Boston Red Sox and John Farrell Rise to the Occasion

So far, so good.

If you are a Red Sox fan, you have to like what you see so far.

Accountability. Stability. Honest answers and responses. Nothing planned or rehearsed. Ownership of the 2012 season. Meeting their problems head-on.

And Dr. Charles Steinberg was nowhere in sight.

In hiring the man they wanted 13 months ago, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington seems like he is going about this offseason the way he wanted to handle it in 2011.

He finally hired the manager that he wanted, not the manager he was told to hire.

This is Ben's show now and the man he wanted to entrust his future with is now the skipper. The success of both men is now tied together.

John Farrell has handled himself exactly they way you would have hoped when the hire was first announced on Saturday evening by CSNNE's Sean McAdam.

The players seem to be excited about Farrell coming back, immediately washing away the tension left by the hiring of Bobby Valentine. According to NBC Sports, Valentine's negative comments about Ortiz to Bob Costas just reinforces the notion that he was the wrong man for the job.

Here I thought that Bobby was going to be classy and take the high road. People always remember you on how you leave. I guess Bobby isn't planning on managing in the majors again. Even if everything he says about David Ortiz is true, what is the point in saying it?

It doesn't make Ortiz look bad. It makes Bobby V. look bad. Ortiz is one of the few players that tried to publicly support and play for Valentine.

The ESPNBoston.com report that David Ortiz is close to coming back on a two-year contract is a good thing. The fact that the Red Sox are already potentially hiring a bench coach, according to WEEI.com's Rob Bradford, is another important step, as is John Farrell opening the lines of communication to his players. 

The Red Sox are already more than five weeks ahead of last offseason's pace.

Ben Cherington acts like a man who has a plan to undo all of the problems from last season. He started his checklist with the instant credibility of hiring John Farrell. If he can wrap up Ortiz and bring back the dependable Cody Ross on a team-friendly contract, the Red Sox will be able to focus on their pitching and free agency going into the winter meetings.

I like these new Red Sox. Let's see if they keep up the positive momentum.