Dave Dombrowski’s ousting as general manager of the Tigers back in 2015 was a stunner throughout the baseball world. Just days after orchestrating a rare deadline sell-off for the AL Central powerhouse — David Price and Yoenis Cespedes were both shipped out in deals that netted Matthew Boyd and Michael Fulmer, respectively — Dombrowski was cut loose.
Most expected that Dombrowski, one of MLB’s most respected front-office figures, would another job in short order… but probably not as quickly as he ultimately did. Barely two weeks after being dismissed in Detroit, Dombrowski was named president of baseball operations for the Red Sox — a move that prompted general manager Ben Cherington to step down less than two years after his club had won a World Series.
As it turned out, Dombrowski’s tenure in Boston would closely mirror that of Cherington’s; his time in charge was relatively brief, and he was gone not long after winning a World Series. Less than year after capturing a championship in 2018, Dombrowski got the boot.
Let’s take a look back at Dealin’ Dave’s trade history in Boston…
2015 Season
- Acquired LHP Luis Ysla from the Giants in exchange for OF Alejandro De Aza and cash
2015-16 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Craig Kimbrel from the Padres in exchange for SS Javy Guerra, OF Manuel Margot, LHP Logan Allen and 2B Carlos Asuaje
- Acquired RHP Carson Smith and LHP Roenis Elias from the Mariners in exchange for LHP Wade Miley and RHP Jonathan Aro
2016 Season
- Acquired 2B/3B Aaron Hill and cash from the Brewers in exchange for RHP Aaron Wilkerson and INF Wendell Rijo
- Acquired INF/OF Michael Martinez from the Indians in exchange for cash
- Acquired RHP Brad Ziegler from the D-backs in exchange for RHP Jose Almonte and OF Luis Alejandro Basabe
- Acquired LHP Drew Pomeranz from the Padres in exchange for RHP Anderson Espinoza
- Acquired LHP Fernando Abad from the Twins in exchange for RHP Pat Light
2016-17 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Tyler Thornburg from the Brewers in exchange for 3B Travis Shaw, 2B/SS Mauricio Dubon and RHP Josh Pennington
- Acquired LHP Chris Sale from the White Sox in exchange for 2B/3B Yoan Moncada, RHP Michael Kopech, OF Luis Alexander Basabe and RHP Victor Diaz
- Acquired 2B Josh Tobias from the Phillies in exchange for RHP Clay Buchholz
2017 Season
- Acquired INF Eduardo Nunez from the Giants in exchange for RHPs Shaun Anderson and Gregory Santos
- Acquired RHP Addison Reed from the Mets in exchange for RHPs Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan and Stephen Nogosek
- Acquired OF Rajai Davis from the Athletics in exchange for OF Rafael Rincones
2017-18 Offseason
- Acquired C Mike Ohlman from the Rangers in exchange for cash
- Acquired OF Ramon Flores from the D-backs in exchange for cash
2018 Season
- Acquired RHP Josh Taylor from the D-backs as PTBNL for SS Deven Marrero
- Acquired RHP Nathan Eovaldi from the Rays in exchange for LHP Jalen Beeks
- Acquired 2B Ian Kinsler from the Angels in exchange for RHP Ty Buttrey and LHP Williams Jerez
2018-19 Offseason
- Acquired RHP Colten Brewer from the Padres in exchange for 2B Esteban Quiroz
2019 Season
- Acquired OF Marcus Wilson from the D-backs in exchange for C/OF Blake Swihart and $500K international bonus slot
- Acquired RHP Andrew Cashner and cash from the Orioles in exchange for OF Elio Prado and INF Noelberth Romero
—
We’ll revisit Dombrowski’s trade histories with other clubs in separate posts, but the question for now: How do MLBTR readers grade Dombrowski’s work as the Red Sox’ baseball ops boss? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users.)
Grade Dave Dombrowski's trade history as Red Sox president:
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B 37% (2,957)
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C 32% (2,577)
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D 13% (1,029)
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A 13% (1,012)
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F 5% (409)
Total votes: 7,984
Interested in how other GMs hold up under this exercise? We’ve covered Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, recently fired Astros president Jeff Luhnow, Brewers president of baseball ops David Stearns, Angels GM Billy Eppler, Rockies GM Jeff Bridich, Tigers GM Al Avila, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, Mariners’ GM Jerry Dipoto, Phillies’ GM Matt Klentak, Dodgers’ president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Rays GM Erik Neander as well.
anyone know what happen to MLB NETWORK on Verizon Fios?? it’s just gone
This is really dumpster digging for stories .
What would you suggest they write about?
Cashman, at least it will not be beating a dead horse. Cashman is a terrific GM, why not talk about good instead of DD having to relive his career?
As I recall, DD oversaw a championship team more recently than Cashman did…
No, baseball even exhausted stories about trash cans already over the offseason.
