Here are snippets of Alex Anthopoulos' (AA) conference call regarding John Farrell (JF) from Twitter. Unfortunately there was a typo in the number so we were not able to hear it first hand. Thanks to folks like Mike Wilner, Brendan Kennedy, Mike Cormack, Barry Davis, and Shi Davidi for their tweets!
On John Farrell's Revelation About His "Dream Job"
- AA and JF did not chat about an extension at any point in 2012
- A week after the season ended, JF told him that managing the Red Sox was his dream job and that if an opportunity arose, he wanted to persue it
- On the last day of the season, AA's thought JF was "100% going to be the Blue Jays manager for 2013" so AA's focus was just on the roster, but when Red Sox "distractions" came up, Farrell confirmed he wanted to go
- The Jays would have continued with JF as the manager in 2013 if trade did not work out, appreciated JF's honesty that he wanted to go to the Red Sox, saying "There was no other city for him that was more of a perfect fit and perfect opportunity."
- Question on why AA isn't angry. Response: "You're never going to get me on a conference call ranting and raving" because it isn't productive, and JF worked hard in Toronto. "Unique set of events" led to his leaving. AA is not happy but now they have to move forward as an organization
- When JF told AA Boston was his dream job, "didn't make much sense" not to look at trading him
On the Trade and Negotiation Process
- Red Sox owner John Henry talked to Jays president Paul Beeston regarding a trade
- AA and Beeston apologizes for the premature leak last night, but didn't release anything because they needed to finish medical tests on Mike Aviles and the trade needed to be approved by the Commissioner's Office
- AA says it didn't go "as smoothly" as he would have liked
- This was not a lateral move, it was a trade. Team will still forbid lateral moves
- Clubhouse issues started when the Jays didn't win enough games
- AA wishes JF well
- AA doesn't believe that JF's hiring was a mistake since the timing of Terry Francona's dismissal and Bobby Valentine's short tenure was unique; a perfect storm
- Not concerned about Blue Jays intelligence leaked to the Red Sox via John Farrell
On the Spread of False Information
- It is "100% false" and there was "not one ounce of truth" that JF wanted Omar Vizquel released, disappointed at all the false information out there
- Disappointed at the amount of "gamesmanship" coming from "the other side"
- AA: Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington is "first-class, honest, straight forward" and that he wishes he could tell you where a lot of [the false information] came from."
- Reports on Adam Lind's involvement in trade was obviously 100% false
- During the entire negotiation, AA focused on getting big-league talent, not prospects.
- AA: The entire transaction was done at the ownership level.
On the Players Involved in the Trade
- AA never planned to leave David Carpenter on the 40-man roster anyway
- On Aviles: Yes, OBP is bad, but it isn't easy to find everyday middle infielders with two years of control, and the free agent market is thin, would love to find someone with .360-.400 OBP but those are rare
- Mike Aviles will "at a minimum" have a utility role, may compete for 2B in spring training depending on other moves. AA spoke to Aviles today and "promised him nothing"
- AA: one thing that was learned this year was to not rely too much on young players and that they can't have too much depth at any level
On the Managerial Search
- Search for new manager will be "significantly faster"
- Right now there are no front runners for the Jays' managerial search, but it will be a much smaller group than last time
- The coaching staff is free to talk to any other ballclub during the managerial search since they aren't under contract, AA hopes that "some" of them will return
- AA would seek to speak to a few people who were with other clubs he didn't get a chance to talk to last managerial search