And he will spend money.
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The level of scrutiny Dombrowski will face in Boston, compared to most markets, is going to be ripe. “It’s a great ownership group, they want to win, and they want to win the right way”.
In a turnaround that would have been unfathomable two years ago, Ben Cherington is out as general manager of the Boston Red Sox. If Cherington was hired to continue Theo Epstein’s model, Dombrowski got the job to do just the opposite.
Ortiz, batting. 500 during a 10-game hitting streak coming in, led off the second inning with his 20th home run since June 11 – a towering fly ball into the visitors’ bullpen. This year, after signing high-priced free agents Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, the team sunk back to the bottom. Once the Tigers’ owner decided to go for it, he kept the team’s payroll in the top 10 every season but one in the last decade, and in the top six in baseball seven of those seasons. But most everything went sour and almost all hopes for the 2015 team faded early.
It’s a smart philosophy to have, because there are good things happening with the Red Sox despite the team’s 53-66 record. He expressed regret that Cherington did not stay as GM, adding that he has no timetable to put a new GM in place. That thought changed, Henry said Wednesday, “when Dave became available”.
“Ben Cherington is one of the finest individuals I have ever worked with, possessing a maturity and integrity second to none”, Henry said. Dombrowski was the GM.
Then again, give Dombrowski some time to work his magic.
Dombrowski has made multiple blockbuster deals in his years with the Tigers. At best, Cherington turned out to be a one-hit wonder, and 2013 was the “Come On, Eileen” to his Dexy’s Midnight Runner. Dombrowski may not have the best winning percentage as a general manager, but he’s been in the majors long enough to know how to run a successful ball club. Dombrowski tried to build a victor through trades. But if it’s a Margot getting sent away. Montreal finished 81-81. Johnson began a Hall of Fame career.
Dombrowski also showed a deft touch when it came to picking the time to move prospects.
In 1997, Dombrowski got the go-ahead to spend. He got players like Lowell, first baseman Derrick Lee and pitcher Brad Penny through trades.
His family was out of town this past weekend visiting in-laws in Oklahoma and he needed to fill time as the possibility of joining the Red Sox loomed.
The situation isn’t almost as dire in Boston right now, but there are a lot more moving parts to consider which might not make a straight rebuild as simple as it sounds. Ryan Hanigan is pretty solid, and Christian Vazquez could probably partner with him just fine, but Vazquez is exactly the kind of player Dombrowski wouldn’t trust over someone like Swihart, who’s showing that there’s something behind all that prospect hype by actually contributing in the majors. Plus a rash of injuries hit and the Sox were forced to patch holes at catcher, first base, in the rotation, and in the outfield. In return he received four players, including outfielder Austin Jackson and pitcher Max Scherzer. The Tigers also made it to the World Series twice during his tenure, but never won.
Nova has won four of his last five starts.
The Twins are last in the league with a 5.82 ERA so far in August. And he is making $28 million a year though 2019. Dombrowski said the Tigers might not have relied on analytics as much as other clubs but said he always was open to using whatever tools he had at his disposal. Now I’m not saying they will win the division with this motivation because I think that it’s too late in the season for that, but I do believe they will make a huge improvement in their play.
“I mean they hit two popups that accounted for four runs”, Kluber said.
But Boston needs more production. Of course, it says something about Cherington’s decisions since then-some of which are more defensible than others, and some that seem very expensive and very bad-that he’s out of a job less than two years later.
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Now John Henry hands the controls – and his checkbook – to Dombrowski.
