Pelican strikes with force
Brash Dombrowski lands another big fish
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Pelican flew at midday yesterday.
The Pelican returned with a catch for the ages: Chris Sale.
In the biggest, boldest and best move of Dave Dombrowski’s still-young career with the Red Sox, the president of baseball operations snatched the still-young, frequently dominant and considerably affordable southpaw from the Chicago White Sox.
Dombrowski, likened by former general manager Jim Bowden last week to a pelican because of his knack for “going after fish slowly and from afar, then just swooping in with a violent late dive into the ocean,” lived up to that reputation.
The cost was so steep — two iridescent-bluechip prospects in infielder Yoan Moncada and starter Michael Kopech, plus two more youngsters — that the specter of depletion has been cast over the Red Sox farm system.
The cost, however, was not too steep.
The time was right to trade for Sale because the Sox did not need to wait for Moncada and Kopech to blossom in order to win. They can win now with Sale.
The time was right to trade for Sale because his contract is, like Dombrowski said, “club-friendly,” the type of financial windfall that small-market teams pray for and large-market teams seldom see.
The time was right to trade for Sale because hoarding the prospects predecessor Ben Cherington graciously left behind does not fit Dombrowski’s team-building philosophy or his mandate.
He was brought to Boston to swoop in for the kill on these deals. He was brought in to win, and win now.
Above and beyond the morning trade of even more prospects for reliever Tyler Thornburg and the evening signing of first baseman Mitch Moreland, the lunchtime trade for Sale was a knockout-caliber haymaker. Whether it knocks every other team off its feet by the end of next October or by the end of 2019 when this current window of opportunity begins to close is unknown.
But Dombrowski connected. The Pelican’s violent dive hit the mark.
All of baseball felt it, and now the Sox boast the best roster in the league.
“Nothing is guaranteed in life. You don’t even make these moves, and it doesn’t mean that you’re going to win by any means, but I think you keep taking a chance and going for it as much as you possibly can and hopefully it works for you some day,” Dombrowski said. “Every one of these moves made us better. Because of the strength of the system that people built and because of the young players that we still have, I think we’re still strong for many, many years.”
The real strength is in the next 2-3 seasons, when the presence of Dombrowski, Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Pablo Sandoval, Craig Kimbrel, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Eduardo Rodriguez all overlap.
And he is right. He didn’t empty the cupboards of every blue-chip prospect. Third baseman Rafael Devers and first baseman Sam Travis still are here. This year’s first-round pick, Jason Groome is too, as are catchers Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart.
And almost miraculously, nobody on the current major league roster was sent to the White Sox. The young, mostly homegrown lineup is intact.
The rotation is almost completely comprised of imports, a reflection of the franchise’s inability to groom a frontline ace since Jon Lester.
But no team can do it alone. The Red Sox don’t have the three recent championships without imports like Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett.
Sale, Dombrowski said, was the only starter he was interested in this offseason.
“He’s a good pitcher. That’s a club-friendly contract,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t think you make moves on just ability. It’s ability and finances that are tied together.”
Championship teams come in all shapes and sizes. Theo Epstein inherited a good team from Dan Duquette and constructed two championships before going the tear-down route with the Cubs.
Dombrowski nearly is finished with Phase 2 of a two-season sell-off of young talent for proven veterans. The process will have to stop before the cycle spins out of control or payroll limitations begin to choke, but the return is why Dombrowski was brought here in the first place.
Sale (nicknamed The Condor, by the way) was an opportunity too good to fly over.
Not every executive has the wherewithal and the ability to close a deal like this. There’s only one Pelican. And he’s on the job for the Red Sox.