Ben Cherington spent 16 years in the Red Sox organization, including the final four as general manager. He knows a thing or two about navigating Boston’s pressure-packed environment.
So, what advice would Cherington, now GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates, give Chaim Bloom as the new Red Sox chief baseball officer embarks on his first season with the franchise?
MassLive.com recently asked Cherington that question, and here’s what the former Red Sox GM said:
“To remind himself and ask others to remind him and each other every day just about who they are, how they really want to do the job and what that looks like every day. And to help each other manage the inevitable scrutiny that comes with that job anywhere but certainly in a place like that. The scrutiny is a good thing because it drives the interest and holds the team to the highest level of accountability.
“So I’m saying that in the positive sense. But operating within it, you’ve got to be able to manage that. It’s your name. You’ve got to be able to work with a group of people just to be the best version of yourself every day. So that’s what I would tell him.”
Cherington, a New Hampshire native, began working with the Red Sox in 1999. He took over as Boston’s GM when Theo Epstein left after the 2011 season and held the position until the Red Sox hired Dave Dombrowski as their new president of baseball operations during the 2015 season, at which point Cherington left the organization.
Bloom, who spent 15 years with the Tampa Bay Rays, became Boston’s chief baseball officer this past October, one month after the Red Sox parted ways with Dombrowski. The Pirates hired Cherington as their new GM a few weeks later.
