Red Sox GM: 'Our goal is to be as good as we can as quick as we can'

The Boston Red Sox took full advantage of Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline, making four deals to set the team up to compete in 2015.

General manager Ben Cherington spoke about the deadline deals Thursday evening and what it means for the team moving forward.

"Nothing celebratory about this. These moves were made because we collectively as an organization haven't performed well enough," Cherington said. "This year has been challenging and disappointing, I take responsibility for that. We have to get better and we know that. Our goal is to be as good as we can as quick as we can."

The 48-60 Red Sox were by far the most active team leading up to and including the deadline day, most notably shipping staff ace Jon Lester to Oakland in exchange for slugger Yoenis Cespedes. Cherington credited the impressive resumes of his veteran players for being able to make so many deals.

"Demand was there because of the quality of our guys and fact they were so recently playoff-tested. We didn't want to miss opportunities," Cherington added. "I'm proud of my group I work with; they were prepared and gave us every chance to make decisions. Time will tell what results are."

Click here for a full list of the team's transactions.