New Bosox GM Cherington hits ground running

The atmosphere in the Red Sox clubhouse must improve. The track record on free agent signings is "not good enough." And the team's stunning collapse was "painful" for fans.   

Ben Cherington admitted all of that on Tuesday.   

Now, as Boston's new general manager, he must work on a daunting array of tasks left behind when Theo Epstein departed to become president of baseball operations of the Chicago Cubs.   

"My eyes are wide opened that there are going to be tough days that come with this job," Cherington, who joined the Red Sox in 1999 as a mid-Atlantic scout, said at his introductory news conference, "but there's so much enormous upside."   

The franchise sank to a new low with the worst September collapse in baseball history. The Red Sox began the month in first place in the AL East and with a nine-game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for a wild-card berth. But the Rays won that spot on the final day of the regular season.   

Then, reports came out about problems in the clubhouse. A Boston Globe story said starting pitchers Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank beer and ate fried chicken there during games in which they weren't scheduled to pitch.   

Will the team ban beer in the clubhouse during games?   

"There's a lot that goes into a good clubhouse culture," said Cherington, who spent the last three years as Epstein's assistant. "We're going to hire a manager. That's a very important step. And he's going to work with us on any changes that we feel are necessary."   

One of his immediate priorities is settling on compensation from the Cubs for signing Epstein with one year left on his contract.   

"I'm sure Theo and I will get a chance to talk about it in the coming days. There was an agreement from both sides that we were to receive significant compensation," Cherington said. "So the question is: can we agree on what significant compensation means?"   

Cherington, 37, also must replace Terry Francona, whose eight-year run as manager ended two days after the season. He has "a short list" of candidates and expects to begin interviews soon, although he noted that Francona wasn't hired until after Thanksgiving in 2004.   

"I want someone who cares about players but is also willing and ready to have tough conversations with them," he said.   

Francona was known as a players' manager with few rules, but team president Larry Lucchino said Tuesday the team doesn't necessarily need a sterner boss.   

"We just want an effective leader whose voice the players respond to," he said. "Sometimes that can be a gentle rider. Sometimes that needs to be more of a disciplinarian."   

The key is having talented, committed players.

Cherington said he wants to retain designated hitter David Ortiz and closer Jonathan Papelbon, both eligible for free agency, and has had "initial dialogue" with both.   

Before last season, the Red Sox traded for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and signed left-fielder Carl Crawford as a free agent. But Crawford had a disappointing season.   

And John Lackey, signed in 2010 to a US$82.5-million, five-year contract, went 12-12 with a 6.41 earned-run average. Cherington said Tuesday that the right-hander will undergo Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery and that he expects Lackey to have a much better season in 2013.   

The track record on free agent signings is not "good enough," Cherington said, but "there are players on this team now that we signed as free agents that we still really believe in and that I was a strong proponent of signing."   

One of those was Crawford and Cherington expects him to bounce back.   

Still, "I think we have to look at that [free agent] area and look critically at perhaps why we haven't performed as well."   

Cherington joined the Red Sox when John Harrington was owner and Dan Duquette was general manager. John Henry, Tom Werner and Lucchino took over as owners in 2002 and fired Duquette at spring training that year.   

Cherington became director of player development in 2002. Then, when Epstein left after the 2005 season in a difference of opinion over front office responsibilities, Cherington and Jed Hoyer served as co-general managers for six weeks before Epstein returned.   

Lucchino praised Cherington as "the ultimate team player, and his hunger for the future success of the Boston Red Sox is second to none."   

Having worked closely with Epstein, how is Cherington different from his predecessor? After all, both grew up in New England as Red Sox fans.   

"Well," he said, "I can't play guitar."   

And his news conference wasn't as well attended as Epstein's earlier in the day.   

"Thanks to those of you who avoided the flight to Chicago and stayed here," he said to reporters who skipped Epstein's introduction by the Cubs.   

But he acknowledged that he and Epstein have a similar approach to building a team, combining statistical analysis with traditional scouting and having "relentless lineups that are full of guys that get on base and drive up pitch counts."   

That helped bring World Series championships in 2004 and 2007, the Red Sox first since 1918.   

And Cherington sounded a note of optimism that the team, which ended August with an 83-52 record, would recover from the September flop.   

"I know we've let our fans down in recent weeks," he said. "They've been painful, difficult, but what I'm left with is an incredible conviction that the Red Sox will be the best organization moving forward."