The Red Sox have a new manager, and it's the man they wanted all along.
John Farrell, the team's pitching coach under Terry Francona from 2007-10 and the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays for the last two years, has been signed to a multiyear contract. There is no immediate word on what compensation will be sent to Toronto in exchange for the Blue Jays releasing Farrell from the final year of his contract with them.
The Red Sox had interviewed four other candidates for the vacancy - Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach; San Diego Padres special assistant Brad Ausmus; New York Yankees bench coach Tony Pena; and Baltimore Orioles third base coach DeMarlo Hale.
The Sox were said to be impressed with all four candidates, but none of the four met with ownership while in Boston for their first-round interviews and it was clear that none of the four interviewed candidates was the primary target.
More to come . . .