I totally agree that Farrell could have handled it better, I just think the article does a lousy job of articulating why.Interesting--I went the opposite direction. Basically, I feel like this whole thing could have been quashed with a well timed, "Hey, knock it off." That that didn't and hasn't happened suggests a bad vibe to me, and quashing bad vibes might well be the manager's most important job.
If this happened after a loss, Farrell should have pulled out the, "Is losing fun?" speech from Moneyball when he heard the applause.
I also think it's inherently self serving for the media to blame Farrell for the issue "lingering," when it's only back in the media because Shank sat on a hit piece for a month, waiting for Price to lay an egg.