Ben Cherington
Ben Cherington
Benjamin P. Cheringtonis an American former professional baseball executive and current executive in residence in Columbia University's sports management program...
announced clear early forward looking next opportunity welcome work
The day that Jed and I were announced as co-general managers, I made it clear that I would welcome the opportunity to work with Theo again. That day will come early next week, and I am looking forward to it.
add arm aware close commitment felt leagues opportunity premium took type
We had an opportunity to add a high-end premium arm to the system. We felt he was close enough to the big leagues to warrant that type of contract. We were well aware of what type of commitment it would take before we took him.
bat became clear mound notion point progress putting talked waiting
It became clear that his bat was not going to progress to the point where it would take him to the big leagues. We talked about the notion of putting him on the mound for a long time. Ultimately, we were waiting for him to really want to do it.
ability center defensive plus skills
He's got on-base skills and the ability to be a plus defensive center fielder.
faces
We may see some of the same faces back this season.
chance high reason school second short stanford whatever
He was a shortstop in high school and for whatever reason got into the lineup at Stanford first as a second baseman. He could always go back there, but we feel he has a chance to play short and he really wanted to do it.
best hottest pitcher
He was our hottest pitcher and we had a real need. We thought it was the best thing we could do for the major-league team.
good kid last league mediocre numbers overall pitchers starting youngest
He was one of the youngest starting pitchers in the International League last year. He had some really, really good starts, and some mediocre ones. But for the overall numbers for a kid that young in Triple-A, it was a pretty good year.
closer opportunity spring training
He'll go into spring training as the closer and he'll have every opportunity to be the closer for 2006.
build deeper manager staff trying
We've been trying to build a deeper bullpen. One that is more versatile, one that allows our manager and our staff a little more flexibility.
adjustment against competition controlled environment gets good hasten looking murphy opportunity pitch specific team
For Murphy and Moss, there is no specific adjustment that we are looking for. More ABs against good competition will hasten their development. For Delgado, this is an opportunity to have him pitch in a more controlled environment than he would with a team in Venezuela, and gets him under our supervision.
good hurt incredible last sure
In the long run, I don't think (being called up last year) will hurt him. Did it have a short-term impact? I'm sure it did to some degree. But he's got incredible makeup, toughness. He's going to be a good major-league pitcher.
afraid guys opportunity people push ready spring sure training
All those guys will have an opportunity in spring training to show what they can do. We're not afraid to push people to Portland. We want to make sure they're ready for it.
fill happen holes ways
A lot can happen in 3 1/2 months. We've got a lot of holes to fill, and there's a lot of ways to fill it.