Cherington shows support for Farrell

HOUSTON -- Though the Red Sox are in danger of finishing in last place for the second straight season, general manager Ben Cherington still feels that manager John Farrell is the right man to lead the team.

Cherington was asked Wednesday if he had any concerns Farrell was no longer "getting through" to the team.

"I don't have that concern," said Cherington. "I think we're dealing with a number of things, but I don't feel like that's one of the things. We can all be better. Everybody on the field. Everybody in the front office. That's what it's going to take. But I fully support John. He's part of the solution."

At the same time, Cherington -- as he did last month in Atlanta -- again took his share of blame for the way things have gone.

"The last two years, we just haven't delivered," Cherington said. "That's the bottom line. No one is more responsible for that than me. Because of that, there has been a lot of self-review going on and internal analysis and so we have been trying to learn whatever we can about what's happened, knowing that bottom line results haven't been there, they haven't been up to standard, there's no way around that.

"So we've been spending time on that. I can't look at any specific transactions and look back and say it doesn't make sense or didn't fit in the strategy or direction we wanted. The bottom line is the aggregate -- the results haven't been there. That's on us. We know that our fans deserve a lot better than what we've delivered the last two years, our ownership deserves better and it's up to us to find a way to get back."

After making an investment of $183 million in Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval last winter, Cherington isn't ready to call those moves mistakes. Both players have lacked consistency, particularly on defense.

"These two guys, they're prime age players who have been very good players on a winning team last year, very recently. I haven't seen anything that tells me they won't be part of a winning Red Sox team," Cherington said.

At least at this stage, the Red Sox aren't contemplating another position switch for Ramirez, who voluntarily moved to left field upon signing with Boston.

"We've seen his defense on the road look fine, honestly, and start to stabilize," Cherington said. "At home, there have been challenges. I think you try and isolate those things where maybe we can continue to try to improve a little bit. Look, I'm sure Hanley is capable of playing another position at some point if that was best for the team. But right now, we're committed to him in left field and trying to help him be the best left fielder he can be."

Cherington acknowledges the club expected Sandoval to be stronger at third base.

"Subjectively and objectively, he's been solid over at third base over his career, so we expect that will be more of what we see going forward," Cherington said. "Whether it's the transition [to Boston], that hasn't been what he's capable of, and he knows that. He's accountable and he's worked at it. We've felt, and still feel, that he's a solid defensive third baseman."