BOSTON -- Its been almost two months since Bobby Valentine was named manager of the Red Sox, and general manager Ben Cherington has been using that time to get to know his manager better.
Nothings really surprised me, Cherington said before Thursdays Boston baseball writers dinner. Hes a creative guy, open minded. Its been helpful to work with someone who has an open mind as to how our roster comes together because we had to have an open mind this off-season and he certainly has that. So I dont know if that surprised me but its been nice to work with someone who thinks about those things.
Other than that, no surprises. Hes working really hard. Hes been in Boston a lot, working out of the office, watching video all day long to get to know our players better, obviously talking to players a lot, meeting players. So I think hell be as familiar with this team as anyone could be by the time we get to Fort Myers.
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Cherington expects some changes in Valentines spring training camp, compared to what the team had for the last eight seasons with former manager Terry Francona.
There are aspects of the game he feels very strongly about, which I think well see some emphasis on, Cherington said.Hes working with bench coach Tim Bogarand the rest of the staff to schedule those days. Well have a better sense when we get down there but I think the days will be a little bit different.
I think that he also believes in getting the work done as efficiently as possible, and not just being out there standing around to waste time. But there may be aspects of the game that he wants to emphasize more, certainly fundamental aspects of the game that he wants to spend more time on in spring training. Theres usually a way to do that without extending the day too much.
Im really looking forward to seeing him and the staff in actionand the new facility I think will provide some energy for us I hope and most important, this goes back to the beginning of the off-season, but I truly think our players are ready to put last year behind them and spring training in front of them. To do that, at least in a formal sense. So I think thats something were all looking forward to. We still have some work before we get down there.