Blue Jays: Ben Cherington not taking Mets’ job

The former member of the Red Sox front office will not interview for the Mets’ general manager job, an MLB insider reports Wednesday evening.

While Anthony DiComo of MLB.com mentioned Ben Cherington as a name who is “likely to get an audience” in the Mets’ general manager search, another report from SportsNet New York’s Andy Martino disagrees, noting that Cherington won’t interview for the position.

Martino also reports that those close to Cherington say he’s content with his position as vice president of baseball operations of the Toronto Blue Jays. To round out the report, Martino adds that the Mets will soon interview “as many as a dozen people” for the vacant GM position.

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For any Blue Jays fan, this news should come as a massive relief. Cherington, 44, was the general manager of the 2013 World Series champion Boston Red Sox before joining the Jays in December 2017. With the Red Sox, he was primarily credited with drafting a solid core of youngsters and leaving the team in good hands upon his departure.

Cherington was previously one of the most mentioned names in the drawn-out search for a successor to the ill Sandy Alderson. Previously, Blue Jays boss Mark Shapiro had also been rumoured to be in consideration for the position.

Although he’s primarily been working behind the scenes since joining the boys in blue, many outlets have described his monumental influence on any baseball club he works for, with the Red Sox evidently being the most prolific.  Unsurprisingly, the native of Meriden, New Hampshire also served as a scout for the Cleveland Indians prior to joining the Red Sox.

A veteran of the player development process, Cherington is obviously an important baseball mind to have patrolling the minor leagues of a franchise, and with him reportedly shutting down the opportunity to interview for a GM position, it appears likely that he’ll stay with the Blue Jays for at least a little while longer.