Following a tumultuous season of baseball, the Boston Red Sox finally got their man.
The team on Tuesday officially introduced new manager John Farrell at a press conference at Fenway Park, ushering in a new era for the Red Sox.
"His integrity, leadership skills, intelligence are second-to-none and make him the right person for this job," general manager Ben Cherington said to the Associated Press.
The team signed Farrell to a three year contract and finished off compensation talks with the Blue Jays, giving the team shortstop Mike Aviles for journeyman reliever David Carpenter.
"It is very much a privilege," Farrell said Tuesday. "I am honored and humbled to be standing here today."
Farrell previously served as pitching coach for the team under former manager Terry Francona from 2007-2010.
"Yes, there are some relationships still existing with some of the players here but by no means will that be taken for granted," Farrell said. "There's familiarity. There's an understanding of maybe the person I am and certainly who they are. But it'll be my approach go back in -- that's already started with conversations and a sit-down with David (Ortiz) here already earlier today -- to start to earn that trust and re-establish all those relationships."
The team originally wanted to hire Farrell last season, but the Blue Jays would not allow him to interview for the job. Instead the team hired Bobby Valentine as manager and it turned out to be a disaster. The organization fired him soon after the season ended.
The move was expected when the team finished with a 69-93 record after starting the season with postseason expectations. The Red Sox dealt with numerous injuries and underperforming players, but the firing came down to the fact that Valentine never seemed to fit in with the culture of the team or the city.
"Our 2012 season was disappointing for many reasons," Cherington said ESPNBoston.com after firing Valentine. "No single issue is the reason, and no single individual is to blame. We've been making personnel changes since August, and we will continue to do so as we build a contending club."
Valentine was hired in December after the Red Sox collapsed in September, falling out of the playoffs after having a nine-game lead in the wild card race.
The team began 2012 as a playoff favorite, but quickly faded to the bottom of the AL East division. The team eventually gave up on the season, trading a crop of star players to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The teams moved $250 million in future contracts, trading first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, starting pitcher Josh Beckett and outfielder Carl Crawford to Los Angeles.
It was tumultuous season for the team and for Valentine himself.
Valentine got started off on the wrong foot early in the year when he criticized veteran Kevin Youkilis on television in April. Valentine said: "I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason."
Prior to Boston's last game of the season, Valentine called out his coaches for being disloyal on WEEI radio, saying: "There's situation during the year I didn't think it was all for one or one for all, whatever it is," Valentine said. "I don't really remember specifically. ... It was just a feeling."
Boston posted a .426 win percentage this season, the third lowest winning percentage in 70 years for the team. According to ESPN.com, the team went only 7-22 in September.
Farrell should immediately be an improvement from Valentine, purely for the fact that he understands the city and has previously been with the organization.
"I think Boston, in my mind, and it may be debatable across the country, this is the epicenter of the game," he said. "To come in and have at least four years of experience previous, not having sat in this seat, but been close to it to see the demands of the position, the passion of this region, the energy that is in this ballpark every single night. I think to a certain extent that energy and what people expect holds our players accountable with the effort that they put out every single night."
Farrell previously won a World Series with the team in 2007 and beat out a group of solid candidates for the job. The Red Sox interviewed Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach, Yankees bench coach Tony Pena, Padres special assistant Brad Ausmus and Orioles third-base coach DeMarlo Hale, but felt Farrell was the best fit for the job.
The ability for Farrell to move from Boston to Toronto was helped by Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos. The manager spoke to Anthopoulos and told him he wanted the chance to go back to the Red Sox.
"This was a dream job for him, an opportunity he really wanted to pursue,'' Anthopoulos said in a conference call with reporters Sunday afternoon.
According to ESPN: "It is the seventh time in major league history that one team has traded for a manager while he was under contract to another, the Red Sox said. Last year, the Miami Marlins obtained Ozzie Guillen from the Chicago White Sox in a deal that also included three players."
The new manager will be able to instill confidence in a young team and has the chance to use veterans like Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz to make the clubhouse a friendlier place than it was last season.
"John Farrell has so many attributes that we admire. He gets it. He is a most impressive interview -- open, honest, and articulate," Sox president Larry Lucchino said in a statement Tuesday. "We did not know if we could pry him loose from the Blue Jays, but discussions were amicable, and we were able to hammer out an agreement with them and with him, and now we are eager to continue our efforts to construct this club for next season and beyond."
