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BoSox eager for spring

After his first winter as the Boston Red Sox general manager, Ben Cherington can’t wait until spring training so he can finally see how things are working out.

BOSTON — After his first winter as the Boston Red Sox general manager, Ben Cherington can’t wait until spring training so he can finally see how things are working out.

And his players are eager to get going for their own reasons.

“I’m really looking forward to getting down there and seeing this in action,” he said Thursday night before the annual dinner of the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

“I truly believe our players are ready to put last year behind them. Spring training is the first chance to do that.”

About 700 people were scheduled to attend the dinner at a downtown Boston hotel, where retired St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was due to receive the most prestigious honour, the Judge Emil Fuchs Award for long and meritorious service to baseball, named for the former owner of the Boston Braves.

Others honoured include Chicago Cubs outfielder Tony Campana, who overcame Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as the Tony Conigliaro Award winner for dealing with adversity.

Jacoby Ellsbury was chosen as the Red Sox MVP after a year in which he finished second in the AL MVP voting.

One year after playing in just 18 games because of injuries, Ellsbury batted .321 with 32 homers and 105 RBIs — all career highs — along with 39 stolen bases.

He also batted .358 with eight homers and 21 RBIs in September, one of the few bright spots for the Red Sox in they went 7-20 to finish one game behind Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card race.

Other honours include:

• Associated Press sports writer Howard Ulman was to be presented with the Dave O’Hara Award for BBWAA service.

• Fenway Park architect Janet Marie Smith for her work on the ballpark’s renovations in recognition of its 100th anniversary.

• Catcher Ryan Lavarnway as the Red Sox minor league player of the year.

• Traded outfielder Josh Reddick with the Harry Agganis Award as the Red Sox rookie of the year.

• Tampa Bay’s Joe Maddon as the manager of the year.

• Texas general manager Jon Daniels as the major league executive of the year.

• Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, with the Tommy McCarthy Good Guy Award.

Cherington also declined to comment on reports that Commissioner Bud Selig had taken over the drawn-out talks for compensation from the Cubs for former general manager Theo Epstein. Epstein left to take over as president of baseball operations in Chicago, but the teams never settled on what the Red Sox would get for letting him out of his contract with one year left.

“We’d like to find a resolution. We may need help to do that,” Cherington said, adding that he hoped it would be done before spring training.

The other big change for the Red Sox this off-season was the loss of closer Jonathan Papelbon, who signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Red Sox obtained former Oakland closer Andrew Bailey in a trade for outfielder Josh Reddick.

Designated hitter David Ortiz is headed to arbitration, unless the sides can work out a deal before the hearing.

“We lost a closer; we replaced a closer. The best DH in the game: That guy’s back,” Cherington said. “We just don’t feel like we needed wholesale changes.”

Also Thursday, the Red Sox announced a restructuring of their medical staff.

Rick Jameyson, who spent 20 years as a trainer in the Indians organization, joined the Red Sox as head athletic trainer.

Pat Sandora, who had been the organization’s minor league strength and conditioning coach, has been hired as strength and conditioning coach in Boston.

Larry Ronan will continue as the team internist and Peter Asnis has been promoted to head team orthopedist.

“We hope that the staff gives the players everything they need and does it in a way that shows the players” that the staff has their best interests at heart, Cherington said, “and ultimately keep them on the field more.”

Cherington stressed that he wasn’t blaming the old crew for the injuries and conditioning that helped doom the team down the stretch.

“There were areas of the players individual conditioning we thought could improve over 2011,” he said. “Ultimately, it falls back to the players to take care of themselves.”