Rosenthal on D&H: Will the Indians pursue Farrell as their next manager?

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, in his weekly visit on the Dale & Holley Show, said that "it's going to be interesting to see" whether the Indians make a push to pursue Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell as their next manager. Cleveland fired manager Eric Wedge on Wednesday. Farrell has several ties to Cleveland, having pitched for the Indians and then later becoming the team's director of player development from 2001-06. He also lives in Cleveland in the offseason.
 
But, as Rosenthal first reported and WEEI.com confirmed [1], Farrell has a contract clause that prevents him from managing until after the 2010 season. The Red Sox could elect to waive the clause, perhaps in exchange for player or financial compensation. With the clause creating a barrier to the pursuit of Farrell, Rosenthal said that it remains an unknown whether Cleveland G.M. Mark Shapiro will seek the Sox pitching coach to steward the Indians.
 
"It’s going to be interesting to see how strong a push they make for John Farrell, if at all. As I reported over the weekend, he has that clause in his contract that says that he cannot manage in 2010. Obviously, that can be negotiated away, and I probably wrote it too strongly in saying that he could not be a candidate there. If they really wanted him and they’d give the Red Sox a player, they can have him," said Rosenthal. "The question becomes: do they want to go through all that trouble and engage in that kind of thing when John Farrell has never managed. He’s done a lot of great things in the game. A lot of people believe he will be a great manager. But he has no track record in that regard. So it will be really interesting to see how that plays out."
 
Rosenthal also discussed the Sox-Angels playoff series, the impact of opposing teams' ability to run at will on Boston, the relative strengths of the different playoff pitching staffs, and the end-of-year player awards.
 
To listen to the complete interview, click here [2].