Since taking the position of general manager of the Boston Red Sox, Ben Cherington has come under fire from many Red Sox fans for not doing enough to improve a ball club that missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Earlier this week, Cherington was asked by the media if he felt he had done enough to improve the ball club for the upcoming season. As he's done all offseason, Cherington has stuck to his guns and believes that if the season were to start tomorrow, he has full confidence his roster would be ready to go.
"If spring training started tomorrow, we'd feel good about where we are and ready to put the team together," he said. "We think we have a lot of options to fill out the pitching staff. There will be competition certainly in camp in the bullpen and in the rotation. I think we have some options. We had some options, internal options." (via CSN New England)
While his tenure has, can we say started out differently then Theo Epstein's did, he has made some really solid acquisitions. For me, Cherington's bullpen acquisitions have been superb with the additions of Mark Melancon and Andrew Bailey, but there are still other concerns this roster has.
With starting pitching being the main concern entering this offseason, Cherington has responded by adding low cost guys with high sealings like Aaron Cook, Carlos Silva and Vicente Padilla because of a limited budget. While Cherington acknowledges that he's keeping his eyes open, he has confidence in the group he's assembled so far.
"That said, spring training doesn't start tomorrow. So we have our eyes open if there's ways to improve the team between now and Feb. 19, I think is the report date. We'll do that. Or after the 19th. We feel pretty good about where we're at right now." (via CSN New England)
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