Ben Cherington | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cherington during the Red Sox 2013 World Series victory parade | |
| Born | Benjamin P. Cherington (1974-07-14)July 14, 1974 (age 51) |
| Education | Amherst College University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| Occupation | General Manager of thePittsburgh Pirates |
| Spouse(s) | Wendi Nix (divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
Benjamin P. Cherington (born July 14, 1974) is an American baseball executive serving as the general manager of thePittsburgh Pirates ofMajor League Baseball (MLB) since November 2019.[2] He previously served as the vice-president of baseball operations for theToronto Blue Jays, and was the executive vice president andgeneral manager of theBoston Red Sox from 2011 to 2015. He succeededTheo Epstein in that position, having worked in the team's baseball operations office since 1999, before Epstein's arrival.[3]
Born inMeriden, New Hampshire, Cherington is the grandson of formerDartmouth College professorRichard Eberhart, apoet who won thePulitzer Prize.[4] Cherington graduated fromLebanon High School, where he was apitcher on the varsity baseball team and played varsity ice hockey for Coach Richard Bolduc. Hematriculated atAmherst College, where he was a member of the Gamma chapter of Psi Upsilon fraternity, and has a master's degree in Sport Management from theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst.
Cherington served Boston as anarea scout, baseball operations assistant, coordinator of international scouting, and assistant director (and then director) of player development from 1999 to 2005.[5] He was originally hired by the Red Sox in1999 byDan Duquette, an Amherst College alumnus who was then the club's general manager, after Cherington spent the previous season as an advance scout for theCleveland Indians.[5]
From December 12, 2005, through January 19, 2006, he served as the Red Sox' co-general manager withJed Hoyer during Epstein's absence from the team,[6] with club president/CEOLarry Lucchino and veteran former Major League GMBill Lajoie also playing key roles during that period. After Epstein's return, Cherington became vice president, player personnel, through January 2009, then senior vice president and assistant GM from 2009 through his promotion to general manager after the 2011 season.[5]
Cherington inherited ateam that had tumbled out of contention for a division championship orwild card postseason appearance with a disastrous, 7–20record during September 2011. The slide cost eight-yearmanagerTerry Francona his job and occurred as Epstein was negotiating to join theChicago Cubs as their president of baseball operations.[7] Cherington's first major assignment after succeeding Epstein was to find a successor to Francona, but his final candidates were rejected by Boston's ownership and CEO Lucchino in favor of formerTexas Rangers andNew York Mets managerBobby Valentine[8] — out of the Majors since2002, although he had managed theChiba Lotte Marines ofNippon Professional Baseball and served as a television analyst onESPN since.
Valentine's2012 roster included many veterans of the 2011 Red Sox, and he clashed with his players, his holdover coaches, and the media. The team suffered from injuries to key players, struggled out of the gate, improved to a high-water mark of 41–36 (.532) on June 29, but then began to fall back in the standings.[9] When it became clear that the Red Sox would not contend as constituted, Cherington and the team's ownership initiated a trade with theLos Angeles Dodgers on August 25, sendingpitcherJosh Beckett,outfielderCarl Crawford andfirst basemanAdrián González — all on expensive, multiyear contracts — to the Dodgers and clearing $262.5 million in salary obligations. Stripped of veteran talent, the 2012 Red Sox went only 9–26 over the final 35 games of the season and finished with their worst record since1965. Valentine was fired one day after the season ended October 3.[10]
Cherington then set out to rebuild the team for2013. He hiredJohn Farrell as hismanager, acquiring Farrell's rights in an October 21 trade with theToronto Blue Jays. He signed seven keyfree agents —David Ross,Jonny Gomes,Stephen Drew,Mike Napoli,Shane Victorino,Koji Uehara andRyan Dempster — none of whom required sacrificing adraft pick. Although a midwinter trade forrelief pitcherJoel Hanrahan was ruined by Hanrahan's season-ending elbow injury in May, Cherington obtained a useful bench player,Mike Carp, in a preseason trade. Then, on July 30, he engineered a three-team transaction that broughtstarting pitcherJake Peavy to Boston.
Farrell, the free agents, Carp and Peavy, as well as a return to health of core players such asDavid Ortiz,Jacoby Ellsbury andJohn Lackey, all contributed to Boston's surprisingly successful 2013 season.[11] The club improved by 28 games, rising from last place in theAmerican League East Division in2012 to the division championship, 97 regular-season victories (tied for the most in Major League Baseball), the 2013American League pennant, and the2013 World Series championship.[12]
During that offseason, Boston failed to re-sign free agents Ellsbury andJarrod Saltalamacchia. The2014 Red Sox, struggling to score runs, fell back to last place in the AL East, losing 26 games from their previous year's standard with a 71–91 record, 25 games behind the division championBaltimore Orioles. On July 31, with Boston out of the race, Cherington traded starting pitchers Lackey andJon Lester to contending teams (Peavy had been traded July 26), then retooled the roster during the 2014–15 offseason, adding high-ticket free agentsPablo Sandoval andHanley Ramírez and trading for starting pitchersWade Miley andRick Porcello.
After a promising 12–10 April start to their2015 season, the Red Sox slumped to a 9–19 May record (scoring the fewest runs in the Major Leagues), and had a horrendous eight-game losing streak after theAll-Star break. Porcello, Ramírez and Sandoval performed poorly, the latter two struggling with injuries and illness.
On August 1, with the Red Sox again mired in last place at 47–58, Lucchino announced his intention to retire as president/CEO at the end of the season. Seventeen days later, the Red Sox named veteran MLB executiveDave Dombrowski to the new position of president, baseball operations, to oversee Cherington and the on-field side of the Boston organization. Cherington then turned in his resignation, declining the club's request that he remain as the team's general manager.[13] By that time, only one of the 2013 free agents, injured closer Uehara, remained on the Red Sox' roster. However, Cherington left behind a group of young players (Xander Bogaerts,Mookie Betts,Brock Holt,Eduardo Rodríguez,Blake Swihart,Travis Shaw,Henry Owens,Christian Vázquez, and others) as a potential core of their 2016 team.[14] Much of this core that Cherington acquired contributed heavily to the Red Sox's2018 championship. Five weeks later,Mike Hazen, one of Cherington's assistants, was named his successor.
Although Cherington's name was mentioned as a possible candidate for open general manager posts in MLB, he decided to joinColumbia University's Sports Management faculty for the 2015–16 academic year to teach a course in "leadership in sports" during the spring 2016 semester.[15]
On September 14, 2016, Cherington was hired by theToronto Blue Jays to be their vice-president of baseball operations.[16]
On November 18, 2019, Cherington was officially announced as thePittsburgh Pirates general manager.[17]
Cherington was named Major League Baseball Executive of the Year for2013 byThe Sporting News for his efforts. He was only the third Red Sox executive to win the award since its origination in1936, following longtime ownerTom Yawkey (1946) and late general managerDick O'Connell (1967;1975).
On April 6, 2012, Cherington married then-marketing executiveTyler Tumminia in a ceremony atBrooklyn Borough Hall.[18] Tumminia was formerly the interim commissioner of thePremier Hockey Federation, prior to the league’s cessation.[19] The couple has two daughters.[20][21][22] Cherington was previously married to ESPN reporterWendi Nix.[23]
| Preceded by | Boston Red SoxGeneral Manager 2005–2006 2012–2015 | Succeeded by |