With former president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski now out of the organization, the Red Sox are on the hunt for a new front office chief. Dombrowski’s successor won’t have the right to choose a manager, though, as Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed Tuesday on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria” that Alex Cora will return in 2020, as Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com relays.
It was already surprising enough that Boston fired Dombrowski on Sunday just under a year after winning its latest World Series title. And although Dombrowski hired Cora, it perhaps would have been even more stunning had the club moved on from the latter. The well-respected Cora has helped the Red Sox to a record of 184-122, including a 76-69 mark this season, during almost two years at the helm of their dugout. The club won’t return to the playoffs this year, though, which is surely among the reasons it ousted Dombrowski.
Kennedy on Tuesday wasn’t wiling to delve into why the Red Sox moved on from Dombrowski, however (per Cotillo). Rather, he complimented Dombrowski on his performance with the organization, saying, “We won a world championship, a couple division championships. On a personal level, I enjoyed working with him.” But Kennedy did add, “Obviously, you don’t make a change unless you’re ready for new leadership in that specific department.”
Unsurprisingly, there were issues behind the scenes, as Evan Drellich of The Athletic and Buster Olney of ESPN detail (subscriptions required). Dombrowski sought a contract extension multiple times in the wake of the team’s championship season, but its higher-ups wouldn’t oblige, according to Drellich. Ultimately, it doesn’t seem as if the Red Sox believed the aggressive Dombrowski was capable of putting them on a path toward sustained success. Dombrowski’s former bosses even wondered whether he was the right person for the job late during the 2018 regular season, when the Red Sox were on their way to a 108-win campaign, Olney reports.
Thanks to Dombrowski’s exit, the Red Sox are currently operating with a group consisting of a few of his former underlings – Eddie Romero, Zack Scott, Brian O’Halloran and Raquel Ferreira – atop their baseball department. It’s possible they’ll end up replacing Dombrowski from outside, though, with Olney naming Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen as a speculative successor. Hazen’s a Boston native who worked for the Red Sox for 11 years before joining the Diamondbacks, who have been generally successful since he began running the ship in October 2016.
While it’s easy to see the appeal of a Hazen-Boston reunion on paper, the Diamondbacks aren’t concerned they’ll lose him, as CEO Derrick Hall told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic via text message: “I have no reason to think they are going to ask. He is under contract.”
Hazen seems to have another two years left on his deal, though it’s unclear whether the D-backs have added more seasons to the pact, Piecoro notes. Regardless, because he’s under contract, Arizona would be able to stop Hazen from speaking to the Red Sox should they express interest in him.
I will completely lose it if they ever fire Alex or make him a lame duck manager. The Redsox always fire the ones they will need to give a pay increase…..Theo, Tito, Farrell. I just hope DD was fired for other than just this yrs performance, it maybe personal. I get so sick of their rotating doors.
Farrell lol? He was a brutal manager.
and theo really because he doing such a “great” job in chi to me theo is like dd or jock they might get a ws or 2 but also ravage your farm which makes long term sustainability almost impossible.
@brodie-bruce
Dude…I hate the Red Sox and am eh.. towards the Cubs but it seems ludicrous to say that about Theo. He came into two separate organizations that were pretty empty in the farm and both had historical droughts. He built up the farm for both teams, graduated a slew of stars, traded for some missing pieces and broke the curse for both teams by winning a ring at each stop. Yes, the farm regressed but that’s the cost of winning and I doubt the fan-base of either team would want it to be any different than how it played out.
Tito should still be managing the Sox.
Lol. He’s too laid-back and the players took advantage of it. It works for a while but when the team is losing the recklessness accelerates.
Cora destroyed the season from the get-go with his coddling of the starting rotation during March pre-season games. That 3-9 start hurt them more than they seem to want to admit. Overall, I think he’s okay as a manager but he can’t repeat that idiotic “save the pitchers” thing next spring.
MiltPappas has a point. Coddling after a championship was a bad choice.
sorry but Farrell sucked in Toronto and continued to suck in Boston 🙂
I hate Alex Cora as the Red Sox manager. I’m a Yankee fan, though, so I guess that means I view him as a competent and aggressive manager that will do the best with what he is handed. Remember, he convinced the Red Sox to jettison Hanley Ramirez, which indirectly contributed to their World Series run. Side Note: Maybe the Red Sox should pull a shocking DFA/trading of a high upside player any time they want to win the world series, between flipping Nomar in 2004 and dropping Hanley in 2018, resulting in shock World Series wins.
