Ben Cherington Admits Red Sox Are in ‘Unusual Position,’ But Will Look to Improve Team at Trade Deadline

There is still no definitive answer as to what the Red Sox will do at next week's trade deadline, and general manager Ben Cherington isn't necessarily tipping his hand.

The GM appeared on Dennis and Callahan Friday morning, and he spoke about the team's plan for the deadline. He did so in vague terms, of course, but there's no doubting that this is different territory for a team that is under .500 right now with just a few days before the deadline.

"It's an unusual position for us to be in. That's the truth," he said. "Our approach at the deadline most every year that I've been here in the front office has been pretty clear. We're trying to improve the team. This deadline is going to take more of a nuanced approach, but we're certainly still focused on 2012 and doing everything we can to win as many games as we can this year."

Cherington spoke about the desire to add starting pitching before July 31, not necessarily subtract it. That goes for someone like Josh Beckett, who Cherington admitted he hadn't had talks about moving. However, it won't be easy to add pitching depth — a pretty obvious need for this club — given this year's market.

"We'll continue to talk to teams about [starters]," Cherington said. "It's clearly a seller's market when it comes to starting pitching, so there's no certainty we'll be able to do anything, but we're certainly working at it, to find ways to improve ourselves in that area."

Unsurprisingly, Cherington revealed that the Sox have received interest in a lot of their players, but he says the team is still committed to getting better this season with the hopes of making a playoff push.

"We've gotten a bunch of calls," he said. "We've talked to every team in baseball the last couple of weeks. We've had a lot of conversations with a few teams about certain ideas. There are certainly plenty of guys on our team other teams would like to have. Right now, we're looking to improve, not take away. That's our mindset going into this weekend."

Hear the entire interview here.