"It's just not true," Cherington said Thursday at Valentine's introductory news conference. "We went through a very thorough process, we talked to a lot of candidates, we did a lot of research on a lot of candidates. At the end of the process, I made a recommendation to ownership, I believe it was some time on Monday, that we offer the position to Bobby. And then we did.
"That's the truth," Cherington added. "It was a collaborative process. Ownership, as they absoutely should, was heavily involved in the discussion about all the candidates."
Lucchino, entering decade No. 2 with John Henry and the Red Sox, likewise denied that he has ultimate or final say in team decisions. He said that from the beginning, he hoped for someone with managerial experience, and that Cherington's initial focus was on a leader with a strong voice.
"So obviously, throughout the process, it evolved," Lucchino said. "We debated things, we discussed various characteristics and how important they were throughout the process. At the end of the process, things coalesced into the profile that we felt were needed for this team at this time."
"We're all involved in it," Henry added. "When it comes to a major decision, for 10 years we've worked extremely well together. For instance, in this process, there was not a point at which there was a disagreement among the four of us who were involved in this, and with people in baseball operations. I don't remember there being a disagreement. … It was a methodical process. We wanted to interview as many viable candidates as we could, and we had an open mind at the beginning of this process as to who the manager might be."
Regarding the meeting between ownership and Svuem that was believed to be a final step before the team hired Cherington's choice, Lucchino said that the meeting was mostly a result of everyone being in the same place for the general manager's meeting.
"It was an opportunity for us to accelerate the process with respect to one guy, and probably because we knew that that guy might have other options," Lucchino said.
Sveum did, of course, have other options, as he became the manager for Epstein's Cubs that very same week.
Both Lucchino and Henry were well aware of the speculation around the team. Henry was asked what the biggest misperception about the Red Sox has been throughout the managerial search.
"That there's some sort of instability, or we don't know what we're doing," Henry said.
Lucchino, at the center of most of the speculation, was the most adamant that it's not true.
"I think it reflects a certain misunderstanding of the process," Lucchino said. "This was a rigorous, collaborative process. John Henry, Tom Werner, myself, Brian O'Halloran, Mike Hazen, Allard Baird, as well were involved, and the whole process was spearheaded by Ben. So it was a highly collaborative process and that's the way we do things around here."
