John Farrell To Join ESPN's Baseball Tonight Lineup

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Former Red Sox manager John Farrell recently announced that he will be joining the scouting staff of the Cincinnati Reds. So, it's a little strange that today it was announced that Farrell will also be joining the on-air staff of ESPN's Baseball Tonight. Thus, it's hardly likely that Farrell will be dishing out neutral commentary on pitchers on the Cincinnati team or facing the Cincinnati team or ones who might someday become part of the Cincinnati team. Isn't this a rather blatant conflict of interest? Obviously, other managers have taken media gigs in between MLB assignments—like Terry Francona and Alex Cora—but doing both at the same time seems a little sordid. Then again, it's ESPN—The Worldwide Leader In Conflicts of Interest.