FORT MYERS — Although you might think otherwise, John Farrell has ears. He just doesn’t have rabbit ears.

The beleaguered manager of the Red Sox hears the noise. He knows the situation he’s in, or at least he thinks he knows. But in his mind it’s not that different than every other year.

He has to win.

Is the leash shorter? Probably so, but two last- place finishes in three years and two underwhelming years before that running the Toronto Blue Jays will put you there. It’s not like it’s a surprise and, frankly, it’s no different than the position Farrell said he puts himself in every day anyway.

Win. Or else.

“Bottom line is you’re always looking to put players in a position to succeed,” said Farrell, who did lead the Sox to the 2013 World Series championship. “That’s what drives your preparation, drives how you try to create a team environment, a team culture. You’re never wavering or never ending in your pursuit of doing what’s right for your team and what’s right is to put individuals in a position to succeed. You’re always looking to take advantage of the strengths of your team. That doesn’t end regardless of your personal circumstance. Expectation is ingrained in you as a player. Expectations by others are never greater than your own.

“While the noise that might be out there, yeah, you recognize it but, you know, it doesn’t change what my driving force is every day. That’s to be as focused and as prepared as I can to put my players in the best position to succeed. To make decisions in the best interest of our team. That doesn’t change.”

We may soon see proof of that. Or not. There is a battle going on this spring at third base between an overpaid, overweight example of all that’s gone wrong in sports and a young, lithe kid who thus far has been doing the job better than a guy being paid $22 million a year to fail to do it.

Travis Shaw said this week his aim is “to make it hard on the decision-makers not to start me.”

Shaw, in 10 spring training appearances, excluding yesterday, is hitting .464, while Sandoval is hitting .208. In addition, Sandoval has booted three balls and was only saved from a fourth by a nice scoop by Hanley Ramirez off a bad throw to first.

That doesn’t mean Sandoval shouldn’t start the season at third but Shaw had a .814 OPS last year when he started 51 of the Sox’ final 58 games, mostly at first base. He also hit his first 13 major league homers in that stretch, which began after being called up for the final time on Aug. 1.

What Farrell does with Sandoval and Shaw may reveal either a change in him or a continuation of a status quo mindset that has not served him or the Sox well in two of the three years he’s been the manager. Farrell repeatedly said the decision on who is the team’s fifth starter will be made based on whose pitching best, not service time or contract value.

Time will tell, but if that’s his approach at third base as well, it would appear he understands the position he now finds himself in.

“I don’t know that anyone has a greater expectation than myself to win,” Farrell said. “This is the Boston Red Sox. That expectation is here every year. Our fans deserve it. Our ownership provides a tremendous resource to achieve that. That’s our collective goal. That doesn’t change. It’s the same thirst and passion that attracts you to this. It doesn’t make you fearful of this.”

In Farrell’s case one can understand that. After knocking back cancer last year when forced to leave the team when diagnosed with Stage 1 non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt lymphoma on Aug. 14, perspectives change. There’s baseball life and life itself. It’s pretty clear which is more important.

Farrell admits that experience changed his world view.

“Certainly it had an enormous impact on me,” Farrell said. “You flirt with your own mortality, it causes you to stop and think and be a lot more grateful for all the things that are around you. The smallest things of everyday life. In a word, I live with much more gratitude than previously. It helps me keep things balanced in a much, much better way.

“I’m a cancer survivor. That has got a good ring to it. Your job is important. That importance isn’t lost by any means. But you gain a greater appreciation for the things that you’re provided, whether that’s opportunity or relationships.

“There are challenges, I’d venture to say, that are unique to being here but that hasn’t deterred my joy of the game, my love of baseball. It’s baseball!”

As he said those words, Farrell spread his arms wide and grinned. What was obvious is the business he chose remains the game he loves, the same game he played as a kid pitching for Shore Regional High in New Jersey. Jobs come and go. Joy remains.

“There’s disappointment the way a day will turn out,” he said, “but in terms of not enjoying what I do? Nah, I love what I do. The morning they said ‘You got lymphoma’ wasn’t a great day. But there’s going to be challenges. There’s going to be adversities. When you come out the back side of that adversity, whether a stretch of season or turning a year around, that’s what you share with the staff you work with and the players you share it with. It’s what makes it the greatest place to be.”

It was that place — the clubhouse — where he wanted to be facing the biggest challenge of his life.

“It helped me get through it,” Farrell said of coming to Fenway Park during his recovery. “Part of the opening message I said to our players at spring training was don’t ever lose sight of the impact you have on others. When someone stops and tells you that you helped them get through a personal challenge by you going out and playing or what the Red Sox mean, well, they helped me get through it.

“I shared that with them. I thanked them for it. It was important to remain connected. It was a three-hour distraction people talk about. A three-hour distraction for me to get the hell away from an IV.”

This spring he’s back in that clubhouse, cancer free but not free of the pressures of managing one of the most scrutinized teams in baseball.

How he manages it is up to him but one thing seems clear. No matter how things turn out or how much the speculation and criticism mount, John Farrell will be glad to be there for the simplest reason.

It’s baseball.