TORONTO - With speculation growing that the Boston Red Sox are after Toronto manager John Farrell, the Blue Jays are playing hardball.
The Jays issued a statement saying employees won't be permitted to leave for the same job in another organization -- essentially blocking a move by Farrell to the Red Sox.
The statement says: "Due to the distraction caused by media speculation regarding our employee permission policy, the Toronto Blue Jays have amended their policy and will not grant permission for lateral moves."
GM Alex Anthopoulos had previously been on record as saying that employees were permitted to speak with any team about any job at any time.
"There is no such thing as tampering when it comes to our organization, no one has to be afraid of anything," Anthopoulos told Sportsnet.ca earlier this month. "We will never prevent anybody from going anywhere.
"We want people that feel this is the best opportunity for them."
Farrell spent four seasons as Boston's pitching coach before being hired to manage the Blue Jays last year. The team finished fourth in the American League East with an 81-81 record in his first season on the job.
On Sunday, the Boston Globe reported the Red Sox had interest in bringing Farrell back as manager.
The Red Sox are currently going through a shakeup following one of the biggest September collapses in major-league history. They blew a nine-game lead in the wild card over the final month of the season and missed the playoffs.
Following that, manager Terry Francona was dismissed and general manager Theo Epstein jumped ship and joined the Chicago Cubs.
Ben Cherington was expected to be named as Epstein's replacement on Tuesday afternoon.
