John Farrell career highlights

John Farrell has been named the next manager of the Boston Red Sox.

By Steve Silva

Boston.com Staff / October 20, 2012

Text Size:

E-mail

Page 2 of 2 --

Club culture questioned by veteran

Veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel was the most vocal to question Farrell’s methods in 2012. “It’s part of the inexperience. If you make mistakes and nobody says anything about it — they just let it go — we’re going to keep making the same mistakes over and over again,” the 45-year-old Vizquel said in September. “We have to stand up and say something right after that mistake happened. We have to talk about it at meetings. We have to address it in a big way in the clubhouse. Sometimes you have to punish players because they’re making the same mistakes over and over again.” Vizquel later apologized for his comments in a team meeting but stuck by his sentiments while Farrell was mildly critical of the veteran, saying he was not present for practice sessions that stressed fundamentals. Adam Lind and Jason Frasor also spoke out on how the team was functioning.

Farrell under fire in Toronto

Farrell has come under widespread criticism for the team’s performance in his first two seasons. The Jays have been sloppy and mistake-prone in the field and on the bases, have had leadership and clubhouse issues, the pitching staff’s performance — a perceived strong suit of Farrell — has deteriorated under his watch. Young hurlers Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil have digressed and the Jays had a 4.22 ERA in 2010 that rose to 4.32 in 2011, and 4.64 in 2012 under Farrell.