Dombrowski the fall guy at Fenway
Red Sox president finds himself on the hot seat a year after Series win
BOSTON— We are sitting in Section 31 at Fenway Park, in the dark blue wooden grandstand seats down left field, watching the Boston Red Sox take batting practice.
It’s a gorgeous day, hours before the Red Sox would become the latest team to clobber the Baltimore Orioles, and Dave Dombrowski, the Red Sox president of baseball operations, is sprawled across a seat.
There’s not a soul in this passionate sports town taking more heat these days, but even wearing his dark suit and tie, he’s not about to let you or anyone else see him sweat.
This is a proud baseball man who has been on the job four years to the day this past Sunday, the architect of a team that won three consecutive AL East titles, and a franchise-record119 games and the World Series championship last year.
Hey, what have you done for us lately?
“Well, I don’t want to say too much about it,” Dombrowski, 63, says in an hour-long interview, “but I am surprised. At least a little bit. I mean, we did win three divisions and a World Series.
“But I get it. This is a tough market. It’s been known as that. Growing up in this game, I was always told there are three markets that are different than everywhere else: Boston, New York and Philadelphia. And I’d have to say it’s probably lived up to be true.
“If you don’t have thick skin, you’re not going to survive in this game. You won’t survive in this market for sure.”
They’ve become spoiled in New England. Their sports teams have won an absurd 12 championships since the turn of the century, with six by the New England Patriots, four by the Red Sox, and one each by the Celtics and Bruins. They’re the only city to have a championship in all four major sports within a six-year span. The Red Sox have won four AL East titles and two World Series championships since the New York Yankees last won a division title in 2012, but it’s not enough to spare the scorn. The Red Sox are sitting with a 67-59 record after winning five consecutive games, but are in danger of sitting out this October completely, six games out of a wild-card berth.
And those of remote odds of becoming the first team in two decades to repeat as World Series champions took a massive blow when ace Chris Sale — who signed a five-year, $145million (U.S.) extension last spring — was shut down for the season Monday with elbow inflammation.
“I know people wanted us to win, and we wanted to win, the expectations were there,” Dombrowski said. “It’s just a situation where you look back, somebody seems to get blamed for whatever happened. The fans have been great. And so has ownership. It’s just a (media) theme that always seems to take place.
“We haven’t played was well as we hoped, and people have problems with the decisions we made. I understand that. I guess that’s just the way it is.”
Dombrowski’s fabulous career with the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and Red Sox should ultimately culminate with a Hall of Fame induction, but for now, there’s no guarantee he’ll even be back next year. He still has one year left on his original five-year deal, but there has been only radio silence on the possibility of a contract extension.
Instead of accolades for winning, he’s ridiculed for the huge money tied up with Sale and David Price’s injuries; pitcher Nathan Eovaldi’s struggles; World Series MVP Steve Pearce’s lost season; infielder Eduardo Nunez’s release; all-star closer Craig Kimbrel’s relocation to Chicago; and having a frail farm system. Meanwhile in San Diego where Padres GM A.J. Preller has built perhaps the game’s best farm system, but still has not had a winning season, there hasn’t been a peep of discontent. Jerry Dipoto was just heralded in Seattle for making 100 trades since his arrival, no matter that the major-league team is a laughingstock.
Dombrowski was brought to Boston for the simple purpose of winning a championship. He delivered.
If it was about hoarding prospects, he wouldn’t have traded for Sale or Kimbrel. If it was about saving money, he wouldn’t have spent $217 million to keep Price from going to St. Louis.
The Red Sox also wouldn’t be flying a 2018 World Series flag.
“I thought that was what it was all about,” Dombrowski says, “trying to win championships.”
Sure, it’s easy to second-guess now whether the Red Sox should have waited until the season ended to re-sign Sale. Still, with Patrick Corbin getting a six-year, $140-million deal from the Washington Nationals last winter, and this year’s free-agent class being so woefully thin, why take that risk?
“I’m thrilled that Chris Sale is with us,” Dombrowski said. “People say, ‘Oh, could they have waited to sign him?’ Sure, but what if you wait and can’t sign him for the same dollar figures we put forth. We thought it was a realistic number.”
There has also been the widespread criticism for the signing of Eovaldi, who signed a fouryear, $68-million contract. He has pitched only 36 1⁄ innings 3 this season because of elbow surgery and has a 6.69 ERA in16 appearances.
“I get it, but there was competition to sign him,” Dombrowski said.
And please, Dombrowski says, enough with the talk that they only dished out the money to reward Eovaldi and Pearce for their World Series performances. The Red Sox needed another starter, and they needed a righthanded power hitter. Besides, Pearce cost them only $6.25 million.
“I don’t think, per se, you’re rewarding them,” Dombrowski said, “but as much as you think they’re good performers for you. One of the things that you’re always looking for is ability, but in our scenario, you ask can they handle Boston in a pennant race? How do they do they perform in the post-season? Well, those were big Apluses for those guys.
“We didn’t give out the contract to Pearce or Eovaldi to reward them, but because we really wanted them.”
Certainly, you can argue in hindsight that the Red Sox would have been better served spending that money on the bullpen, or simply re-signing Kimbrel. Yet, Kimbrel was seeking a $100 million contract during the winter. If they had known Kimbrel would sign for just $43 million over three years as he did with the Cubs, they would have snapped him up. They let Joe Kelly leave for the Dodgers, but had concerns whether he could close out games. Really, there wasn’t a free-agent reliever on the market the Red Sox regret passing on this winter.
“The free agents that were out there, the relievers that were highly thought of,” Dombrowski said, “look at how they turned out. Not many turned out well. It’s just the up-anddown nature of the bullpen. So, you have to determine how much money you want to invest into that portion of your club. We invested in our starting pitching.” When Dombrowski looks back on this season, sure there were mistakes and red flags that went ignored. They severely reduced their starters’ workloads in the spring, and that might have heavily contributed to their slow start. There was a flaw in the closer-by-committee strategy, manager Alex Cora now acknowledges. Maybe they have brought in a few new faces, too, Dombrowski says.
“We had the thought process of why not bring this group back together than won 119 games and a World Series?” Dombrowski said. “But I guess if you had to look back, maybe you need a player or two that are hungry to win again, or win for the first time.
“I don’t know the answer, but I do think that in the general form of organizational perspective is that after you win — and (Patriots coach) Bill Belichick was great telling me this — you think things are going to be OK. You see things that maybe catch your eye in the spring, and then it’s like, ‘Yeah, but we’ll be OK. We’ll get through that.’
“You talk to Belichick, and he doesn’t act that way. He never refers to last year. He talks about this year right now, and that’s it. Once you win, you don’t think it’s going to translate into any type of attitude (problems) into the next year, but maybe it does.”
The Red Sox are convinced they’ll be contenders again in 2020. They still have a starstudded lineup centred around Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Andrew Benintendi, Christian Vazquez, Michael Chavis and perhaps J.D. Martinez, who has an opt-out. The rotation should be formidable with Sale, Price, Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez.
This is still a powerful team. A team built to win now. They’ll be back in 2020.
Dombrowski deserves to be back right along with them.
“I am surprised. At least a little bit. I mean, we did win three divisions and a World Series.” DAVE DOMBROWSKI BOSTON RED SOX PRESIDENT OF BASEBALL OPERATIONS