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John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:03 pm
by LittleOzzy
John Farrell's first season in Toronto was filled with plenty of ups and downs, but it also provided some strong building blocks for the future.
The rookie manager guided his team to an 81-81 record despite a roster that had to deal with more than its fair share of injuries and seemed to be in a constant state of flux.
Farrell's managerial debut campaign ended on a positive note with a ninth-inning comeback in a 3-2 victory Wednesday over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.
"If you hadn't seen the first 161 games this year, you could look at this game and somewhat epitomize or wrap up our entire season," Farrell said. "We finished, obviously at an even .500, but it was the characteristic that this team has demonstrated all year long. We don't give up."
The Blue Jays hovered around the .500 mark all season. The club never won more than six consecutive games, but also didn't lose more than four in a row at any point.
Whenever it seemed that the young club might be headed into a tailspin, it was able to bounce back and find solid ground once again.
Part of that had to do with a solid 39-42 record on the road compared to playing just three games above .500 at home. For Farrell, the final tally is a fair indication of the way his team played this season.
"We're a .500 team -- that's not satisfying, that's just, I think where we are right now," Farrell said. "We've gone through a lot of change, and at the same time, because we've played in many stretches very well on the road, this team doesn't shy away from challenges or environments that might be hostile.
"I think that goes hand in hand with the resiliency and the overall characteristics and personality of the team."
The Blue Jays secured at least a .500 record for the fifth time in the past six seasons thanks in part to another come-from-behind victory -- it was the ninth time the club won a game in which it was trailing after the seventh inning.
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/mlb/gam ... p&c_id=tor10 Being the best on the poll.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:34 pm
by tsherkin
I'm not a fan of his choices as far as the running game, the lineup or his substitutions (or lack thereof).
Can't really say he's any better or worse than what we've seen on this team recently, though.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:48 pm
by DonYon
as long as the players & coaches aren't complaining he's fine.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:17 pm
by Wo1verine
How many different lineups did he use this year? It must have been close to a record, a lot of the time it seemed like he didn't know his player personal batting guys like Arencibia and Rasmus below Molina, McCoy leadoff, etc.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:10 pm
by JoeyBats
I gave him a 6.
I think he improved as the season went on, still needs to work on the line up card.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:20 pm
by Nolan
I gave him a 6. He got better as the season went on but he stills need to figure a lot of things out.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:24 pm
by SharoneWright
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:29 pm
by The Flying Gent
Who the hell tells Brett Lawrie to bunt with RISP?! You suck!
But really, i hope a lot of the weird stuff he did this year was just his process of getting first hand experience on what works and what doesn't. And he'll hopefully be better nest year.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:31 pm
by Homer Jay
He got better as the season went on. Both in game management and player handling.
Not his fault he got saddled with Rivera, Patterson, Nix, Davis, Hill, Snider, Rauch, Drabek, and Cecil. All those guys stunk it up on their own.
He overused some bullpen guys early, notably Camp, who got a lot better after he was not pitching 8-9 innings a week out of the pen.
He does need to better decide on when to pull pitchers. And IMHO not be so reliant on certain players batting at certain positions. Ride the guys who are performing, and we won't have JBau getting left on base 100 times a year. Follow the guy with the monster .449 OBP with someone that can get hits, I don't care about power.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:11 pm
by jrsmith
I gave him a 5. He got somewhat better as the season went along, and didnt make too many huge, dumb game changing moves as he did early in the season... or maybe I stopped caring as much.
This team has/should have much higher priorities so I dont mind giving a chance to see how much he improves.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:59 pm
by Sifu
I gave him a 5 because his lineups were atrocious early on in the season. (ughhhh batting Hill 2nd? Really?).
But overall, he got better as the year went on, and unlike another poster, I actually thought the running game was a nice addition all year long.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 1:02 am
by satyr9
I'd give him something in the middle too, but at the same time I think it's almost impossible to tell a future terrible manager from a future HOFer after their first season. I didn't see any noticeable signs that he was going to be great or anything and maybe a few that didn't look too hot, but the fact people can point to what they perceived as positive progression hopefully means something.
I do think being willing to make strange calls and admit errors can't be a bad thing, as long as there comes a time where we can notice some pay-off.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 3:50 pm
by SharoneWright
3.
He can turn me around next year. But this year, he was not MLB calibre.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 3:57 pm
by Geddy
Not a fan of his at all. I understand it was his first year, but some of the moves he made during games left me scratching my head.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:32 pm
by Alfred
Homer Jay wrote:Rivera, Patterson, Nix, Davis, Hill, Snider, Rauch, Drabek, and Cecil
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:50 pm
by FreeAgent
Gave him a 5. Could be better, could be worse. I'll blame it on his lack of experience, for now...
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 9:34 pm
by tsherkin
Sifu wrote:I gave him a 5 because his lineups were atrocious early on in the season. (ughhhh batting Hill 2nd? Really?).
But overall, he got better as the year went on, and unlike another poster, I actually thought the running game was a nice addition all year long.
I did enjoy that we TRIED the running game, and I do recognize that he got less stupid as he learned about what works and what doesn't, but it was frustrating that he'd make odd running gambles that even I know are bluntly (Please Use More Appropriate Word). It was his first year and he was more of a pitching coach in his time with Boston, so it's not super surprising that he didn't know what he was doing. We'll see how it goes going forward. In his defense, it could be said that he was trying to maximize our chances when we DID get runners on, because we didn't exactly knock socks off with our below-average team OBP.
It's not like we're on the cusp, or anything; his mistakes didn't cost us a pennant or the wild card or whatever, so it's not exactly a big deal, we can afford to give him some time.
Re: John Farrell Approval Rating (Season End)
Posted: Sat Oct 1, 2011 9:29 pm
by flatjacket1
4. Steals too much, don't like the hit and run, batted a rookie 2nd.