Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell (R) talks with first base coach Torey Lovullo (7) in the dugout before the start of a MLB spring training game in Dunedin, Florida, March 28, 2011.STEVE NESIUS
As he interviewed candidates to replace Cito Gaston, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos asked candidates how they would go about hiring coaches. He found John Farrell's response most refreshing.
"John maintained from Day 1, from the first interview, that he was not looking to bring in his buddies," Anthopoulos said. "He was looking for the most qualified and the best people for the job."
When Farrell was eventually hired, he backed up his interview by hiring former major-league manager Don Wakamatsu to be his bench coach, even though he didn't really know him.
Wakamatsu had something on his résumé that Farrell doesn't - time at the major-league level as a manager - and the 48-year-old Farrell understands he'll need to bank on that experience during his maiden year with the Blue Jays.
A former catcher during his playing days, Wakamatsu's primary responsibility will be tutoring J.P. Arencibia as he embarks into his first season as Toronto's full time receiver behind the plate.
Wakamatsu has also been entrusted by Farrell to call all the pitches during games, another indication of the new manager's willingness to delegate authority.
Over the course of the season that opens Friday against the Minnesota Twins, Farrell's performance will be monitored as closely as the players'. The former Boston Red Sox pitching coach stepped in to a job held for the past 2 1/2 years by Gaston, whose conservative approach to offence was seen by critics as counterproductive.
Farrell is promising that the Blue Jays won't be as one-dimensional on the attack as last season when they relied on home runs for run production.
"From just a pure strategy standpoint, I think we have the ability to put pressure on our opposition a little bit more than maybe the approach that's been taken here in the past," Farrell said, earlier in spring training.
The Blue Jays crushed a major league-leading 257 home runs last season, while laying down 16 sacrifice bunts, by far the lowest total in the majors. The AL champion Texas Rangers led the league with 53.
The Jays were also sedate on the base paths, ranking last in the AL in steals with 58.
"That's not to say we're just going to turn everybody loose to try and steal bases," he said. "But we can be more aggressive in looking to go first to third."
The Blue Jays will still be relying on power production this year, but it will be tougher to come by after the trade of Vernon Wells and the loss of John Buck and Lyle Overbay through free agency.
Jose Bautista, who led the Majors with 54 home runs last season, will be looked upon to carry most of that load.
The Blue Jays had been planning to play Bautista at third base this season.
But the solid performance of a slimmed-down Edwin Encarnacion during the spring prompted Farrell on Tuesday to announce that Encarnacion would start the season at third, reverting Bautista and his strong throwing arm to his preferred spot back in right field.
Farrell has spent much of his time since joining the organization just getting to know the players, especially the younger ones. Early in spring training, Farrell ignored veterans such as Bautista and Adam Lind during batting practice and instead went straight to Anthony Gose, a young prospect who was attending his first major-league camp.
For the next 40 minutes the pair shot the breeze like a couple of old saloon pals in what was a telling snapshot of life with the new skipper.
"In managing people you have to know what makes them tick," Farrell said.
Players will know exactly what is expected of them, he says.
"There's going to come a time where maybe the message delivered isn't what they want to hear, but it's one that's going to be honest and up-front," Farrell said.
Younger players such as outfielder Travis Snider said the new manager's forthright manner, which wasn't always evident with Gaston, is refreshing.
"Not to say one way is right or wrong, but it's a nice change of pace for me personally," Snider said.
Snider presented the rookie manager with his first crisis when he showed up for spring training with a sore muscle in his side that, as it turns out, was related to Snider's golf playing.
"John showed a lot of patience with me but he also showed a lot of trust in me," Snider said. "That's important for us as competitors, because we all want to get back out there and here's a guy saying: 'Hey, if you need a day, take a day.' There's not a second look from him.
"The best way to put it is John's very approachable. Communication is something he obviously believes very highly in and so far he's a guy who tells you what he likes and doesn't like."
For four seasons Farrell was the pitching coach with the Red Sox where he helped nurture a staff that included the likes of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester into one of baseball's best.
Farrell opted to keep Bruce Walton as his pitching coach with the Blue Jays when he became manager and Walton said he feels no added pressure with a former pitching overseeing his work.
"He brings a high quality of pitching background to our organization, so it's been very fun," Walton said. "I've been able to pick his brain left and right."
Farrell's enthusiasm towards the players is also evident according to Ricky Romero, who recalled a spring training bullpen session that the new manager watched with interest.
"You could see him getting excited," said Romero. "He's brought that to the team himself, too, just by the way he goes about his business.
"For me, he's been very approachable,"