It's now ten days after the end of the 2009 baseball season and the only thing the Cleveland Indians know about their vacant managerial position is that it won't be filled by Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. That's because Farrell, who was initially seen as a front-runner for the job, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer today that while he is interested in managing some day, he's not interested in the Indians job and he'd rather stay in his position in Boston. As the former farm director in Cleveland under Mark Shapiro, Farrell seemed like maybe the most logical choice for the job, but this isn't the first time he's turned a managerial job down. He was believed to be the frontrunner in 2007 in Pittsburgh, where former Shapiro assistant Neal Huntington is GM, but he also asked for his name to be removed from consideration then, as well.
Farrell mentions that he has a "mutual commitment" with Boston, but since Boston granted him the right to interview earlier in the week it's hard to imagine they'd begrudge him leaving for a managerial position. It could be that he simply likes being a pitching coach or working with the current Boston staff and doesn't want to give that up right now or that he feels too much loyalty towards Terry Francona to bail on his contract. Or it could be that he just doesn't want to manage somewhere like Pittsburgh or Cleveland enough to give up his job in Boston.
It is still early in the Indians' process, so Shapiro should still have plenty of time to find a suitable candidate. The Plain Dealer says that he and his staff are currently narrowing the list down to three to five names, at which point they'll begin face-to-face interviews. There are no names named, but Bobby Valentine's name has cropped up in the past week or so.
