Sox find salvation in Farrell

This being the season of good cheer it seemed the appropriate time to look at what the Red Sox have been up to this offseason from a different perspective. Can things be worse than they were in 2012? Can it be worse than the daily dose of dyspepsia you felt not only watching last year’s Sox stagger to a 69-93 record but listening to them moan about the manager insulting them or the absence of days off even if they only worked every fifth day and seldom finish their job? Can it be worse than listening to Bobby Valentine and then waiting for the translation? Can it be worse than reading about dysfunction at the junction, mass uprisings launched via text message, coaches who don’t speak to their manager and a manager who doesn’t speak to anyone unless to say “Who are you, again?” Have all those criticizing the admittedly oddly priced moves of Ben Cherington and Lucky Lucchino forgotten just how bad it was? If they haven’t then the signing of eight free agents who are men of good cheer should be greeted with a bit more enthusiasm than they have. Sure the management of the Toronto Blue Jays has gone berserk, the absence of hockey at Air Canada Centre apparently causing them to begin skating their own wing. Heck, they not only traded prospects for three new starting pitchers and potentially one of baseball’s best leadoff men, they signed a guy, Melky Cabrera, whose nickname is “PED” and traded their manager to the Sox. So what? It’s Toronto. They were happy to see him leave but what do they know? John Farrell is being sold here as not only the greatest tutor of pitching in the history of the game but the baseball version of John Wayne. Look at the guy! Put a Green Beret on him and the war’s over in two hours. Put a holster around his waist and the West is won.