Sox agree to contract extension with Cherington

[soxhop411]

According to multiple major league sources, the Sox reached an agreement with Cherington at some point in the last year to extend his job as the head of baseball operations beyond the 2015 season an extension that didnt even merit a press release or announcement in the eyes of the team.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/02/21/red-sox-ben-cherington-says-good-shape-with-extended-contract/QbvO1WKBwkKagNCBaZGaJK/story.html?event=event25

 

[soxhop411]

Pete Abraham ‏@PeteAbe 1m1 minute ago
As @alexspeier reported earlier, #RedSox GM Ben Cherington has a contract extension. Can now report it is at least through 2016.

 

[Harry Hooper]

How Patriots-esque.

 

[soxhop411]

Mike Petraglia ‏@Trags  11s11 seconds ago
John Henry says GM Ben Cherington was extended for "multiple" years last May. Team kept it private.

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

This is a good thing. The more I read about Cherington, the more I like him. He's smart, witty and seems to absolutely love the sport of baseball. Sometimes I think he might actually be a better GM than Theo was, and that's not meant to slight Theo in any way. Of course, it's a little easier to say that considering the fact that Theo had far more time to make big mistakes (like Crawford) than Cherington has had, but the ability to cobble together a World Series winner out of the leftovers of the 2012 debacle was simply incredible, even if it included a fair amount of good luck. Add that to his retooling of the roster after 2014 and he looks mighty impressive. The current 25 man roster is incredibly deep, the farm is ridiculously stacked, they are manipulating the rules of the CBA masterfully in grabbing the two highest rated pitchers and the top positional player in this year's IFA crop, he isn't afraid to admit something isn't working and change his approach, and has the team focused on finding advantages in areas that most people don't know anything about yet, like neuroscience and catcher framing.
 
Even after two of the last three seasons being disasters, Ben makes me feel like the team is in excellent hands. That says a lot.

 

[MentalDisabldLst]

Great news.  He's been kicking ass for years now and I'm glad we're keeping him.  As Cashman illustrates, even with a free-spending ownership, success in his business is hard.  I'll always have a soft spot for Theo, but Cherington has made Theo's departure much easier to be comfortable with.  It's easy for us to say this now, with a championship under his belt, but as his decisions have been chronicled here, there has almost never been a consensus bad move made, or significant opportunity just missed.  As I posted in the Moncada thread:
 

I'm not sure that the fan base is making that mistake anymore .. Three championships in ten years will do that. There doesn't seem to have been that much gnashing of teeth over losing Lester. Regret over the possible botched negotiations last spring for sure. But I haven't heard many folks saying we should have match the Cubs offer.

 
Well, for the SoSH take, look no further than the poll evaluating the pitching moves the week after the Lester decision.  SoSH liked the Miley deal, loved the Porcello deal, and saw the Lester sweepstakes as buyer's-remorse waiting to happen and was greatly relieved we didn't win the bidding.  I would say Ben has excellent credit at the bank of fandom support and trust.  And thank Cthulhu for that.

 
He's a steady hand on the till, a General Grant willing to use our superior resources to gradually and continually grind our way to a sustainable competitive advantage.  He won't win every battle (season), but in the long run, he's been winning the war since taking over.
 
What good fortune for us Sox fans.