Red Sox general manager Mike Hazen left to take the same job in Phoenix.
Under Hazen and Lovullo, the Diamondbacks went from a 69-win team to a 93win team in 2017, winning the National League wild card game before getting swept by the Dodgers in the Division Series.
The Red Sox never contemplated firing Farrell during the 2017 season, according to Dombrowski.
“It was not the right time,” he said.
Farrell went 432-378 as Red Sox manager — a fiveyear stint during which he successfully fought cancer — good for sixth all-time in wins for the franchise. He was the only Sox manager to win back-to-back division titles.
Farrell was 23-19 in the postseason, though his teams went 1-6 over the last two years, when they were eliminated in the first round each time.
“I’m not one of these guys that thinks it’s a flip of a coin when you get to the playoffs, but there’s also much more left to chance when you have a shortened series,” Dombrowski said. “But I can’t tell you that postseason success is a driving force.”
Indirectly, Dombrowski did mention a few reasons why Farrell was let go.
Winning 93 games is considered a success in a lot of places, but “the ultimate success is winning a world championship,” he said.
Many players, both injured and healthy, underperformed. Not only in the postseason, but the regular season.
Dombrowski acknowledged that.
“Some of them didn’t have the best seasons in their career,” he said. “And I think some of them are capable of having better years.”
Dombrowski wouldn’t say how he felt about how Farrell handled David Price and his constant outbursts with the media, a run-in with Dennis Eckersley, the flavor that the clubhouse took on after Price’s melt- downs and the way Price kept referring to Farrell as “Manager John” publicly.
“I did not contact the players,” Dombrowski said. “I think it’s a management decision.”
In the locker room, the Red Sox believed they had good leadership among themselves right down to the end.
Could the voices from within be more productive?
“A new manager coming in will provide just an overall different dynamic, a change,” Dombrowski said. “And we’ll see what happens in that regard.”
Henry was present when the Red Sox won the division two weekends ago. He spoke with reporters for five minutes in the locker room, but never offered praise of Farrell, instead showering Dombrowski with credit for the team’s success.
“I think Dave did a tremendous job to put us in position to win, and the players actually did it,” Henry said at the time.
Later in the interview, he said it again.
“Dave Dombrowski did a tremendous job of putting this team together,” Henry said.
Farrell wasn’t present at yesterday’s press conference, though he did offer a lengthy statement released through the team. The 55-year-old thanked everybody, including his coaching staff, two front office groups, the ownership group, his players and the fans.
“I have enjoyed every moment of this job — its peaks and its valleys,” he said. “There are few, if any, positions in life that create so much passion on a daily basis.”
In Boston, Farrell said, “the legions of fans who support this franchise keep their manager on his toes day in and day out.”
It’s Boston, though, that may have convinced Dombrowski that Farrell was no longer the man for the job.
“I think it’s for some people and it’s not for others,” Dombrowski said of the unique challenges in this market. “That’s just the way it is.”