DOMBRO MIGHT USE LEYLAND AS A GUIDE LEYLAND AS A GUIDE

Success with manager helpful in search for next Sox skipper

It’s been two years, one month and 27 days since Dave Dombrowski took charge of the Red Sox front office. It took him 88 days to trade for Craig

Kimbrel, 15 weeks to give David Price $217 million, and less than 12 months to move Andrew Benintendi through the minors all the way to the big leagues.

It was only a matter of time before he put his own man in the manager’s office.

Firing a manager is nothing new for Dombrowski. He did it in Montreal, he did it twice in Miami, and he did it twice in Detroit.

The one thing that consistently worked for him was to hire Jim Leyland.

Dombrowski has overseen eight playoff teams. Five of them had Leyland as manager. Dombrowski’s been to the World Series three times, always with Leyland and twice in Leyland’s first year on the job, both with the Marlins and the Tigers. The only manager Dombrowski ever hired who didn’t end up fired — or at least let go — with a losing record? Leyland.

John Farrell, it turns out, was Dombrowski’s second-most successful manager.

Now, it’s time to find a new one, and as the Red Sox president of baseball operations enters yet another managerial search, his most successful partnership might be instructive in considering what type of manager he could target, and what kind of working relationship he might expect.

“He let me do my thing, and I let him do his,” Leyland told The Providence Journal during the 2015 winter meetings. “It’s always good when you have a good rapport with your general manager, and I had a great rapport with Dave. We had disagreements on players, but we felt that actually made us better. That’s how organizations get better. He was terrific to work for. He got you the players, and he let you manage them. That’s all you can ask for.”

They made for an interesting pair, Dombrowski with his colorful polo shirts and perfectly combed hair, Leyland with his Wild West mustache and lit cigarette. Dombrowski built a repu- tation as an aggressive wheeler and dealer. Leyland built a reputation as a no-nonsense — but fully invested — player’s manager.

“He really cares deeply about his players,” utility man Don Kelly told the Associated Press when Leyland retired in 2013. ”When you go out there, the way he treats you, you want to run through a wall for him, go out there and get a win. That’s the way he treated me. He treated everybody like that.”

The last American League managers left standing this season were a wide variety. The Indians have an engaging player’s manager in Terry Francona, the Yankees manager is by-the-book Joe Girardi, and the Astros have a younger blend of the two in A.J. Hinch. There’s no one way to fill this job. While Leyland’s grizzled exterior suggests a relic from a long-gone era, his nature suggests a tendency toward relationships instead of spreadsheets — more Francona than Girardi.

“Usually you’re sitting up here having this press conference because you have really good players,” Leyland said in 2011 after he and Dombrowski won a division title together in Detroit. “And there’s no manager that ever sat up here without the good players. Nobody. I don’t care who it was. That’s why I’m here today.”

Dombrowski and Leyland clearly came to trust and respect one another. Eight years after they worked together in Florida, Dombrowski hired Leyland to manage in Detroit. Leyland had not been a manager the previous six years, but Dombrowski knew what he was getting, and the combination worked. Leyland managed the next eight years.

“I think the attributes are the same for a good manager of a baseball team as they probably are for any good manager in any occupation in any walk of life, other than your knowledge of baseball,” Dombrowski said. “Communication, leadership, personal skills. Here, I think your ability to deal with the media probably weighs more than I would say in Detroit at that particular time.”

For the Red Sox, Leyland is strictly a template of what to expect. He’s made clear he has no desire to manage again.

“No interest in anything like that,” Leyland told FanRag’s Jon Heyman. “I love what I’m doing. I’m happy . . . . You can take it to the bank.”

Plenty of work

If Dombrowski and Leyland thrived by splitting the responsibilities — the GM found the players, the manager got the most out of them — perhaps it’s best to look at the Red Sox’ lingering offseason issues through that dual lens.

For every key issue, there’s a roster construction matter to address and a roster usage question to answer.

OFFENSE Front office: Find a big bat Manager: Stabilize the lineup The Red Sox hit the fewest home runs in the American League, largely because their expected power sources saw significant declines from 2016. Xander Bogaerts went from 21 to 10, Jackie Bradley Jr. from 26 to 17, and Dustin Pedroia from 15 to seven. Mookie Betts

and Hanley Ramirez combined for 61 last season, 47 this season. Plus, there was no David Ortiz. Dombrowski could address that lack of power by signing a big bat, something he did in moderation with Mitch Moreland last winter. Free agents J.D. Martinez, Jay Bruce, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Justin Upton all hit more home runs than any Red Sox player this season.

