Sean McAdam of CSN New England is reporting that current Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell will be the next manager of the Boston Red Sox, and has agreed to a multi-year deal with the team.
The Blue Jays and Red Sox were haggling over compensation for Farrell to leave Toronto and head to Boston, where he was the pitching coach under Terry Francona from the 2007 season to the 2010 season. Farrell was named Blue Jays manager replacing the retired Cito Gaston after the 2010 season, and in his two seasons at the helm of the Blue Jays, he has a 154-170 record.
Farrell will be replacing Bobby Valentine, who was hired last winter to replace the fired Francona after Boston's collapse in September of 2011. Valentine's one season as Red Sox manager was an unmitigated disaster, and he was fired soon after the season ended.
The compensation that the Red Sox will be sending to the Blue Jays for Farrell is currently unknown, but it is known that last season, Toronto was demanding pitchers Clay Buchholz or Daniel Bard. The Red Sox also interviewed Brad Ausmus, DeMarlo Hale, Tony Pena, and Tim Wallach for the position, but Farrell seemed to be their guy from step one of the search.
UPDATE: WEEI is reporting that shortstop Mike Aviles is the player heading to Toronto. The 31-year old had a .663 OPS last season as Boston's starter at shortstop, and his acquisition does not bode well for the future of the temperamental Yunel Escobar with the Blue Jays. Escobar had a .644 OPS last season for Toronto, and his season was marred by him writing an offensive slur in Spanish on his eyeblack during a game in September. He's signed for $5 million next season.
