Ben Cherington is Already 10 Times Better Than Theo

Ben Cherington at his introductory press conference yesterday afternoon. Cherington was promoted to Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Red Sox.

Yesterday, Ben Cherington was officially introduced as the Red Sox new Executive Vice President/General Manager. Not only does he sound exactly like Theo (thank you Toucher and Rich), but he's already ten times the GM Theo ever was. Why is that? Well, that's because he announced about 45 minutes that John Lackey will undergo Tommy John surgery this winter. GET THE DUCK BOATS READY!!!!!! I was really hoping they could trade the fat lard, but hey, not having him for an entire season is just as good. Plus, who knows, maybe he comes back half decent and they can trade him. In any case though, here's the important stuff you need to know:

• Cherington wants "a new manager with a strong voice who cares about players and can collaborate with the front office." He says the team (aka Cherington and Hazen) will start interviewing candidates soon. They have several candidates in mind for first round interviews, but they haven't asked permission to interview any of them yet. Previous managerial experience would be a plus, but it's not a necessity.
• The team's success with free agent signings has "not been good enough," according to Cherington.
• The Red Sox would like to have Fat Papi (really? They actually want him back?) and Jonathan Papelbon (Yes!!) back, according to Cherington. They've talked a little bit with both guys and expect discussions to continue. Really, the only guy that matters there is Papelbon. He's got the balls to play in Boston, so why not just keep him instead of taking a chance that say Heath Bell will crack under the pressure?
• Cherington says the team will likely pick up the $6M option on shortstop Marco Scutaro. Thank god. It's gonna be another year at least until Iglesias is ready to take over full time (fielding skills are out of this world, but his hitting blows)
• Boston's farm system is "stronger and deeper than ever" at Double-A and below, Cherington said. Shocking....

One last note, where the hell were John Henry and Tom Werner at this presser? Supposedly "travelling". I bet they're flying out to see the chick Gronkowski posed with. Which leads to to another final point. I give mad props to Gronk for getting a picture with that chick. Talk about a bombshell.