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...
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.
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.
asked best both felt knew red solution
I don't think it was much of challenge. When Jed and I were asked to take on that role, we both knew this was an arrangement we were going to try and we were going to see how it works. We were going to do that because we felt that was the best solution for the Red Sox.
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.
ability athletic bit consistent excellent fastball good movement needs pitch stuff
He's a big, strong, athletic kid. He's got a good fastball with excellent movement and good sink. He's got a major-league slider. Obviously, the stuff is there and the ability is there. He needs to pitch a little bit more and get consistent outings.
continue effort talk
We continue to talk to him in an effort to try to appease some of his concerns.
against boston college guy pitching remember virginia west
We have to remember that this guy was pitching against Boston College and West Virginia this year, not Oakland and the Yankees.
ability commitment good hard honestly level obviously reason seeing success
That's up to Theo and Tito. It's hard for me to say after only seeing him in one outing. Obviously he has ability and there's a reason why he's here. There's a reason why he had the kind of success in college. There's a reason we made the level of commitment that we made to him. He's going to be a good major-league pitcher. When that happens, I honestly don't know.
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.
actively center looking
All I can say is we're actively looking for a center fielder.