According to the USA Today, the Toronto Blue Jays will not stop manager John Farrell from joining the Boston Red Sox should he decide to leave.

Bob Nightengale, the USA Today reporter who first broke the story, was on a Toronto sports radio program and said that the Jays and Sox have most likely already had preliminary talks.

"John Farrell is very good friends with (Red Sox GM) Ben Cherington and those people so you can't say there hasn't been phone calls," Nightengale said. "I'm sure Lucchino and Paul Beeston have already talked. Formally just a technicality."

"Cherington wants him badly. If Blue Jays really wanted him and said no, they would've given him an extension or said he's going to be our guy for the next five years … we've never seen those comments. They're going to let him go."

Nightengale also said that Farrell will most likely end up in Boston and that the Jays wouldn't receive much in terms of compensation. He cites the Marlins and White Sox trade for Ozzie Guillen.

"You're not going to get much compensation. Remember when Theo Epstein went to the Cubs, there was very little compensation. When Ozzie Guillen went to the Marlins, very little. Only talking about a fringe-type prospect. Nothing big."

Farrell was the Red Sox pitching coach from 2005-2009 and was popular with Red Sox players in the clubhouse. He also was integral in bolstering the Red Sox pitching staff, something the Sox desperately need for the 2013 season.