BOSTON — Getting on the same page with Red Sox manager John Farrell will be an important step for the team’s newly hired president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski.
But there’s a time and place to talk baseball, and now is not that time.
Farrell last Friday announced he had been diagnosed with Stage 1 lymphoma, and Dombrowski said Wednesday that the skipper’s No. 1 priority right now should be getting himself healthy.
“I talked to John (on Tuesday) night,” Dombrowski said at his introductory news conference at Fenway Park. “We played phone tag for a little bit, we finally caught up later in the evening and we talked for awhile. I think first and foremost with John — I don’t know John real well, we’ve crossed paths, we know each other a little bit, but I wouldn’t say we know each real well — told him, ‘First and foremost, you need to take care of your health. And that’s the most important thing.’ ”
Farrell, who has managed the Red Sox since 2013, underwent his first round of chemotherapy treatments Tuesday at Massachusetts General Hospital. While he expressed a desire to remain involved with team in whatever capacity he can, bench coach Torey Lovullo will serve as acting manager for the remainder of this season.
“(Farrell is) a very respected individual in the game,” Dombrowski said. “But I don’t even think at this point, as I told him, ‘You take care of yourself. When you have an opportunity to visit in person, you call me and let me know, and we’ll work out getting together. He thought he would be able to visit by the end of this homestand, so we’ll sit down and visit, but just really to get to know each other even better and get to know his feeling on the ballclub.”
Thumbnail photo via Robert Mayer/USA TODAY Sports Images
