The Red Sox fell off our collective radar about 15 minutes after news broke of the Jon Lester trade.

Rusney Castillo is just that - a ruse. His arrival was a nice deception to throw us off the scent. A scent that really stinks. Last year, the Red Sox magic number turned out to be 95 - as in those 95 years since they had won an World Series at Fenway Park.

This year, it's 70 - as in 70 wins. The benchmark has shifted from wiping out a century-long drought of home-won championships to barely squeaking past the futility of Bobby Valentine.

Whether the Red Sox win 68 or 72 games this season is just a numerical anomaly. The 2014 and 2012 seasons were completely different collapses. In 2012, things fell apart because the team stopped trying and the manager became disengaged.

This year, the failure of the Red Sox is much more concerning. And potentially, much more troublesome.

The Red Sox never stopped trying this year. They cycled in and out young players and newcomers, all of whom were presumably fighting for jobs and/or roster spots here or elsewhere. The 2012 Red Sox were full of underperforming and overpaid "superstars" who mailed it in. The 2014 Red Sox were full of underperforming mediocre players who continued to care long after the rest of us moved on to football season.

Valentine became the personification of the 2012 Red Sox. In 2014, meanwhile, the visage of John Farrell has faded from public view quicker than those "Call Me Maybe" college videos or the #BostonStrong hashtag. Farrell continues to bank on his straight-shooting "John Wayne" persona in the public eye. His body language remains stoic. He squeezes out the right words at each opportunity, maintaining his composure while those few remaining fans watching the games on TV or in person unload a fusilade of expletives and incentives after each tepid performance.

There has to be a place somewhere beneath the Red Sox clubhouse where Farrell goes and takes it all out on a game of "Whack-A-Mole" featuring pop-up heads of A.J. Pierzynski, Will Middlebrooks, Stephen Drew and Clay Buchholz.

Farrell stayed in the background as 2013's "Band of Bearded Brothers" pulled off a worst-to-first title run. In retrospect, that was a very wise move for the Duke. How can we "blame the manager" for the catastrophe that is 2014 when he avoided his share of the credit in 2013.

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John Farrell Enjoys Free Pass In Wake of Red Sox Woes