If they felt like they had to dump Dombrowski for internal reasons and because they were disappointed with the direction he put the club in, I understand that. That said, it seems like Boston’s biggest issue was and is their bullpen. No more Craig Kimbrel and others to lock up the 8th and 9th innings. Their offensive numbers are fine.
I have a feeling Cora gets to keep his job if he wants it. I wouldn’t mind them firing him. Please do! He’s a great manager on a club I hate to see succeed.
im curious what you saw in Hanley that made getting rid of him such an inprovement in and of itself.
They might follow your advice this off season. Mookie Betts will likely be traded for pitching and prospects due to his impending free agency.
Last year was not a “shock” World Series win and neither was 2004, unless you’re talking about the 3-0 comeback
They did a good job getting to 2018 with a mostly home grown lineup and trades for key pitching. Right now there’s a bleak future and they need someone who can rectify that soon. Cora is the future manager but DD was not the future builder. We will see how long it takes to rebuild, they are still the most successful franchise in this millennium. It’s never easy, plenty of competition.
I agree 100%…if he stayed in Bostonot would be Detroit 2.0 in a few years. A lot of high priced contracts in aging players with no minor league talent.
That is exactly how it’s going to be.
@whyhayzee
Aside from injury concerns for both Price and Sale do the Red Sox REALLY need to be stripped down and rebuilt? They just signed Bogaerts to an extension. Do they really want to waste the next 3 years of him in his prime? Do they really want to rebuild with Sale being owed about $150 mil thru his age 35 season?
I would be shocked if they did that. I could see them going hard after Cole and a couple of vet FA or a trade and they’re back to contention.
Why would the Red Sox attempt to try and sign Cole for 10 yrs $280+ million that he will be seeking. Sale and Price is a inconvenient situation, but why give up on 2 pretty good pitchers? I agree the Red Sox needs to do some changes to its current roster, but I don’t think buying Cole is the answer.
If they indeed try to sign Cole, I’d expect one of Price or Sale (which would be hard with their injuries and may have to absorb some of their contract?) being traded and Mookie Betts being traded. I for one would like to see Betts being traded for some possible “depth” aka prospects.
Another move they need is to add pitching depth in the pen and in the starting rotation. I believe Betts trade can do that. There will be plenty of “under the radar” arms in the FA this year that can help next year. I wouldn’t spend tens-millions on a relief pitcher and there are a few out there this offseason. I’d maybe spend 3 million on one reliever and sign some mid-tier relievers for reasonable contract. But the focus should be adding SP to anchor the rotation until Sale and Price are healthy and pitching again. There are plenty of veterans that can take one year deals in age 35+ years old. I am pretty sure Charlie Morton is a option to cover for Sale or Price. A reliable pitcher who has shown this year, he is far from being done. Morton can be a good sign at a reasonable price. It’s not Gerrit Cole, but it’s a arm that can help the Red Sox immediately and for the season unless he becomes trade bait when Price and Sale return.
I dont get why anyone thinks the future is bleak. A good chunk of money comes off the books this offseason and they dont need to spend any significant amount anywhere. They are set w Vazquez, Bogaerts, Devers, Benintendi, JBJ, Betts in the lineup. They need to replace 1B from Chavis-Travis-Dalbec, second from Hernandez-Holt-Chavis, and if JD leaves then they have more money to spend. The lineup once again is fine. The rotation vastly underachieved after skipping spring. Should see a bounceback next year from Sale, Price, Eovaldi and ERod so you just need a 5th. They have Hernandez, Wright, Johnson, Houck, Shawaryn to find a competent fit. If starting pitching steps up the bullpen performs better. Nothing really needs to be done to be competitive next year and salary goes down. Each year after they control a good core and year after year get to make decisions as contracts like Pedroia, Eovaldi, Price, Sale, come up. Future is fine.
I’ll have to update my resume and get it sent to John Henry. #Scoutseyes
Hey this guy is back. #Scoutseyes
Epstein should be shipped out too. So many missed opportunities; bad trades, bad FA signings, failed to offer for Verlander who wanted to come to the cubs. The Heyward, Darvish, Morrow and Chattwood alone are justification to replace him. Their roster is now an assortment of mostly marginal talent that doesn’t compliment each other.
I’d like Theo back. On both the RS and Cubs, he built good young teams. It was only when he got to the sustainability side that he faltered. But that could simply be the nature of big market teams..
he probably wanted verlander but the real problem was other than guys from there 25 what guys do they have worth anything in there farm that they didn’t trade away already
Whats with the Heyward and Darvish contracts? Two very good players that are controllable for the foreseeable future, and Chatwood only has 1 more year left, so not sure how that is a bad deal.
