Cherington on D&C: 'We've got a good team'

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington checked in with Dennis & Callahan early Thursday morning and talked about the team's mindset at the trade deadline on Tuesday.

Cherington said he was moderately close on making a bigger splash before settling on a couple of smaller moves, and the team will continue to look to make changes in August.

"I guess we felt it was getting closer on a couple of things at a couple of different points during the weekend, or towards the end of the weekend, Sunday-Monday," he said. "Probably 30-yard line, but not the 5-yard line."

Added Cherington: "After any trade deadline, most of the time, you're left wanting a little bit more. But then you take a step back a day or two later and you realize we've got a good team, we've got a lot of good players. There's a lot of deals I'm glad we didn't make."

Asked how the Sox determined if they wanted to be buyers or sellers, Cherington said it's a fine line the front office walked leading up to the deadline.

"This year was a little different, no doubt," the GM said. "In most years that I've worked in the front office, our direction has been more clear leading up to the deadline. You never obviously can guarantee a playoff spot at the end of July. But there are some years if you do the math our odds have been better than they were this year.

"In that sense it was a little less clear. Because it is my job to sort of weigh these things. And you have to look at what the upside is in giving up up let's say a lot of long-term assets for a shorter-term fix in the position that we're in. That said, despite not being quite where we want to be or where we have been in the past, we still believe in the team. Our approach really evolved as the weekend went on and we won a couple of games in New York. It really became, 'Let's see what we can do to make the team better, but with perhaps a bit of a governor on us.' Mostly just because, go around the roster, the players that moved in other deals, there's not many that would necessarily have been upgrades.

"The rotation is something that we talked about a lot. We just felt at the end of the day that the players that were available to us -- the pitchers that were available to us -- either were not upgrades or simply were going to be too costly given our circumstances."

Former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe was designated for assignment by the Indians, and Cherington indicated there is some interest from the Sox.

"Derek obviously had a great run here," Cherington said. "We'll take a look at it. But we still need to focus on the guys here. We have great respect for Derek and what he did. We'll take a look at it. If it makes sense to pursue, we'll do so. That will be on the agenda today. But we still feel like we have the potential solutions internally for our rotation."

Following are more highlights from the conversation.

On reports that management stepped in after Valentine upset Will Middlebrooks with a sarcastic comment during a recent game: "I'm not going to comment on anything a player said about Bobby, except that any time anything comes up like that, we talk about it. My guess is that our players have probably complained to Bobby about me. These are things we work out internally in the privacy of the room and move forward. I know that Bobby's a huge supporter of Will's and felt strongly that he deserved to be our third baseman, and that was the large motivation behind the [Kevin] Youkilis trade. He's a guy that he wants out there."

On problems in the Red Sox clubhouse: "I think we have issues like every team, but I don't think it's toxic. No team goes through a six-month season without issues. I think it's a but of a perfect storm this year in the way this team is scrutinized because of the way things ended last year, because of the sort of microscope throughout the offseason and spring training. And then we get into this year and we haven't quite met expectations on the field, so we're sort of inviting that kind of scrutiny.

"So, there are things that happen that if they happen in 15 other major league cities, no one would notice, they would be sort of innocuous. And in Boston they get boiled up and talked about more. It's not to dismiss the fact that we have things that we are still working through. ButI'm not sure they're that different than most teams. They're just talked about a lot more."

On his relationship with Bobby Valentine: "Our relationship's good. We talk all the time. We talk mostly about sort of the day-to-day needs of the team and what's going on with the team, what we might need two days from now or a week from now or 10 days from now. Bobby's seen a lot of baseball. He's seen more baseball than I have. He always has something good to offer and bring to the table in those discussions that inform us in our thinking and inform us in our decision-making. We've agreed on a lot of things, and we've disagreed on things. Every GM and manager should disagree from time to time. I think that's probably healthier."

On if there is an issue between the coaches and manager: "I don't think so. First of all, I don't think it's accurate that they don't talk. These situations aren't unique to the Red Sox. Major league coaches are professionals who in most cases have been in the game for a long, long time and have developed a skill, a niche, and are part of a staff who report to a manager but come from different backgrounds and different places. They're there to do a job and help in a certain area. It's not uncommon in baseball for some coaches, they're not going out after the game all the time together. … I think at this point I feel like the coaching staff is working very hard together, going in the same direction. And that's the same with Bobby."

On injured pitcher Josh Beckett: "Josh is doing better. It really was a situation where he felt a pull that he felt gradually getting worse as he stayed out there in that inning. The mound was getting a little slick. And he felt like if he pushed it any further he might push it too far and maybe it would turn into something bigger. So I think he did the right thing in getting himself out of there. He was still a little bit sore yesterday, he got some more treatment. Our hope is this is a short-term absence."

On trading away players and paying part of their salary in the deal: "We did it with Youkulis, but it's not what you want to do. Obviously, when you're doing that you're admitting some level of mistake, which of course we need to do from time to time. But our jobs are to make the most of ownership's money and spend it the best we can. When you start paying other teams to take the players, it's pretty strong evidence that you're not doing that very well. I'm sure it may happen again, there's no definitive policy against it. But obviously when you do that you're admitting at some level that the player's not worth what your paying for him, because another team doesn't think so."

To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page. For more Red Sox news, visit the team page at weei.com/redsox.