When John Farrell left the club this past October, the Blue Jays were a laughing stock, apparently having hit rock bottom. Farrell jovially thanked the organization for allowing him to gain managerial experience at the major league level, basically admitting that he had accepted the Blue Jays job with his end game to leave for the rival Red Sox as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The only thing the Jays lost in the mean time was a couple seasons to mediocrity and a boat load of young pitching talent due to elbow and shoulder injuries sustained during Farrell's watch.
Initially, my reaction was anger and frustration when Farrell was dealt to the Red Sox for Mike Aviles. The Blue Jays, it appeared, were "giving in", letting their Benedict Arnold get his wish. I wanted the Jays to wait for the Sox to hire a replacement manager to the much maligned Bobby Valentine, then fire Farrell's butt for his disloyalty. That would have sent a strong message to the league that the team would not allow itself to get pushed around and taken advantage of. Instead, it appeared as if the Jays folded like a cheap suit, giving up the manager who knew the inner workings of the team to a key division rival, while at the same time rewarding Farrell's betrayal by giving him exactly what he wanted.
In the public's eye, the team had hit rock bottom and had allowed itself to be walked all over like a beat up linoleum floor. The team needed to do something to repair its image. The stage was set for Alex Anthopoulous to work his magic.
On a fateful November evening, news broke of the stunning deal between the Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins, which saw Toronto acquire Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Emilio Bonifacio in one massive blockbuster. In this one shocking turn of events, my belief in the team transformed from an all-time low, to being restored to levels unrivaled since the 92/93 "Glory years". We were back, baby. For the first time in a long time, the Jays were contenders.
I wonder if Farrell had not embarrassed the franchise, and caused mass disillusion among fans to the point where Rogers had to do something major to turn the tides of public opinion back in their favour, if the vaults ever would have been opened to allow "Double A" to make such a deal. I know for me and those I am close to, this trade was exactly what the doctor ordered to wash away the discontent from the Farrell situation and renew fan excitement to this extreme level. Would the trade have been possible had Farrell not forced his way out? Perhaps. But I do not believe it would have happened. So, John, this is leading me to the most unlikely three words I thought I would ever hear myself say, "Thank you, Farrell!"
No need to worry about that buddy!
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