Amid reports that the Red Sox are interested in hiring away Blue Jays manager John Farrell, Toronto star Jose Bautista said Monday that he’s hopeful Farrell will remain with the Jays.

“He knows we want him to stay,” Bautista said prior to Game 5 of the World Series, as he accepted the American League Hank Aaron Award for the second consecutive season.

“When it comes down to it, he’s going to have to make a decision based on his career, his family, and where he feels comfortable. Unfortunately, if that means him going to the Red Sox, we’re just going to have to find a new manager. But I’m hopeful that doesn’t happen.”

Farrell served as the Boston pitching coach for four years before becoming the Toronto manager prior to this season.

“The way to look at it is as a compliment, knowing that you have a good manager, that a team like that is interested in quote-unquote taking him away from you,” Bautista said.

“Hopefully, he’ll stay on board with us. It was a period of transition from Cito (Gaston) to him, and now we feel comfortable with him. I feel like he did a great job managing our team, given all the difficulties of our season with injuries, trades, roster shuffles, some guys maybe not playing up to their capabilities. We still broke .500. Moving forward, if we get the pitching consistency and health we need, I don’t see us being too far away from making the playoffs.”

— Jon Paul Morosi