Dombrowski on clock
Criteria for manager a mystery
While not explaining why he fired John Farrell yesterday, Dave Dombrowski did reveal he has learned a thing or two after two full seasons of running a baseball team in Boston.
Like, Boston’s different.
It’s more intense, there’s more passion, more fans, more media swarming around the team than in, say, Detroit or Miami.
Now, maybe if Dombrowski knew that in December 2015, he might have thought much longer and harder before inking David Price to a long-term deal to pitch in Boston. Because Dombrowski surely understands by now the thin-skinned Price does not take kindly to the sometimes negative takes from media and fans about him and his teammates.
Yet Price still is here, a sometimes unhappy camper but one who, along with Dustin Pedroia, likely isn’t crying much about Farrell’s departure.
The John Farrell who departed is the same John Farrell who not only endured his share of barbs without losing his mind and tem- per (at least in public) but who also won a World Series and two division titles while managing a baseball team in Boston.
So keep a close eye on whom Dombrowski decides is a better fit for the job.
It’s too soon to say what blueprint he’s using in the search. The best I can tell, Farrell and Terry Francona offer the best guide to what it takes to win as a manager in this town.
Dombrowski was almost as short on specifics about what he wants from his next Red Sox manager as was about the reasons for Farrell’s dismissal.
What he sounded sure about is that Boston is as unique as Price’s left elbow.
“I’ve had really quality managers that I know and I respect that have said they wouldn’t want to manage in Boston,” Dombrowski said. “And not only Boston, there’s a couple other cities . . . I think you have to be prepared to take it. Hey, it’s great. It’s a great market. This is a great baseball city. This is tremendous. The passion of the fans, the support of the fans is fantastic, the support of ownership. What we put out there, we have a quality baseball club, quality support.
“But there’s a lot of scrutiny that goes attached with it. You’d rather have the scrutiny and all those other things than not. I think it’s a passionate community, but you’ve got to be prepared for that, sure. And I think it’s for some people and it’s not for others. That’s just the way it is. And it’s probably the same way for players and probably the same way for managers.”
We’ll never know how far the Red Sox had to advance this fall in order to save Farrell’s job. Grady Little was canned after reaching the seventh game of the ALCS. We only learned later that ownership and the front office could not wait to get rid of him. We have yet to hear the back story about what went sour with Farrell and when. It’s inevitable the truth or a close relative to it will come out.
Along with Francona, Farrell is the only other Red Sox manager since Ed Barrow in 1918 to claim they had what it takes to manage a team to a title in Boston.
Francona won two rings, and it took four years for the glow to wear off from the 2007 title to the chicken-and-beer fiasco in 2011.
For Farrell, it also took four years from the 2013 title to wear out his welcome.
The pressure around here remains intense, and certainly the drumbeat of “Fire Farrell” was persistent and loud starting from at least last season.
Since inheriting Farrell, Dombrowski has lived up to his reputation as a wheelerdealer and brought into the clubhouse a number of new faces besides Price. Craig Kimbrel, Carson Smith, Tyler Thornburg, Addison Reed, Drew Pomeranz, Mitch Moreland, Chris Young, Doug Fister and, of course, Chris Sale have arrived. Many of the above will be back next season.
The core players Dombrowski inherited remain, but by the day, the team reflects his vision and experience more and more. In a couple more months, there likely will be at least one new, well-known power hitter in the mix, and all eyes will turn toward 2018.
Who will be at the helm as manager, however, remains a mystery.
All we know is Dombrowski knows he needs somebody who understands that Boston is different.
“Just like a general manager’s spot, that they’re open for questions and debates and second-guessing and even more so than a general manager because they’re making moves when you can bunt or hit-and-run or steal on any particular play, so there’s a lot of different things you look for in a manager, and you weigh what all those things are,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t think there’s any perfect manager or perfect general manager probably in any other job, but you just weigh all the different factors and make a decision.”
Dombrowski made his decision with Farrell, for whatever reasons. He’s on the clock with his next decision.
All we know for sure about what he’s looking for in a manager is that he understands a Boston accent.