BOSTON -- John Farrell will not return as the club's manager for the 2018 season, the Red Sox announced on Wednesday. A search for a new manager will begin immediately.Farrell, who had one year left on his contract, was relieved of his duties two days after the Red Sox were eliminated from the American League Division Series presented by Doosan for a second successive year.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski scheduled an 11 a.m. ET news conference, which can be seen live on MLB.com and redsox.com, to discuss the decision.The Red Sox won 93 games in each of the past two seasons, and Farrell was the first manager in club history to guide the club to back-to-back AL East titles.After guiding the Red Sox to a World Series championship in his first season at the helm in 2013, Boston finished in last place in '14 and '15.Despite the resurgence of the past two years, Boston couldn't get the spark it needed come playoff time.The Indians swept the Red Sox in three games in last year's Division Series. The Astros outscored the Red Sox, 16-4, while taking the first two games of this year's Division Series in Houston last week. Boston came back with an inspired performance to win Game 3, 10-3, and was six outs away from winning Game 4, but Chris Sale gave up the lead on a solo homer by Alex Bregman to start the eighth inning and closer Craig Kimbrel faltered in his place.Farrell went 432-378 in his five seasons with Boston and his win total is the sixth highest in team history. With Farrell's dismissal, Terry Francona (2004-11) remains the only one since Joe Cronin (1935-47) to manage the Red Sox for more than five consecutive seasons.Overall, Farrell spent nine seasons with the Red Sox, also serving as the club's pitching coach from 2007-10. In between, he managed the Blue Jays in '11-12, going 154-170.Ian Browne / MLB.com
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