Quick hits from Day One of the John Farrell Era:
Reports surfaced -- presumably out of Toronto -- soon after Farrell's hiring that first baseman Adam Lind would be heading to Boston as part of this transaction. (Because MLB prohibits the swap of players for non-players, the Blue Jays will have to send a player back to Boston in exchange for Mike Aviles.) The notion it would be Lind, a one-time cornerstone of the Jays franchise who hit 84 home runs from 2009-11, seemed a stretch; he's certainly been a huge disappointment in Toronto in recent years, but he's still only 29 and has far more value than the bag-of-balls-type player who's usually included in this type of deal.
Sure enough, the Lind-to-Boston-as-part-of-the-Farrell-compensation-deal reports were shot down hours later. Still, it's possible the Sox have an interest in a reclamation project such as Lind, especially since they're in the market for a first baseman. Something to keep an eye on in the days ahead.
Something else to keep an eye on: The possible migration of Brian Butterfield from Canada to New England with Farrell. Butterfield -- a Maine nativeresident (and a huge Patriots fan, by the way) -- has been a coach with the Jays since 2002 and, despite losing out to Farrell for the managerial job in 2010, served as Farrell's third-base coachinfield instructor for the last two seasons. He's very highly regarded in baseball circles, and his contract in Toronto is up.
Last year's third-base coach with the Sox, Jerry Royster, was one of the few coaches that Bobby Valentine was allowed to hire, so the chances of his returning are nil. The Sox could certainly do worse than hiring Butterfield for the job.
The remainder of the coaching staff remains in flux. Royster and Valentine's pitching coach, Randy Niemann, are certainly gone, and hitting instructor Dave Magadan has already left for Texas. That leaves bench coach Tim Bogar, first-base coach Alex Ochoa and bullpen coach Gary Tuck, all of whom are highly regarded in the organization.
Remember, even Terry Francona wasn't allowed to hire all his coaches; management usually had a say in the composition of the coaching staff. It's possible that those three will be assigned to Farrell's staff . . . though, since he's worked with Bogar and Tuck, he may not mind.