MONEY AND A LITTLE KNOW-HOW PAY OFF
Dombrowski put his stamp on AL champs, writes Rob Longley.
HOUSTON He oversees the highest payroll in baseball, so of course, he’s expected to win.
That team is in the American League East, where the veteran executive believes it’s toughest to have success.
And by running a pro team in Boston, arguably the most demanding market in North America, the pressure is relentless, even when the Red Sox win 108 games during the regular season.
So you better believe Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was in the middle of the raucous celebration in the visitors’ clubhouse late Thursday night after Boston had easily dispatched the World Series champion Houston Astros in five games to claim the American League pennant.
A Red Sox team that had won three consecutive AL East titles needed to go deeper than early playoff exits, which was the case the past two seasons, and Dombrowski was well aware of the demands of his market and expectations from a team that began 2018 with much optimism.
“It’s tough to win 108 games anywhere,” Dombrowski told the Toronto Sun shortly after Boston’s 4-1 win at Minute Maid Park, sealing the deal on their ALCS win. “Our guys did a tremendous job this year. We faced two very good ball clubs in the post-season already. Both won over 100 games. And I know we’re going to face another good one as well (in the NL champion). We’d really like to win four more games.”
That they’ve won 115 overall — three against the Yankees in the ALDS and four more against the defending champs — already is testament to the team Dombrowski has helped build and maintain.
The guts of the roster were players drafted by Blue Jays vice-president of baseball operations Ben Cherington back when he was the Red Sox GM, but Dombrowski has refined and re-stocked the team to make it good enough to keep a leg up on the Yankees, and more importantly, remain competitive year after year.
“The American League East is tough,” said Dombrowski, who has led the Sox to division titles in each of his three full seasons in Boston. “It’s probably the toughest division in baseball. It’s a real gauntlet when you have to go through it. It’s a challenge and you have to be willing to invest and continue to improve.”
The Red Sox have certainly done that under his watch.
It was Dombrowski who signed J.D. Martinez to a five-year, US$110-million deal last winter and watched him hit 43 homers in the regular season and then a huge one off of Astros ace Justin Verlander on Thursday to give the Sox the early lead.
It was also Dombrowski who pushed to sign Game 5 winner David Price following the 2015 season. That wasn’t without controversy, of course. given the price tag (US$217 million over seven seasons) and his playoff form reversal (0-for-9 in 11 career postseason starts prior to Thursday’s huge win.)
“It doesn’t surprise me because he’s just really good and he was so determined to do it,” Dombrowski said in reference to Price’s six shutout innings in Game 5. “His confidence never wavered. It makes me happy for him.”
Time will tell, but Dombrowski’s biggest move might have been the one he was putting the finishing touches on a year ago this week. The Red Sox president had already fired John Farrell, despite the fact the manager had led the team to back-to-back division titles and a World Series win in 2013. In his place, he hired then-Astros bench coach Alex Cora to a three-year deal.
As these things go, the signing was met with an unhealthy dose of skepticism up in Beantown. It didn’t bother Cora in the slightest, however. He went to work blending some of the informational tools he had honed while in Houston and mixed in his own motivational and personal skills to get the most out of the team.
Cora’s impact was certainly felt throughout the ALCS. He pushed all the right buttons and motivated his players in the right way to compile a combined 7-2 post-season record over a pair of 100-game winners.