BOSTON — Ben Cherington and John Farrell have justifiably received plaudits for the Red Sox’s revival from the most disappointing team in the majors to, perhaps, the most distinguished.
Cherington, the Boston general manager, engineered the August 2012 blockbuster that sent Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Dodgers for payroll relief and several prospects, notably Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa. He used the found salary to sign seven free agents who all impacted an AL East title.
Farrell, the Red Sox skipper, honored his reason for employment. After the disenchant and disarray and — most vital — distrust of Bobby Valentine’s one season, Boston needed a manager who could instantly restore credibility, confidence and calm from the clubhouse to the team’s front office.
Farrell had established respect within the organization as its pitching coach from 2007-10. The focus and tension was removed from the manager’s office, creating a more favorable work environment.
For all of this, Cherington is a front-runner to be the Major League Executive of the Year, and it would be a shock if Farrell does not win AL Manager of the Year. Their work was a catalyst in why a last-place team in 2012 entered Wednesday’s Game 6 with a chance to win a championship — to complete a pain-to-champagne journey.
But, in many ways, their stellar work in 2013 accentuated the fact Theo Epstein did not exactly leave the cupboard empty when the GM fled to the Cubs following the beer-and-fried-chicken collapse of 2011.
Cherington’s upgrading of the support cast and Farrell’s steadying influence were key to reviving the core assembled by Epstein. Better health and morale also were instrumental in the transformation. But a season after there was wonder whether Epstein had fled one step ahead of calamity, his reputation also should be spruced by who is starring in the 109th World Series.
The Epstein administration brought in, among others, Boston’s best hitter (David Ortiz), their best pitcher (Jon Lester), their leadoff hitter (Jacoby Ellsbury) and their leader (Dustin Pedroia). Not to mention John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, Xander Bogaerts, Daniel Nava, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Will Middlebrooks and several others.
Heck, considering how it has worked out, it hardly seems as devastating that Epstein’s last major acts were signing Crawford and trading for Gonzalez.
Now, it should be pointed out Cherington has worked for the Red Sox since 1999 and was a key aid to Epstein. In this way, there are similarities between Cherington and another person with the initials B.C. For Brian Cashman was a trusted assistant to Gene Michael then Bob Watson before he was promoted to be Yankees GM after the 1997 season.
Cashman took over a championship-quality roster forged under his predecessors, notably by Michael, and benefited from that core really through this season. Cashman augmented well enough to help chisel championship teams from 1998-2000 and again in 2009 while keeping the team a high-level contender. It is only now, with the retirements of Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera and the uncertainty of Derek Jeter, Cashman is near completely free of the work of previous administrations.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak also did not have to go through a complete rebuild when he rose from assistant GM after the 2007 campaign. St. Louis had won it all in 2006 and Mozeliak inherited the cornerstone to a 2011 championship: Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright (who actually missed the 2011 season), plus Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso already were in the pipeline.
For the Red Sox, the remnant of the Epstein administration that is the most surprising success story is Lackey, who Epstein — in retrospect — has admitted he signed for all the wrong reasons.
After the 2009 campaign, Boston could not reach terms with Jason Bay, who instead left for his ill-fated, four-year, $66 million Mets deal. The Yanks had just won the World Series. Epstein has admitted to feeling the pressure, therefore, to do something in fear that doing nothing could disillusion the fans, lowering passion for ticket buying and TV viewing.
Lackey, then an Angel, had just shut out the Red Sox over 7 1/3 innings in the Division Series, so Boston gave him the same contract the Yanks had the previous year to A.J. Burnett — five years at $82.5 million. And it was a bigger disaster. Lackey was bad in 2010, terrible (6.41 ERA) in 2011 and missed all of 2012 after Tommy John surgery. Plus, his snarly personality played poorly with the fan base; he was a participant in the beer-and-fried-chicken debacle.
But he showed up in spring training 2013 rejuvenated, trimmer and in a more convivial mood. Lackey returned to being a bulldog, a postseason factor and a positive influence on the team. Imagine — out of nowhere — Carl Pavano becoming a team asset and fan favorite in his fourth Yankees season.
For Lackey suddenly is an prominent part of an instrumental group fueling the Red Sox — Theo’s Holdovers.