Cherington Takes Over As Red Sox GM
BOSTON (CBS) - Ben Cherington is now officially the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.
Cherington was introduced at Fenway Park on Tuesday, taking over for departed GM Theo Epstein who was introduced as President of the Chicago Cubs earlier in the day.
"I'm incredibly honored to be given this opportunity," said Cherington, also adding it was time for change.
"It's my job, as part of that change, to preserve what we're good at and also serve as a catalyst of the change that we need," said Cherington, now in his 14th season with the Red Sox.
"What's going to work moving forward is not necessarily what has worked in the past. It's my job to manage this transition and really the job of the baseball operations to move forward and identify the things that we do need to do differently to have the kind of success that our fans deserve and ownership deserve."
Steve Burton With Ben Cherington
While he only has brief experience as a general manager, taking over for Epstein during his brief departure from the team in 2005, Cherington has the confidence of the Red Sox owners. Team president Larry Lucchino pointed out it was Cherington who fought hard to sign Adrian Beltre to a one-year deal in 2010.
"He's rolled up his sleeves, he's done the work and he has the respect," said Lucchino. "He is a leader. His background in scouting is immensely impressive to me."
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"Ben is a hybrid baseball executive," added Lucchino. "He is conversant with, comfortable with progressive thinking, statistical analysis, etc. He also has a healthy, sincere respect for traditional observational scouting. You put those two together, you get the best baseball evaluators, the best baseball executives."
Cherington, much like Epstein, stressed the importance of building a strong farm system from the bottom up. He started as a scout for the Red Sox in the late 90's, and will use that experience to his benefit.
He admitted there are some things that need to change when it comes to the Red Sox clubhouse, after a 7-20 September and talk of pitchers drinking on their off days.
"We have work to do this offseason. To restore the culture that we expect in the clubhouse, to restore the level of accountability. I don't believe there's a silver bullet that will be the answer to that," said Cherington.
"Certainly we have an important hire in our next manager, he will be a big part of that. But we'll all be a part of it. Most important the players will be a part of it. I know talking to players, I believe there is a great motivation to clean up whatever does need to be cleaned up in the clubhouse, and move forward to 2012."
Steve Burton With Ben Cherington Pt. 2
"We have the makings of a very good team, and as everyone knows we were on our way to a very, very good season at the end of August. We went 7-20 and it was painful. But that doesnt mean we don't ahve the core of a really, really good team coming back."
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Cherington is the 11th GM in Red Sox team history.
