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Red Sox Notebook

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington’s break is over

Sets sights on marketplace

Ben Cherington is trying to build another championship with full knowledge that he can’t bring back the entire 25-man championship roster.Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Ben Cherington watched the 90-minute 2013 World Series Film produced by MLB Productions, which premiered Monday night at the Wang Center, but while the trip down memory lane was fun and brought back great memories, Cherington was focused on 2014.

He’s trying to build another championship team with full knowledge that he can’t bring back the entire 25-man championship roster. Cherington was on hand for the premiere with Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner, president Larry Lucchino, catcher David Ross, third baseman Will Middlebrooks, and infielder John McDonald, after a long day of trade talks involving some of his desirable starting pitchers. Cherington was also sorting through a catching market in which he’s already come up short on Carlos Ruiz and Brian McCann, while passing on Dioner Navarro and still considering Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

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Ross is a good friend of McCann’s and thought the Sox were definitely in the hunt.

“I talked to Brian, just trying to tell him the good parts about Boston and what a top-notch organization it is, and how they put the players first,” said Ross. “They really treat the players well. I just wanted to tell him what a great place it is to play and win. I was lobbying, but it’s not like, ‘You gotta come here!’ because it comes down to his family.

“I think it came down to years. When you added an option for six, it comes to $100 [million] and that’s a game-changer. He was excited about playing in that stadium long term. Atlanta is a fair place, but he’s going to hit 30 home runs [at Yankee Stadium].”

Lucchino said the team would prefer to stick to last season’s philosophy of signing players to higher annual salaries but for a shorter length of time. That philosophy cost them Ruiz. They offered him a two-year deal before Philadelphia swooped in and re-signed for three years and an option. The Red Sox also offered McCann less than five years.

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The Red Sox are also pursuing outfielder Carlos Beltran, but don’t appear inclined to offer more than three years and would prefer two years.

Cherington is still trying to negotiate with Mike Napoli while Corey Hart, a righthanded hitter who was hurt all of last season with Milwaukee, could also be in the picture at first base or the outfield.

“We’ve had a number of conversations,” Cherington said. “It’s no secret that one area where we have depth is the rotation, that’s what other teams are sorting out. That’s getting more clear. I don’t know what it means for us. We know we don’t have to be compelled to do anything there because our supposed surplus could turn into nothing quickly.”

Cherington was around when former GM Theo Epstein dealt Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Wily Mo Pena. It wound up leaving a void, which necessitated the Red Sox spending almost $102 million on Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox have six veteran starters for five spots and have youngsters Brandon Workman, Allen Webster, and Rubby De La Rosa looking to break into the rotation.

The Red Sox have already added to their bullpen with righthander Burke Badenhop coming from Milwaukee for pitching prospect Luis Ortega.

Cherington said he would like to add a player to the left side of the infield, but says Xander Bogaerts “is a shortstop now and in the future.”

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As for Jacoby Ellsbury, Lucchino indicated there has been quite a bit of dialogue between the team and the player since the end of the season, something agent Scott Boras echoed last week. The Red Sox would like to limit Ellsbury to a five-year deal, and have weighed in on Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp.

Dodgers sign Haren

Righthander Dan Haren agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with the Dodgers which includes $3 million in performance bonuses. Haren, 33, returns to his native Southern California after spending last season in Washington, going 10-14 with a 4.67 ERA and a strong finish to the season. The 11-year veteran spent the previous three seasons with the Angels, going 33-27. Haren has 129 career victories . . . The Orioles acquired righthanded reliever Brad Brach from the Padres for minor league righthander Devin Jones. Brach, 27, had a 3.19 ERA in 33 games last season with the Padres, striking out 31 in 31 innings. Also, the Orioles claimed infielder Cord Phelps off waivers from the Indians, and the Padres acquired outfielder Alex Dickerson from the Pirates for Jaff Decker and righthander Miles Mikolas. To make room, the Pirates designated first baseman Garrett Jones and righthander Kyle McPherson for assignment. Jones hit .274 with 27 homers for the Pirates in 2012, but slumped to .233 with 15 homers last season.


Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.