With or without a singular upgrade, the Red Sox could add some stability by finding a batting order that works consistently. They used 137 different lineups this season, and no spot in the order was occupied by the same player more than 50 percent of the time. Betts hit leadoff 81 times. Ramirez hitting cleanup in 71 games was the second-most consistent spot.

ROTATION Front office: Add proven depth Manager: Keep innings in check

Assuming health and no blockbuster trades, the Red Sox seem to have a set rotation of Chris Sale, Price, Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez heading into next season. Steven Wright coming back from surgery and perhaps Brian Johnson after a turn in the Arizona Fall League provide the immediate depth.

But that also was the plan coming into this season, and Doug Fister wound up starting Game 3 of the Division Series. Given Price’s balky elbow and Rodriguez’ history of knee problems, Dombrowski might need a reliable sixth starter to bring into spring training.

That said, given Sale’s secondhalf decline and Price’s end-ofthe-season move to the bullpen, the new manager will be responsible for getting the most out of the Red Sox rotation from Opening Day through the playoffs. That could mean innings moderation throughout the season.

BULLPEN Front office: Another man attempt

Manager: Another success

Two winters in a row, Dombrowski has attempted to trade for a key set-up man. Each time — Carson Smith last year, Tyler Thornburg this year — the new reliever has landed on the disabled list before filling his intended role.

Now, the team expects to have both Thornburg and Smith ready for spring training. Smith looked good enough in September that he still could bridge the gap to setup mix-andmatch Kimbrel. That said, the Red Sox saw first-hand the impact of a proven arm like Addison Reed down the stretch.

Dombrowski could roll the dice on the late-inning arms he’s already acquired, or he could, for the third year in a row, try to find someone new to take on that responsibility.

One thing the new Red Sox manager certainly could learn from the old manager is the ability to mix and match his lessproven relievers. Even without Smith and Thornburg, Farrell at various times leaned on Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree, Joe Kelly and Robby Scott to turn this year’s Red Sox bullpen into one of the best in baseball.

BENCH Front office: Acquire middle infield depth

Manager: Communicate with Pedroia

When the Red Sox traded for Eduardo Nunez at the deadline, they had no obvious position for him to play. They knew only that he could play just about anywhere and that he could hit. He wound up being a key leadoff hitter down the stretch, plugging the hole created by Pedroia’s ongoing knee problems.

After having their lack of infield depth exposed earlier in the season — remember the revolving door at third base — the Red Sox finally addressed that situation and felt the benefits of such depth.

Dombrowski would be wise to keep that in mind this winter. Given Pedroia’s knee, Bogaerts’ inconsistency and Rafael Devers’ youth, re-signing Nunez might not be the worst idea, even without a clear position for him. If not Nunez, the Red Sox surely need someone else beyond the lighthitting Brock Holt and Deven Marrero combination.

Whatever the backup plans, the new Red Sox manager surely will have a delicate situation to manage with Pedroia. The team’s iconic second baseman wants to play every day, and he’s known for his willingness to play hurt, but he also seemed to wear down significantly this season. The trick is to keep him healthy and productive without making him bitter and angry.

Minor consideration

The Red Sox never have had a minority manager, but that could change with this hiring.

Astros bench coach Alex Cora, Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo and Indians first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. all are from Puerto Rico. Braves special assistant Bo Porter and Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale are black. Those five are among the names most often mentioned for managerial vacancies.

“Well, yes, we’re going to consider minority candidates,” Dombrowski said. “We’ll consider the best person we can find for the job, but minority candidates will be a part of that, yes, in the interview process.”

Back in 1999, then-commissioner Bud Selig established what is now known as the “Selig Rule” when he sent a memo requiring teams to at least consider minority candidates for top jobs including manager and general manager. That memo did not require actual interviews with minority candidates, but there was a clear intent to steer teams in that direction.

Another memo, in 2015, reminded teams to consider nonwhite candidates, but the league had only three minority managers this season: Dave Roberts with the Dodgers, Dusty Baker with the Nationals and Rick Renteria with the White Sox.