"As we move forward and assess the organization's short- and long-term goals, we are fortunate to have baseball minds like Ben and Jed to lead the way," Lucchino said. "We look forward to their using their intellect, their energy and their collaborative spirit to help the Red Sox continue the current run of success we are enjoying at both the major league and minor league levels."

Cherington will focus principally on minor league affairs, including player development and scouting. He will also cross over to specific major league transactions and matters. The 31-year-old joined the Red Sox in 1999 and has served as the club's Director of Player Development since December 7, 2002. A graduate of Amherst College, where he played four years of varsity baseball and served as an assistant coach for one year, Cherington earned a Master's degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1997. He served as a video advance scout for the Cleveland Indians in 1998 before joining the Red Sox. Cherington began 1999 as a mid-Atlantic area scout before joining the Baseball Operations department in May. After two years as Coordinator of International Scouting, the Meriden, NH native was named Assistant Director of Player Development in 2002.

Hoyer will focus principally on major league affairs, transactions and contracts. The 32-year-old joined the Red Sox Baseball Operations department in 2002 and for the last two seasons served as Assistant to the General Manager. He has been actively involved in all aspects of the department's business, including talent evaluation, contract negotiations, and sabermetric analysis. The Plymouth, NH native is a 1996 graduate of Wesleyan University, where he played shortstop and pitched for four seasons, helping the Cardinals to the championship game of the Division III World Series in 1994. The school's single-season and career saves leader, Hoyer later served as an assistant baseball coach at Wesleyan.

"Between them, Ben and Jed have intimate knowledge of every player in our organization, from top to bottom," Lucchino said. "They complement each other well with their varied experiences, which qualify them uniquely to lead our baseball operations team as we continue our quest to win more World Championships for the fans of Red Sox Nation, while also continuing the extensive upgrades we have made to our player development and scouting operations.

"At an important time in our club's history, and at a challenging time on the baseball calendar, our baseball operations team led by Ben, Jed, Bill Lajoie and Craig Shipley worked well, and they worked well together in recent weeks. We are tremendously grateful for the job done by our 'Four Horsemen,' as they became affectionately known. They laid the groundwork for what, under Ben and Jed's continuing leadership, we expect will be future successes for the Red Sox.

"This is also a good time to express the gratitude of the entire organization for the teamwork and good work done by everyone in the Baseball Operations department during this challenging offseason. In addition to the leadership of the 'Four Horsemen,' the Red Sox have been well served by Jeremy Kapstein, Bill James, Brian O'Halloran, Raquel Ferreira, Jason McLeod, Amiel Sawdaye, Galen Carr, Zack Scott, Jared Porter, Jack McCormick and Jean MacDougall. We are proud of their special efforts, and we have every reason to believe that will continue as we move forward."

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.