Manager John Farrell ready for Blue Jays season

[LittleOzzy]

John Farrell had a steep learning curve in his first year as a big-league manager after four seasons as a pitching coach with the Boston Red Sox.

It took some time for the Blue Jays manager to get used to the rigours of his new job with a different organization, coaching staff and players. Farrell used a more aggressive approach on the basepaths but the Jays' pitching was inconsistent and the team finished fourth in the American League East with a .500 record.

Expectations will be higher in 2012 for the Blue Jays, who open the season Thursday in Cleveland, and Farrell said he's ready to apply what he learned last year to help his team improve.

"When to push, when to back off, how to put guys in the best position for success," he said in a recent interview. "You always look for those opportunities to make the most of a player's given skill set. But our team has changed. Our roster has clearly changed.

"We've got more flexibility, we've got I think a deeper roster with some different players coming off the bench."

Farrell seems to handle the juggling act of dealing with players, coaches and the game with aplomb, his no-nonsense demeanour often cracked with a laugh and a smile.

The Blue Jays enjoy playing for him and he appears to have the right mix of toughness and friendliness for the job.

"I think most of the fans see John in the dugout and very, very serious," said bench coach Don Wakamatsu. "It's the other side that people don't realize. His sense of humour, his relational skills with the players, how much they respect him and how well he processes information.

"Obviously there's a lot going on in spring training and to be able to handle the media, deal with the players, deal with the scheduling and come every day with a great attitude -- he does a phenomenal job."

Farrell's next mission is simple -- get his team into contention in what is arguably the toughest division in baseball.

Toronto's bullpen is deeper this year and Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow should offer a solid 1-2 punch at the front end of the rotation. There are question marks after that though.

Brett Cecil is coming off a poor season -- he was demoted to double-A on Tuesday -- Dustin McGowan has injury issues and Henderson Alvarez and Kyle Drabek are unproven youngsters. The relievers did a nice job over the first two months of last season before the extra work caught up to them.

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[LittleOzzy]

Farrell confident in core of young Blue Jays

John Farrell is buying into the buzz surrounding the Toronto Blue Jays after their record-setting performance in spring training.

The Blue Jays manager said the depth and athleticism on the team's Opening Day roster is a clear upgrade from what they started with last season in what was his first campaign with the organization.

"What we have this year is a deeper lineup and the ability to swing the bat more consistently than the team we broke camp with last year," Farrell told Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Wednesday. "I think the overall athleticism -- with Brett Lawrie, with Colby Rasmus, and Kelly Johnson, we have some guys that we can put in motion but we're still a hit-first organization."

Like many around the baseball world, Farrell sees the superstar potential in Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie. This season, the team still plans to bring Lawrie along slowly but Farrell still expects the 22-year-old to be a significant contributor on offence.

"Brett Lawrie is going to find himself in the middle of the order at some point with the way he continues to swing the bat," Farrell said. "In real time, in a year or two from now, he's your ideal No. 3 hole hitter. But, this year, I don't see why at some point he doesn't continue to move north in the lineup and I'm going to let him hit his way there. I don't want to force something. We feel good very good with how Adam Lind is swinging the bat right now and the spring that Edwin Encarnacion has had."

Along with Lawrie, Colby Rasmus was another player who caught the eye of the Blue Jays organization at the end of spring training.

"The last couple of days, he's shown a much more consistent swing path," Farrell told Blair. "When he gets in trouble at the plate is when he starts to try and hook the ball…I think (Rasmus), his attitude and comfort level in spring training was considerably noticeable and better from a year ago. He plays very good centre field. We have the ability with the depth of our lineup to let him just get on track, get additional confidence going and very much has the ability to climb in the lineup with performance and consistency."

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