Red Sox Notes: Cherington, Breslow, Napoli, McGrath

In a WEEI appearance over the weekend, Red Sox owner John Henry talked about the team's overhaul and historic rebound from the AL East cellar to World Series participants. WEEI's Jackson Alexander has some of the highlights, including Henry's praise for GM Ben Cherington. Henry stated that the team knew for years that Cherington was going to be the next GM, but they had envisioned a scenario where Theo Epstein would be promoted to team president to continue the Epstein/Cherington pairing in Boston for many more years. Epstein is now president of the Cubs and likely hoping to experience a turnaround similar to that of his former club in the near future. Here's more on the Red Sox…

• WEEI's Alex Speier points out the statistical similarities between Craig Breslow and Jeremy Affeldt from 2008-12, noting the sizable gap between Breslow's two-year, $6.25MM contract and Affeldt's three-year, $21MM contract. Despite the fact that Breslow's dominant 2013 season could have potentially earned him far more than his current contract calls for, the left-hander doesn't regret signing. Breslow tells Speier that the security of his two-year deal helped him to remain calm and not rush back from the shoulder injury that caused him to open the season on the DL. Breslow adds that he's grateful to the Red Sox for being the first team to guarantee him a contract for multiple years. As far as national attention from a strong postseason, Breslow says he's more concerned with receiving validation from his 24 teammates than the national media.
• Mike Napoli tells MLB.com's Lindsay Berra that he will be more confident in contract negotiations with interest teams this winter now that he's played through a season with avascular necrosis (AVN) in his hips. Said Napoli: "They're always going to say, 'What if?' But what if I got hit in the hand or got hurt in some other way that had nothing to do with my hips? So many things can happen, but I don't feel like my hips are a problem."
• Agent Josh Borkin of ACES tells MLBTR that Red Sox prospect Daniel McGrath has selected ACES as his representation. The Australian left-hander reached the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League in 2013 at just 19 years old and posted a 4.86 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 33 1/3 innings. McGrath signed with the Red Sox for $400K last summer.