Former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has emerged as a candidate for the Pirates GM position, according to Ken Rosenthal.
Former #RedSox GM Ben Cherington has emerged as a candidate to be the #Pirates’ new head of baseball operations, sources tell The Athletic. Cherington, 45, was the Sox GM from Oct. 2011 to Aug. 2015, and has been the #BlueJays’ VP of baseball operations since Sept. 2016.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 8, 2019
Cherington, 45, was the Red Sox general manager from October 2011 to August 2015. He inherited the job after the team’s infamous “chicken and beer” collapse in 2011 and built a World Series winner in 2013, but was ultimately fired after the Red Sox had three losing seasons in four years. He also saddled Boston with some high profile misses in free agency, notably Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.
The Red Sox excelled at minor league player acquisition and development during Cherington’s tenure. In his time as general manager, the Red Sox drafted Andrew Benintendi, signed a 16-year-old Rafael Devers as an international free agent, acquired Eduardo Rodriguez in a trade and oversaw the vast majority of Mookie Betts’ development. He left Boston with one of the strongest farm systems in the game.
Cherington rose through the ranks of Boston’s front office, working as an area scout, the director of player development, vice president of player personnel and senior vice president and assistant general manager.
He has served as the vice president of baseball operations for the Toronto Blue Jays since September 2016. He is the second in command to Tony LaCava, who is also believed to be in play to be the Pirates' next general manager.
Cherington is the first confirmed outside candidate for the position. Kevan Graves, the team’s current interim general manager, is also in the mix and will get an interview. Graves has drawn attention from the Giants recently for their open general manager position.
