Red Sox: Firing Dave Dombrowski was the hard but smart move
Boston Red Sox General Manager and President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski was fired on Monday – can the team rebound in 2020 and beyond?
Bringing Dave Dombrowski to the Red Sox just two weeks after being released by the Detroit Tigers was met with nothing short of happy feelings in Boston. This was the guy who was able to do big things in Detroit, leading the team to four first-place finishes from 2011 through 2014.
2015 spelled a different fate as the team fell out of contention, forcing the Tigers to change things up by firing the GM in early August after the team was playing less than .500 baseball.
Boston spent no time in adding Dombrowski after Ben Cherrington resigned. Cherrington was able to bring one title to Boston in his time as GM of the Red Sox, serving from 2012 until his exit in 2015. After everything that has transpired, Dombrowski actually served less time than Cherrington and few could argue that his moves were better. The reasons for the firing were quite clear. While the former GM had no issue making harsh decisions regarding trades, some of those very moves were the ones that could end up crippling the Sox over the next three to four seasons.
Trading the farm system for the all-in mentality has not paid dividends. Yes, the Red Sox won 108 regular-season games and eventually won the World Series in 2018, but the team is now 76 – 69, in third place and 18 1/2 games behind their division rival New York Yankees.
Two contract extensions that doomed Dombrowski
Dombrowski paid Nathan Eovaldi $68 million over four years prior to the beginning of the 2019 season because of one strong postseason performance. His career before coming to Boston was nothing short of mediocre at best. It hardly justified the contract that he received. For the $17 million that Eovaldi made this season, he won just one single game in 9 starts started with an ERA just under 6.00.
Chris Sale also received a major contract extension, $145 million for five years. The injury history was a major concern as no one was truly sure if it was still lingering. What’s worse? There’s a 2025 club option that becomes guaranteed if Sale finishes in the top 10 for the Cy Young Award and doesn’t finish the season on the injured list. Imagine that, Sale getting $165 million through 2025. The Sox theoretically might not be able to hit reset until after that season. Just how bad could this contract be?
While Sale only made $15 million this season, he’ll see his salary double in each of the next three seasons, making a cool $30 million a year from 2020 through 2022. Considering Sale went 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA, it was the first time in his career that as a starter he didn’t hit double digits in the win column.
Of course, in Dombrowski’s defense, no one could have ever predicted that Sale was going to go down and potentially need Tommy John surgery, making his $30 million salary next season a complete waste, but the writing was on the wall.
The disastrous effect of big contracts
Sale has spent significant time on the injured list in his career. Yes, Sale did strike out 218 batters, joining the 200+ club for the seventh year in a row, but it came at a disastrous cost.
The Red Sox will owe Eovaldi and Sale a combined $47 million annually in each of the next three seasons. If we want to throw in David Price’s albatross contract as well, the Sox will owe the trio $78 million in 2020, $79 million in 2021, & $79 million once again in 2022. Both the Eovaldi and Price contracts will then be off the books in 2023.
Some have to wonder though, as Price spent time with Dombrowski in Detroit, was signing the lefty to the mega-deal something he did because he felt comfortable with him then? Familiar faces cast less doubt but age isn’t just a number. As one gets older, their ability begins to show signs of decline. Athletes are not like wine, they don’t get better with time. The new GM of the Red Sox will have to know that paying players based on their past accomplishments is not going to bode well for the future.
The Red Sox have major contracts coming up, including one for one of game’s best in Mookie Betts. Betts will undoubtedly shatter the arbitration number in his final year before having the opportunity to sign a mega-contract of his own. The only other player to worry about regarding big contracts is Rafael Devers, who the team won’t have to worry about until after 2023 when most of the major contracts are off the books.
Failed trades and additions
We also can’t forget the aspect of Dave Dombrowski that left most of Red Sox Nation scratching their heads. The moves to get Tyler Thornburg to bolster the bullpen and the infamous trade to get Drew Pomeranz, which drew the ire of MLB after San Diego GM failed to disclose medical records. We all know that Thornburg, who had one good season, was a complete bust. What did the Sox give up for Thornburg?
The Red Sox traded away four players to get Thornburg, including Josh Pennington, Mauricio Dubon, Yeison Coca, and then-third baseman, Travis Shaw. Shaw went on to have an All-Star season the year of the trade with Milwaukee, slashing .273/31/101. He hit 32 homers the following season. Pennington retired in 2018 after multiple arm injuries, Dubon made his debut this season and was then traded by the Brewers to the Giants. He’s currently hitting .328 in 11 games. Coca hasn’t amounted to much as he is still hitting just over .200 in Single-A ball.
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Thornburg was traded in late 2016 during the Winter Meetings. Over his three seasons in Boston, he appeared in just 41 games, winning two, registering a 6.54 ERA, and allowing 31 earned runs in 42 2/3 innings of work. A far cry from his 2016 numbers. Rumors began to swirl that Thornburg was fatigued before joining Boston and made some think that this, like several other moves, was a dirty trade as the GM trading him might have known of his issues before moving him for a haul and a half.
The trade for Pomeranz was also met with disgust as the Sox were moving Anderson Espinoza, one of their best pitching prospects. It was later revealed that Pomeranz had failed his medical and that Padres General Manager A.J. Preller knew of his issues and was the reason for him trading him away. His punishment? It’s long been known that in MLB, not all teams are treated fairly, Preller got off with a slap on the wrist.
Pomeranz in 2016 was awful after the trade, going 3-5 in 13 starts with a 4.59 ERA and coming off an injury. Damaged goods is the only way to look at it. 2017 brought success Boston’s way as he was able to turn it around with a 17-6 season and a 3.32 ERA in 32 starts with 174 K’s in 173 2/3 innings of work. 2018 was more of the same Pomeranz of old as he went 2-6 with an ERA north of 6.00 and was relegated to the bullpen. Two big moves that thrashed the farm system.
One trade that would be hard to view as a complete bust was the trade for Sale back in 2016. Sale got moved from the White Sox for an All-Star package of prospects including Yoan Moncada, flamethrower Michael Kopech, along with Victor Diaz & Luis Basabe. Diaz hasn’t done anything and Basabe hasn’t done much in Single-A. Kopech spent 2019 on the shelf recovering from TJ surgery and will be ready to rock in 2020.
Moncada was the big prized prospect that changed his Red Socks for White ones that was going to be the largest pending question. Trading away a future All-Star and potential face of the franchise for anything less than a World Series title would have been a bust. Sale helped the Sox win one in 2018. Now the question is, was it worth trading both players away in the short term to affect the long term?
Moncada has quietly put together a great season slashing .301/23/68/9 in 115 games so far in 2019. With the White Sox out of playoff contention, Moncada, like the Red Sox, will hope for a stroke of luck in 2020. One thing is for sure, Kopech, when healthy, and Moncada will make the Sox in the AL Central a team to be nervous about.
Red Sox ownership looking towards 2020 and beyond
The Red Sox will have major questions looming during the offseason. Whether Alex Cora has much rope will be one topic of discussion.
How to deal with the aftermath of Dombrowski will be another. The potential move of Betts to another team in order to get a farm system once again will also be touched upon.
The boys from Bean Town need to figure out a way to get their payroll back to under $200 million. 2020 will be the final year with the Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo contracts, freeing up over $32 million in 2021.
Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers reaches 50 doubles. dark. Next
The new management in Boston will also have some more money to play with as the contracts of Porcello ($21.125 million), Mitch Moreland ($6.5 million), and Steve Pearce ($6.25 million) coming off the books. All Red Sox fans can do now is know that the future will be brighter than the 2019 campaign the team was able to put together.