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Massarotti: Is It Time For Red Sox To Move On From Farrell?

BOSTON (CBS) -- John Henry and Larry Lucchino have been conspicuous in their absence over the last few weeks, and so one can only wonder what they are thinking in the highest reaches of Fenway Park. The Red Sox have invested a club record of roughly $200 million into their roster this year, and they certainly did not do so to finish last again.

And so, at the risk of striking a nerve that we all generally like to steer from, let's get this out there:

At this point, the firing of manager John Farrell has to at least be on the table.

Do the Red Sox want to do that, especially after giving Farrell a needless extension in Spring Training? Probably not. Certainly not. Farrell was signed through this season with an option for 2016 when he arrived at spring training after a last place finish, and he now has a deal through the 2017 season. Many of us deemed that extension to be needless and foolish at the time, and there has been nothing to transpire to change our minds.

In fact, what has happened with the Red Sox this season has only fortified that position. And if Farrell didn't have his extension today, we'd be talking about him having a very tenuous future with the Red Sox.

And so, deal or no deal, why shouldn't that be the case now?

A little more than three weeks ago, after Henry made a visit to the manager's office at Fenway Park, the owner of the club deemed his Red Sox to be "the best team in the division." Two days later, the Red Sox fired pitching coach Juan Nieves. Boston's pitching has improved some since that time, but the Red Sox have now gone 8-11 since Nieves was sent packing, sliding a season-worst five games below .500 following yesterday's 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins that completed a three-game series sweep.

Since firing Nieves, the Red Sox have scored 55 runs in 19 games – that's an average of 2.9 runs per contest – while batting a collective .239 with a .654 OPS. As such, hitting coach Chili Davis is now becoming eyed with the same scrutiny Nieves was, because that's how things work in professional sports.

You can't change the roster, so you change the coach.

Or the manager.

For all of the bombast and vitriol the media business can generate, let's get this out there: calling for someone's job is serious business not to be taken lightly. (Personally speaking, over the last 20-plus years, this is why I have rarely done it.) In baseball, at least, players almost always win or lose games, which is why Henry and Co. went out and committed a truckload of money to Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez, Rick Porcello and others. And yet, despite that, the Red Sox sit at 21-26 more than a quarter of the way through the regular season, in a virtual tie with the Toronto Blue Jays for last place in the pathetic American League East.

So here's the obvious question:

Now what?

As much as anyone, Henry, Lucchino and a Red Sox operation obsessed with numbers and trends understands the significance of a 50-game sample. Calling anything a wild aberration is hard at this point. Truth be told, were it not for the horrible defense demonstrated by Sox opponents over the first month to six weeks of the season, this team might actually be in worse standing. All of this suggests the Red Sox are due for some sort of significant shakeup, which brings us to one of two options.

Firing the manager.

Or making a major trade.

Given where the Red Sox have spent much of the last four years, Sox ownership and management cannot have the appetite for another lost season. The 2011 campaign ended in historically bad fashion. The 2012 and 2014 seasons were lost causes by August. The 2013 championship seems more fluky by the day, a distant memory that, incredibly, has been all but forgotten amid the rubble of the last three or four years.

Meanwhile, attendance is down at Fenway, relative to last year's overall average, by roughly 1,000 seats per game. Presumably, that average will go up when the school year ends and the season progresses … assuming the Red Sox are still in contention.

Here's the problem: Part of the reason the Red Sox are in this position now is because their farm system went dry, prompting them to spend money on the free agent market. They have resisted trading Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Brian Johnson or Blake Swihart because they simply don't want to go year-to-year anymore. (Who likes paying the rent on a month-to-month basis?) And yet, if the Sox are intent on saving this season, they may now be faced with trading some of those prospects (sacrificing some of their future) or firing the manager.

To them, for certain, neither is an especially appealing option.

Tonight, of course, left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will make his first start for the Red Sox, in Texas, after beginning the year in Pawtucket. The obvious hope is that Rodriguez can give the Sox some sort of jolt. But we have now passed Memorial Day and the Red Sox' fortunes have not changed, despite a succession of moves that have included the manufactured injury to Justin Masterson, the demotion of Allen Craig, the recent shuffling of the batting order and the dismissal of Nieves. Just the other day, Farrell himself criticized his team's offensive approach – was that a shot at Davis, the players or both? – by saying that the club lacked a more "concerted" or "concentrated" effort.

Thus far, nothing seems to be working.

June is rapidly approaching.

Tony Massarotti co-hosts the Felger and Massarotti Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub weekdays from 2-6 p.m. Follow him on Twitter @TonyMassarotti. You can read more from Tony by clicking here.

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