TORONTO — Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos had interviewed 18 candidates for the manager’s job and still couldn’t make up his mind.

“I think I drove my wife crazy,” he said Monday.

In the end, Anthopoulos picked the person he’d felt a bond with right from the start: Boston Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.

Farrell was chosen to succeed Cito Gaston, who retired after the season. It will be Farrell’s first managerial job.

“It’s one heck of a unique and exciting opportunity,” Farrell said.

Anthopoulos declined to reveal the length of Farrell’s contract or other terms of the agreement.

Anthopoulos said he felt “an immediate connection” with Farrell in their first interview, a wide-ranging, 3-hour discussion.

“John’s the type who strikes me, getting to know him more and more, he’s not going to rest, he’s never going to be satisfied,” Anthopoulos said. “Any weakness he might have, I think he’s going to correct it pretty fast. He’s going to work extremely hard to correct it.”

The 48-year-old Farrell also felt a bond with the young Blue Jays GM.

“As Alex mentioned of the connection, that was felt on this side as well,” he said. “Going through this interview process it became very clear the direction that this organization is heading, the resources that are available to support a club that is going to compete and compare with New York and Boston in time. Those were all clear selling points to me.”

 

YANKEES: New York fired pitching coach Dave Eiland. GM Brian Cashman would not divulge a reason for letting Eiland go after his third year as the team’s pitching coach. Cashman says the decision was his and the reason is private. He insisted that it had nothing to do with the Yankees’ poor performance against the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.

Eiland was away from the team from June 4 through June 29 to deal with a personal matter.

 

CARDINALS: Mark McGwire agreed to a one-year deal after making his debut as St. Louis’ hitting coach last season. Terms were not disclosed.