The Toronto Blue Jays Are Looking For A New Manager.

John Farrell’s Long-rumoured Return To The Boston Red Sox Is A Done Deal, According To Various Reports Out Of Boston Late Saturday Night.

The Deal Was First Reported By Sean McAdam Of Comcast Sports And Quickly Confirmed By Others, Citing Unidentified Sources.

Farrell, Who Managed The Blue Jays For Two Seasons, Reportedly Will Get A Three-year Deal With The Red Sox.

The Jays Will Receive A Player Or Players But No Compensation Has Been Confirmed. Jon Morosi Of Fox Sports Reported That The Swap Will Involve One Player From Each Team And That Toronto Will Get A Player Who Was A Major-leaguer In 2012.

The Blue Jays Will Receive Infielder Mike Aviles, According To WEEI.com In Boston. Aviles Hit .250 With A .282 On-base Percentage As Boston’s Regular Shortstop This Past Season.

The Red Sox Were Reportedly Set To Make An Official Announcement Early Sunday Morning. The Blue Jays Were Mum On The Deal.

This Was Not The Way Jays’ General Manager Alex Anthopoulos Hoped To Start The Off-season. Instead Of Focusing On Rotation Reinforcements Via Trade Or Free-agent Signings, The GM Must Find A New Manager – And Possibly One Or More New Coaches, Depending On Whether Farrell Takes Any Of His Toronto Staff With Him To Boston.

One Report Suggested That Sandy Alomar Jr., The Cleveland Bench Coach Who Also Interviewed For The Toronto Job In 2010, Could Be A Favourite To Replace Farrell. Alomar Is The Brother Of Roberto Alomar, The Hall Of Fame Second Baseman Who Serves As A Blue Jays’ Advisor.

Farrell Was The Red Sox Pitching Coach For Four Years Before Taking Over The Toronto Job In 2011. He Was Widely Viewed As The Heir Apparent To Terry Francona, But Took The Toronto Job When It Appeared Francona Would Remain The Red Sox Manager Well Into The Future.

That Changed After Boston’s Collapse Late In The 2011 Season. The Red Sox Wanted Farrell To Replace Francona, But Farrell Was Only One Year Into His Three-year Deal With The Jays And Anthopoulos Refused To Let Him Go. So The Sox Made An Ill-fated Decision To Hire Bobby Valentine, Who Was Fired After One Dismal Season.

Anthopoulos Refused Even To Confirm That Boston Coveted Farrell But The Jays’ GM Did Institute A Policy Barring A Contract Employee From Making A Lateral Move To A Rival Team. Anthopoulos Often Cited That Policy When Asked About The Farrell Rumours, Which Began Back In The Summer As Valentine’s Reign Began To Collapse.

That Policy Obviously Was A Paper Tiger When The Red Sox Came Calling This Time.

According To A Report On Boston.com, “the Red Sox Decided They Needed A Manager With The Ability To Handle Both The Clubhouse And The Internal Politics Of Fenway Park. Farrell Has A Strong Relationship With Veteran Players On The Roster, Particularly The Pitchers, And Has Shown He Can Work Well With General Manager Ben Cherington And The Baseball Operations Staff Along With The Ownership Group.”

Late In The Season, And As Recently As A Few Days Ago, Reports Suggested Farrell Was Not Handling The Blue Jays’ Internal Politics So Well. Several Jays’ Players – Including Omar Vizquel, Casey Janssen And Adam Lind – Said Farrell And His Coaches Failed To Crack Down On Mistakes By The Team’s Younger Players.

Another Story Said Farrell Wanted To Release The Veteran Vizquel In Mid-season But Was Overruled By Anthopoulos. That Report, By The Toronto Sun’s Bob Elliott, Also Said Farrell Was Displeased When Anthopoulos Made Mid-season Moves To Bolster The Bullpen Instead Of The Starting Rotation.

• Email: jlott@nationalpost.com | Twitter: @LottOnBaseball