Although I do not agree that Farrell is the best choice to manage Boston (tellingly enough, Toronto seems to have come to the same conclusion -- only insert "Toronto" where you see "Boston"), I DO agree that Sox brass should ditch the charade and say if Farrell's in the mix or not.

Let's hope he's not. If he is, or if he comes into the picture like a "Gotcha!" in the 11th hour after these four good men have gone through their 6-hour interviews, that will truly be bush league on Boston's part. Wallach, Ausmus, Pena, Hale are solid choices. Together, they constitute "Anybody but Farrell," a notion that Boston should not play around with so much as embrace.

Dan, it has only been two weeks.  It takes longer than that to hire someone to flip burgers.  Alhough I don't have much faith in this executive team to make the best choice, they should certainly take a little time to weigh the candidates.

Right...only two weeks...I guess tat s two years inBoston media and....another reach to be hyper critical...if there is no story..make one....nice try...Tory writing a real story or just take TW week off...reading this one showed me sox are movin

The following sentence is why much of what Dan Shaughnessy writes is drivel: " If Farrell is taken out of the mix, we can have fun debating the merits of the other four."

For some of us, hot stove leagus stuff is "fun." But this is a business, with consequences, run by professionals, who have careers and won't be opining on the Bruins on the pages of the Globe tomorrow. Dan can play fantasy league search process all he wants, and walk away with no consequences if his decision is wrong. When's the last time Dan hired anyone? I'm sure the Sox appreciate Dan's advice, but their "job" is to try to do what's best for the team, knowing that the consequences if the Farrell deal falls apart won't be "fun."

How about doing some due diligence on other people?  What's wrong with seeing who's out there?  We aren't even done with the LCS's yet for heaven's sake.  They're doing several interviews a week.  They clearly aren't dithering.  Whether they have their guy in place by Halloween or Thanksgiving really doesn't make much difference - it's long before spring training.  Try some decaf, Dan.

What a pile of hooey, Dan. Funny how you and Silverman over at the Herald wrote the same whining column. What's bothering you is that you're not in the loop. You're not hearing anything back channel from the Sox and it's killing you. Same thing is going on with Silverman. This notion that a disservice is being done to the other candidates is pure bullsh&%. You're whining because YOU are not getting anything from the Sox these days.

Too bad!!!!!! 

The fact that John Farrell has not been hired by the Red Sox should tell you the Jays are asking too much for compensation. The Red Sox would be first class fools if they didn't have other people they're interested in for the manager's job.

Dan, here's what the Sox are doing. They're interviewng a group of candidates that they have GENUINE interest in. Once they have decided who in that group they want to hire the Sox go back to the Jays one last time and ask permission to talk to Farrell. If the The Jays say we still want compensation then the Sox say no thank you and hire who the've decided on. If the Jays drop their demand for compensation then the Sox have a decision to make. Do they want Farrell or do they want the other candidate they've targeted.

The longer this goes the more I'm convinced their going away from Farrell and will hire either Ausman or Pena.

These guys should sell the team to someone who actually cares about the Sox and baseball, and has the time to run the team properly. With ownership like this, it's no wonder they had a rough (OK, terrible) season.

Ausmus, Pena, and Wallach are not just good candidates.  They are better candidates who will not cost the Sox prospects they will regret giving up for Farrell.  Is Lucchino forcing Cherington to accept Farrell?

Dan;  I usually agree with your viewpoint, but this time you are wrong.  They need to rule out all the possibilities.  There needs to 2nd interviews.   Looking for Bobby V took too long.  Rushing without being thorough would be just as bad as taking too long.  Let's have some patience and get it right this time.  

My old man used to tell me "measure twice, cut once."  There's nothing wrong with taking your time to get it right. Nor have I seen anything written about any of the candidate's mentioned being considered for managerial jobs elsewhere.  I can live with two or three more weeks, if that's what it takes to get it right.

Frankly, I totally agree with the article. They KNEW they were ridding themselves from Bobby-V, why so long? I mean it takes, what, one day to interview each candidate? With a high-ball number like, say, seven, that takes a total of 7 days folks! Ok, Ok, you need to make arrangements, but we don;t have 7 candidates and management KNEW they needed to do this... start early anyone? Anyone? Wow, what a mess! You should KNOW what you want, as a hiring manager (pick title), so find him, interview him and be done with it. Larry, no Larry, who cares? Get'r done! Why do we even talk about Larry? Isn't Cherington making the hire? Sounds like he's afraid to pull a trigger. Poor management abounds.

The league championship series in each league is still being played, some candidates may not be free to interview until after the World Series and the Red Sox are supposedly dragging their heels? ...and Nick Cafardo is using capital letters on his keyboard claiming that the Red Sox simply must hire Bard Ausmus. Take a vacation. An important process like this takes as long as it takes.

Down, boy. There will be a story someday. Media types are so impatient!

John Farrell will become like Joe Kerrigan if hired by the Sox.

Ha-ha-ha!  Shoggy's just annoyed that his already pre-written column criticizing the Red Sox for their managerial pick will have to wait a while longer to be published.  His blatant Francona kiss-up (you DO know Shoggy co-wrote Tito's upcoming "memoir", right?) makes anything he says pretty dubious, even before he says it.  Shoggy has to keep writing new columns in the interim, when he'd rather be spending time on TV, where the camera makes him look so very dreamy . . . . .

This is from the guy who thought Bobby V was a great idea. Take your time Ben- ignore the slobs who can only write about it.

Dan: the obsession with Farrell as a candidate reminds me of Theo's pursuit of Julio Lugo. The problem this past year wasn't a guy unfamiliar with the organization, it was a guy who was a very poor communicator, although a fine baseball mind. The only reason to give up compensation to get Farrell is because you think he is that compensation better than the guys Ben has brought in. And I don't see that. I hope that either Hale or Pena get it. Hale would finally bury Tom Yawkey's racist legacy.

I agree, Dan, but I also wonder like the Sox continue to make a big deal out of people they're interviewing....  Why not conduct the interviews quietly, behind closed doors, and announce the winner when he's been selected?  Why go through this charade?  If they want Farrell, do it.  I don't know if I agree Farrell is the right guy, but if he's who they want, you're right....  "Go" or get off the pot.

They made a tewrrible choice last year. I would rather that they take their time to get things right. The candidates who they are interviewing look like good ones to pick from.

If going after another team's manager is acceptable, why stop at Farrell?

As usual, unreadable after the first sentence. Would have been interesting though to see if any homework had been done and included would have been the a list of all major league managers hired before, during, and after the start of the World Series in say,the last 5, 10, or 15 years. God.