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Bucs Interested in BoSox Pitching Coach John Farrell

The Bucs will likely consider Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell for manager, John Perrotto and Sean McAdam both report. (Perrotto may not be all that reliable, but at least there are two sources for this one.)

Farrell also worked with Neal Huntington with the Indians, where he was Cleveland's farm director. He has no professional managerial experience, but might well have wound up as a big-league general manager if he hadn't taken the job as pitching coach with Boston. He pitched for eight seasons with the Indians, Angels and Tigers.

Based on the facts in the above paragraphs and little else, I think Farrell would be a really, really interesting choice. He has a background that's very unusual for a manager, with both practical, day-to-day experience as well as experience dealing with the long view. He has also worked for two organizations in Cleveland and Boston that really, really know what they're doing.

Most big-league managers lose games for their teams by trying to do too much and by falling in love with players who look impressive but actually aren't very good. (See Morgan, Nyjer.) Given Farrell's background as the farm director for one of the most successful organizations in baseball, maybe he won't do those things. And maybe when the next Morgan/Steve Pearce/Nate McLouth decision comes up, Farrell will know what to do.