Rating Ben Cherington

[Bellhorn04]

Let's face it folks. This was pretty much a miracle. We took a starting rotation that had the worst ERA in franchise history and added Ryan Dempster to it, and won the World Series.

[User Name]

Does not matter what Cherrington was thinking....unbelievable....never mind...this is going to turn into another of those world famous Talksox circle-jerks and those are just too stupid and time consuming.

 

Who said it didn't matter what Cherington was thinking? You're the only who has said such a thing.

[User Name]

Let's face it folks. This was pretty much a miracle. We took a starting rotation that had the worst ERA in franchise history and added Ryan Dempster to it, and won the World Series.

 

Lots of people here didn't think it would be a miracle to win the WS if they made the playoffs, because the playoffs are a crapshoot.

[mvp 78]

Look, I think Ben thought he was building a team that would contend in the East and compete for a playoff spot. He said over and over that the division was tight and up for grabs. I don't think he thought it was some lost season or bridge year.

 

I guess any conversation where spmeone disagrees is a circlejerk now?

[sk7326]

Look, I think Ben thought he was building a team that would contend in the East and compete for a playoff spot. He said over and over that the division was tight and up for grabs. I don't think he thought it was some lost season or bridge year.

 

I guess any conversation where spmeone disagrees is a circlejerk now?

 

I think he thought that the Red Sox could contend in the division. I did too - but I thought they could finish last because everybody was going to be so bunched up ... Toronto was the sexy pick, and it was sexy to doom NYY and Boston to the dustbin, but in reality the teams were all very close together, with the Orioles as only real negative regression pick. Of course the Orioles ended up getting better (and missing the playoffs anyway, such is baseball) and Toronto had the problems that come with a team of older players.

 

My guess is Cherington thought this team was a 2010 sort of arc ... 85ish wins, some version of contention, they'd at least get us to the last month of the season before petering out. I doubt anybody saw the wire-to-wire best team in baseball. That said, the pieces were there - they had just been largely injured in the last couple of seasons.

[Bellhorn04]

Lots of people here didn't think it would be a miracle to win the WS if they made the playoffs, because the playoffs are a crapshoot.

 

Absolutely. As this season unfolded and you saw all the good things that were happening you could tell that this team had a real shot.

[SoxSport]

You have to give Cherington credit for putting together the right chemistry. You only hope he is smart enough to keep that chemistry, and not tinker with it, as often happens.

[vjcsmoke]

Cherington gets an A+ from me for this season.

 

1. You have to give him credit for unloading the huge and unwanted salaries of Crawford, Gonzalez, Beckett, and Punto. The salary relief was HUGE. Getting those headcases out of the clubhouse was probably even bigger. Not to mention the Dodgers kicked in a few prospects as well.

2. He acquired World Series winning skipper John Farrel for Aviles. Yes he pried away a WS quality manager for the price of a backup infielder. That is also HUGE and we don't wins the WS without Farrell. Brilliant move there.

3. Amazingly enough his free agent acquisitions pretty much ALL made positive contributions to the championship run. It's always risky to go for bulk purchases in free agency because it is uncertain how they will all fit together. But to his credit he targeted high character guys who really turned around the atmosphere in the clubhouse. How about getting the best closer in all of baseball for just 4.25m? Awesome!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/sports/baseball/in-bulk-purchase-of-free-agents-the-red-sox-go-7-for-7.html?_r=0

 

Yes, Cherington had some luck on his side, but he also made a lot of smart moves to put together this championship winning roster. BC has earned all the praises that are coming his way. It looks like Boston chose the right man for the job to take over for Epstein.

[Bellhorn04]

Cherington gets an A+ from me for this season.

 

2. He acquired World Series winning skipper John Farrel for Aviles. Yes he pried away a WS quality manager for the price of a backup infielder. That is also HUGE and we don't wins the WS without Farrell. Brilliant move there.

 

And he even acquired a pitcher, David Carpenter in the trade.

 

But then, he let Carpenter go and the guy goes on to have an excellent season as Atlanta's setup guy.

 

So it wasn't all sunshine and roses. One good move followed quickly by one bad move.

 

Yes, I'm joking.

[User Name]

And he even acquired a pitcher, David Carpenter in the trade.

 

But then, he let Carpenter go and the guy goes on to have an excellent season as Atlanta's setup guy.

 

So it wasn't all sunshine and roses. One good move followed quickly by one bad move.

 

Yes, I'm joking.

 

Then blows up in the playoffs for Atlanta. Genius Ben.

[Palodios]

Ten years from now, there will be a best selling book and oscar winning film about a general manager in baseball with narcolepsy, whose part will be played by the next young heartthrob. This GM had discovered a successful baseball formula centered around finding players who loved the game, didn't suck, and didn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars. With this formula, he won the World Series and did it without three 20 million dollar players who had been on the team the year prior.

 

The book will be published in 7 different languages, and will be titled "Boob-ball".

[a700hitter]

Ten years from now, there will be a best selling book and oscar winning film about a general manager in baseball with narcolepsy, whose part will be played by the next young heartthrob. This GM had discovered a successful baseball formula centered around finding players who loved the game, didn't suck, and didn't cost hundreds of millions of dollars. With this formula, he won the World Series and did it without three 20 million dollar players who had been on the team the year prior.

 

The book will be published in 7 different languages, and will be titled "Boob-ball".

And other teams will start copying the Boob-Ball philosophy.