The Red Sox have parted ways with Dave Dombrowski, less than a year after the team he built won the World Series following a record season. Then he brought back almost the same team, and watched them flounder.
So, how was he so right last year, but apparently so wrong this year? What changed?
The results.
That’s really it. Last year, everyone performed up to their
Did Dombrowski make moves that didn’t pan out? Absolutely. Were they the right moves at the time? Almost always.
People who complain about the bullpen he assembled seem to forget that he’s traded for at least three quality relievers during his time here. Craig Kimbrel panned out pretty well, until most fans wanted him run out of town. After being the closer on a World Champion. But, the Sox also traded for Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg. Both young star relievers who should have solidified the bullpen for a couple years. Both got hurt almost instantly. Both never did anything of note as a result. Was Dombrowski supposed to see into the future? Is he incapable of building a bullpen? Or, just unlucky?
He also gets complaints about gutting the farm system. Which player did Dombrowski trade away that you wish the Sox had back? From that list, which ones would you rather have the guy he was traded for? Even where the Sox got busts in return...Smith, Pomeranz maybe...do you miss the guy they gave away? So, he gutted the farm system of inferior talent? Sounds like a smart move to me. And, last I checked Devers, Bogaerts, Benintendi, and Chavez are still on the team. He even got rid of Swihart, and kept Vazquez. That sounds like a pretty good record of making the right call with prospects.
I have two possible complaints about Dombrowski, and they’re pretty minor.
I didn’t like his comments at the trade deadline. He didn’t make any major moves, probably correctly. Remember, none of the other contenders really made moves either...which implies there wasn’t much to be had. He did get Cashner, which made a lot of sense...but didn’t work out. But, he made the comment that if the team were closer in the standings, he may have been more inclined to make a move. What did that mean? Not only is that pretty crappy for morale...you guys aren’t good enough to bother improving….but it was ill-defined. If the Sox were one game out at the deadline, what move was out there? What trade did he turn down because the Sox were too far gone? Did he not even try?
There’s also something that you can’t put you finger on with the pitching staff. Why are they all terrible? Why did they all forget how to pitch this year? Why did Cashner go from being a solid potential #5 starter to being absolute garbage as soon as he put on a Sox uniform? Is it coaching? Is it the medical staff? Is it a combination? As the president, I think he needed to figure out what the problem was, and fix that.
But, that’s really all I can fault him for. A bad comment once, and not fixing someone else’s problem. That’s probably not the sort of thing that should get you fired. Especially the year after a record setting championship season.
Unless I’m missing something?
I think the reason here has to do with a couple of things. First, from what I have heard on Twitter from the writers, the ownership was not too keen on his deal for Chris Sale. Apparently, the word I heard used when talking about how Dombrowski got the deal approved was by using a sledgehammer.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the ownership didn't believe that he was the guy to handle the next phase of this team, which is going to be dealing with how to handle the Mookie Betts situation, rebuilding the farm system and building around the core of Devers and Bogaerts.
He was brought in for one reason, to win a World Series given a 3-4 year window. He did that in 2018. Every fan should be grateful for being the one to construct perhaps the greatest Red Sox team ever.
But I think now the ownership wants to move in a different direction in the baseball operations department. I also think, as I said before, they might not be the biggest fans of his contract with Sale. I know they could have said no, but the reason he was the GM was to recommend those things to ownership and to sell it to them. But Sale was/is a guy who has had injury issues and typically hasn't been himself in September/October. But they trusted Dave to make that decision and so far, it has turned out to be a big bust of a deal. The hope is Sale doesn't need Tommy John or some other major surgery.
When it comes down to it, the way the ownership handled this was terrible. However, I think their philosophy is that they want to get back to a collaboration type of front office. They want the new GM to use the inside info they have, and in the end, the ownership didn't believe Dombrowski did that.
So, you're saying it was always intended to be a one term sort of arrangement. One guy to come in and win a title to allow the next person the flexibility to build something slowly. Interesting idea.
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