Farrell not going anywhere, say Blue Jays

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This article was published 26/10/2011 (5321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays shut the door on manager John Farrell bolting for the Boston Red Sox before their American League East rival could even come knocking.

With speculation growing that the Red Sox had interest in Farrell, the Blue Jays announced a change to team policy Tuesday that forbids employees from leaving to take the same job with another organization.

Pressed for specifics on the policy, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said during a conference call that it wouldn’t be lifted even if another team offered compensation in exchange for a Blue Jays employee.

“Totally, 100 per cent, lateral moves (will be blocked),” said Anthopoulos. “That’s exactly the way it reads.”

Anthopoulos had previously been on record as saying that employees were permitted to speak with any team about any job at any time. It had been a long-standing policy within the organization dating back to Paul Beeston’s first stint as CEO from 1989-1997.

Both of those men were besieged by interview requests following a report in Sunday’s Boston Globe that the Red Sox were interested in hiring Farrell, their former pitching coach.

Beeston and Anthopoulos modified the open-door policy, but the GM denies the change had anything to do with concerns Farrell might leave.

“There hasn’t been a fear (of that),” said Anthopoulos. “It’s just come to the point that we’ve been inundated across the board — our CEO (Beeston), myself, our employees. It’s starting to become a distraction and it’s certainly taking away from the work day.”

— The Canadian Press