Bobby Valentine is the manager of the Boston Red Sox. Of his 2012 travails, you know much.

John Farrell is the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. He used to be Boston’s pitching coach. The Red Sox attempted to hire him away from Toronto last year, but the teams could not agree on compensation.

The Red Sox might try to do this again, writes Nick Cafardo:

John Farrell was the Red Sox’ top choice to manage after they fired Terry Francona last October, and every indication this reporter has received from team and major league sources is that he will be their first choice to replace Bobby Valentine.

That seems to indicate Valentine is likely a goner, either before season’s end or soon after. But how could such a hiring take place, with Farrell under contract to Toronto through 2013? Cafardo has one suggestion:

It’s interesting that in the Dodgers deal, the Red Sox had to accept two “players to be named” in hard-throwing Rubby De La Rosa and outfielder Jerry Sands. De La Rosa had been claimed on waivers by the Jays and pulled back by the Dodgers; once a player is pulled back, he can’t be traded until the offseason.

The Jays would love to have someone like De La Rosa as compensation. But the Red Sox see him as a potential top-of-the-rotation starter and likely would not part with him as compensation.

So maybe it’s not quite that simple. The Red Sox and Blue Jays face each other at Fenway this weekend. Could Farrell be in the other dugout by next season? Stranger things have happened.

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