I think DJ was fair in his take on Cherington (not liking him) while accepting that he's greatly hamstrung by Nutting/MLB, which every person needs to accept as fact before casting blame.
I still maintain that Shelton is the biggest issue at the ML level if we're talking non-players. When we hired Hurdle, he had a track record. There was some winning along the way, at the ML level. Shelton was a nobody, in the grand scheme. We could have canned him 2 offseasons ago and made a real push at Bochy. Probably wasn't even considered and if it was, Nutting/MLB shot it down because "financial". And despite having an abysmal record over half a decade, he's still employed.
Cherington is a WS winner and the following WS won by Boston was largely done with players he brought in. That's a hellova big gap between he and Shelton.
Cherington, and I'll admit I've soured on him (still less so than others given his shackles) has done a largely fantastic job with the pitching development. Almost completely the opposite on the offensive side of things. And at the end of the day, he hired Shelton and obviously feels a strong attachment. Regardless, Shelton has not proven a damn thing in 5 years. Numerous managers have been canned, on big and small market teams with better resumes over that time frame. So why not here?
BC's been quite inconsistent with player swaps. Same story in FA, though that will happen given you're always scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel and he's made some of those budget players work.
I appreciate a quick jump out of the gate, trying to add to the offense, even if I have my reservations about the trade itself.
I shudder to think what we'll get back if Jones or Keller are dealt and the news that payroll won't increase a dime, even with Skenes, just further cements we are not witnessing a serious org.