In Boston, John Farrell is expected to be the manager who restores order, provides solid leadership and cleans the clubhouse of the crazy that kept the Red Sox from fulfilling their potential in 2012. In Toronto, though, one Blue Jays player says Farrell was opposite of that when managing the team last year.
Outfielder Colby Rasmus had some harsh words about Farrell as he talked about the upcoming season under new manager John Gibbons.
“I’m not trying to bash anybody by starting up crap, but I think John Gibbons has got a little bit of a better idea of how to handle it,” Rasmus told the National Post, “just because I don’t see him as a guy that’s going to hit that panic button and get tight and into kind of freak-out mode.”
Rasmus said the Jays were optimistic and ready to contend coming out of spring training last year, but injuries and bad morale doomed the club, which slipped to a 73-89 fourth-place finish in the American League East (better only than the 69-93 Red Sox).
“It was just like panic mode, like what are we doing?” Rasmus said. “Everyone looking over their shoulder. It was just a bad feeling.”
That’s about as direct of a shot that Rasmus could have taken at Farrell, even with the obligatory “not trying to start up crap” tag. But it’s not strange to hear that bad feelings continue to linger for Farrell in Toronto, where the fan base and organization leaders were none too pleased to hear that Farrell’s heart was still in Boston. Farrell was allowed to leave and take the managing job with the Red Sox, but the Blue Jays haven’t been shy about their feelings since.
With a stacked lineup, a new manager and what now appears to be some jilted players, the Blue Jays seem to be ready to back up their belief that they’ll be tough to take down.
