With John Farrell officially on board, now it's time to figure out the next step. Actually, scratch that. We know the next step. Fix the pitching staff. (Alex Speier; WEEI.com)
John Farrell is the right guy for the job. (Chad Finn; The Boston Globe)
Be warned, Ben Cherington. You are now officially on the clock. (Gordon Edes; ESPN Boston)
A view from the Great White North on Farrell's lack of success in Toronto and the way the deal with Boston ended up going down. (Richard Griffin; The Toronto Star)
Not everyone who ended the year with the Red Sox in 2011 had a bad 2012. Remember this guy? (Jeff Sullivan; Fan Graphs)
R.J. Anderson who covers the transaction analysis beat at Baseball Prospectus isn't that enamored with the John Farrell signing. Quoth he (in a free article): "Would Toronto really let a quality manager slip away to a division rival? Probably not... " Allow me to answer your question with another question: what is a quality manager? To answer my own question, I'd say a quality manager is a team-dependent commodity. In any case, R.J.'s analysis is, as always, required reading. (R.J. Anderson; Baseball Prospectus)
Will Leitch on the difference between the way baseball teams are run and how they are covered with regard to stats. (Will Leitch; Sports On Earth)
What's going on with the Red Sox prospects playing in the fall and winter leagues? Sox Prospects has all that stuff, tough guy. (James Dunne; Sox Prospects)
Should the Red Sox really give David Ortiz a multi-year deal? Chip Buck looks at some comparable players. (Chip Buck; Fire Brand of the AL)
When the Red Sox get involved in something, so does the media. If he didn't before, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos now knows that. And he's not happy about it. (Aaron Gleeman; Hardball Talk)
If you're the schadenfreude type, Allan at Joy of Sox has assembled quite the collection of headlines and front page stories in the New York press marking the end of the Yankees' season. (Allan; Joy of Sox)
Derek Lowe will be 40 next season and wants to start, or so he said to the New York Post. (Craig Calcaterra; Hardball Talk)