FORT MYERS, Fla.John Farrell was not with the Red Sox for their horrendous 2012 or their disastrous final month of the 2011 season. But as the teams new manager it now falls to him to address how he hopes to improve the team's culture for 2013.
I think theres a balance to how much thats to be talked about, Farrell said Tuesday afternoon sitting outside the Sox clubhouse at the teams spring training facility. Certainly we cant wipe away whats taken place. Its important that we acknowledge it. But as Ive talked to guys throughout the offseason what we do going forward is where the focus has to be. Just by virtue of nine new players on a 25-man roster is going to have some natural tendency to change that.
"But the most important thing is that we earn the trust of one another inside the clubhouse first. And going from there is the style of play that people can identify with this group as a team and confident that the makeup of the group initially will put ourselves in a position to do that.
The new players the Sox brought in have reputations for being high-character people. Which should help to make Farrells job easier.
I think its very important because in addition to the talent that was needed and brought in, general manager Ben Cherington and his staff combined the makeup of the individual to bring into a team environment some of the culture that is in the process of changing, said Farrell. So when we sought the person inside the player these were clear targets of ours.
Its a point he hopes fan will recognize, and he can reinforce. But he also knows actions speak louder than words.
We cant just talk about it. Weve got to go out and do it, Farrell said. And part of that regaining the trust or the faith of the fans, Im confident that the talent thats here plus the people that they are thisll be a team that I really believe that people will identify with, the effort, the energy that they bring every night, and the respect for the game that they have.