Boston Red Sox co-general manager Jed Hoyer, right, listens as his colleague co-general manager Ben Cherington, left, answers a reporter's question during a news conference at Fenway Park Monday Dec. 12, 2005.STEPHAN SAVOIA/The Associated Press
The Toronto Blue Jays, scuffling on the field of late, are making moves to strengthen their front office.
The American League club announced on Wednesday the hiring of Ben Cherington as vice-president of baseball operations. Cherington, 42, was executive vice-president and general manager of the Boston Red Sox from 2011 to 2015, when he resigned after Boston hired Dave Dombrowski as its president of baseball operations.
Cherington is credited with helping put together the Red Sox team that won the 2013 World Series. He was selected as 2013's Major League Baseball's executive of the year by The Sporting News.
In a news release on the hiring, the Blue Jays stated that Cherington will have an impact on every aspect of baseball operations, with an emphasis on player development.
He will work closely with Gil Kim, Toronto's director of player development, the team said. Cherington will report directly to Ross Atkins, the club's general manager.
After leaving the Red Sox, Cherington spent the 2015-16 academic year at Columbia University in the sports management faculty.
As with many of the recent front-office hires by Mark Shapiro, the Blue Jays president who came over this year from the Cleveland Indians organization, Cherington has a bit of a history with the Indians. He spent one season as a scout for Cleveland before joining the Red Sox in 1999.