No bullpen, empty the farm system. Ask Detroit.
Let’s be real here. A team that is considering firing their GM in the midst of a historic season has only one reason: They want to enable austerity. You bring in Dave Dombrowski to bring you to the playoffs, not build a farm system. He did that. But then the Boston FA notices that everyone else in baseball is making a whole lot of money by tanking. You, on the other hand, are spending a lot of money for what, one measly World Series title? And this Betts kid is looking for $30M a year or more? Things Have To Change.
One measly WSC? How many are we supposed to win? Past that, we won’t be seeing any austerity. We will likely be in the top-3 in spending next year. But we cannot continue to spend at the current rate, and lose draft position at the same time.
We need a slightly different direction, and a longer term plan.
Let’s see. You want a World Championship. You’ve been lousy for a few years. Bring a guy in to win. He traded some youth for veterans. Signs some expensive free agents. Hires a manager that everyone seems to love. You win 108 games and a championship. The next year is a down year which isn’t uncommon after a huge year. You then fire the guy because he’s not the guy to take you into long term success.
Actually it makes sense. You find yourself at different strategic points in baseball. Yesterday’s Adonis is today’s PeeWee Herman. The Red Sox actually get it. Dombrowski and his methods were perfect for yesterday but don’t work with what the Red Sox need today. Dombrowski isn’t a dinosaur. He’s what some other team needs today. Just not the Red Sox.
Outside of perhaps Tampa Bay, I’m not so sure this “float” approach has been, or can be, a winning strategy in MLB. The days of the 1950s Yankees are over. “Long term success” can’t be achieved by changing strategy and/or top FO personnel on a yearly basis, and it shouldn’t have as a metric (in my opinion) consecutive winning seasons. Consider as an example the 2010-2014 Giants, winners of three World Series in five years. That team failed to make the playoffs in both 2011 and 2013, and finished 10 games under in the latter year. Did they change strategy or clean house in those two non-playoff years? No. They had a strategy, they stuck to it, and it resulted in the nearest thing to a dynasty that MLB has seen in a long time. If they had gone all “float” and changed approach/personnel/etc. in 2011, I suspect the subsequent two championships wouldn’t have happened.
Wow really?!!? All Yankee fans SUCK! Get off our Sox column.
Why are some fans so shocked about Dombrowski getting the ax? The guy killed the farm system and handed out “good soldier” contracts to bums like Eovaldi and Pearce because they had good late season runs last year. Instead of signing guys like Ottavino , Britton, or any decent reliever he scoffed at the idea and gave out an extension to Sale who hasn’t finished a season in I can’t remember when. Now the team is looking at trading away easily one of the best players in the game in Betts because they’re so financially strapped. What big market team trades away a generational talent? I’ll tell you which teams do, NONE. You sign guys like that not trade them when you’re a Boston or New York. If I were ownership I would have fired Dombrowski the second I found out he was thinking about trading Betts. If they trade Betts I have to believe JD Martinez opts out of his deal because why stay if they’re subtracting major pieces from the lineup?
Too bad for PADRES. DD loved to trade with friars…although he was snarky about medical records. 🙂
Not to fan the flames of conspiracy woowoo, but there seems to be some undercurrent here, something that isn’t being spoken by either the team or DD. The Sox won it all in dominating fashion last year, they haven’t exactly been a poor team this year, most of the key players that won in 2018 will be back next year…this move seems odd, both in timing and strategy. Maybe some personal/personnel issues were involved, and if so they must be significant. But all the crickets chirping – that’s downright weird for a place like Boston.
I’ll have to update my resume and send it in to a John Henry. #Scoutseyes
Red Sox fan:
Is it that they think Mookie doesn’t want to be in Boston anymore or they don’t want to pay him what they think he would demand in an open market? I’m not use to them losing guys that are really good.
Cherington was a player development guy. He came up through scouting and developing a farm system. He made a lot of boneheaded FA and trade moves.
My hypothesis is the front office wanted to right the ship, as it were, with a dose of Trader Dave. Get some good big name stars by trade or in FA. Win a championship, and then move on. I think Dombrowski was always a short term plan. They got what they wanted out of him, and now they’re ready to move on.
Dombrowski was a bad hirer from the beginning. He won a World Series off of someone else’s work. And Boston is getting away from him before he sets their franchise back another 10 years like all his previous positions.
Cora could have whatever managerial job he wants. Any new GM would be smart enough to know the talent he has and how sought after he is/would be.