It is not digging at all. He recently won the World Series so it is interesting to see the trades.
Biggest losses seems like buttrey and dubon.
Only trader Dave would find a way to trade away both the basabe brothers.
I mean, Moncada was a much bigger loss than both of those guys combined but yea…
What if Sale dont get TJ?
I’d like to see moncada put up more than 1 productive season to consider it a huge loss.
People thought Travis Shaw was a huge loss before he cratered with the Brewers.
2B and Relief pitching are the red Sox biggest needs. They at least got sale to win them a world series by giving up moncada.
They gave away dubron and buttrey for nothing.
I’m thinking now Logan Allen and thought back then he was the under the radar guy guy in the Kimbrell deal. he could be one of those guys who goes years and is steady. remember the scout who signed him told him he reminded him of a young Lester.
wasn’t for nothing Allen got like 700k at around round 8-9 back then on nothing but potential. he was barely cracking 90mph then, but they thought he’d add more velo and he’s in the mid 90’s now. Big.. Tough body.. Like lester had.. he and Kopech could be the 2 they miss most Dombrowski moved.
Not everyone thought Shaw was a huge loss, it was pretty known Devers was a fast rising prospect that Boston wanted to open 3B up for, and I yea Shaw cratered last season but he put up 2 above average seasons out of 3 so I’d still call that a win for the Brewers.
Agree AAJD. Also, it costs to get and to me the 2018 championship and keeping Devers validates the Sale trade. I would not have extended him but if this was then, I make the trade all over again.
And nobody talks about that Hahn tried to get Devers in the Sale deal and DD held firm.
Travis Shaw could have moved to first base instead of signing Mitch Moreland. Shaw would have been less money, but I think Shaw did way better in Milwaukee than the Red Sox expected.
Shaw was also traded because the Red Sox expected Pablo Sandoval to return after missing almost the entire previous year. We all know what a bust that was (being released mid year). In retrospect no one would have traded for Thornberg as Shaw and Dubon were way to much to give up. I would rather seen the Red Sox keep Shaw and release Sandavol, but the RS still owes him 60 million for a signing that I thought was ridiculous from the start (but that was Cherington and not DD).
LOL. I also agree it is digging deep but I give the MLBTR team kudos for trying and mapping everything out. His overall record wasn’t as bad as others suggest and he did his jib, bringing a championship back to Boston. I still blame ownership for the financial tax mess.
Dombrowski traded it.
So when are gonna revisit Billy Beane’s trade history?
A bit long for my taste.
Most things that require a decent amount of reading is usually “a bit long” for teenagers.
You’re talking to a teenager that has read over 300 novels, written a 1000 page book and has a full ride to the International Baccalaureate high school program. Do you honestly think that your standard 8th grader would just pompously post on a baseball site while debating points against adults with years more life experience than them? Only someone with horrendously inchoate baseball and life skills would do such a thing.
Due apologies for being overly hostile.
Lol chill your angst dude, we get you’re OBVIOUSLY a very special 8th grader. Everyone wanted to see a Trader Jerry trade history, as did I, so I think it stands to reason a lot of other readers would be interested in a Billy Beane one as well.
1. I was joking with the “too long” comment.
2. I only wrote about myself personally to show that you shouldn’t underestimate someone because of their age, not because I wanted to look like a million bucks.
3. My comment says “due apologies for being overly hostile” at the end.
Anyways, A Cashman one, which I’m sure is coming at some point as well, would also be a very interesting read in my opinion.
Geez what was the 1,000 page novel about
The fact that you don’t think an 8th grader would post on a baseball site debating other adults does show that you’ve sunk all your time into academics.
Somehow I am now far less impressed with you than I was just knowing your username was 13yearoldbaseballfanatic. Restrain yourself, kid. No one cares.
(Sadness consumes 13yearoldbaseballfanatic and he wonders how he even got himself into this ridiculously embarrassing situation)
The comment sections of MLBTR are generally very toxic and cancerous, so there are much better readers elsewhere my friend.
imgflip.com/i/3vnyk0
That’s definitely a pick-me-up.
“A bit too long for my taste”…..My ex wife used to say that…..
Yeah you wish!
It was not a stunner in my opinion when he was released in 2015 or 2019.
As a Sox fan I’m not thrilled with how Dombrowski has left the Sox… however going over his trades and trying to be unbiased — his “trades” alone aren’t all that bad. He did lose a couple and he did give up some good prospects — but for the most part when he did he got back a superstar player (Kimbrel, Sale, etc) And he even got a few solid players for prospects who were hyped at the time and haven’t really panned out. Overall I gave him a B – unfortunately he also did nothing to try and replenish the farm system and gave out some really bad FA contracts/extensions so overall I’m not sure I’d give him a B — though he did win a WS so I suppose it’s all how you look at it. My biggest gripe would just be that his approach wasn’t sustainable whereas some GMs/teams have built sustainable competitors Dombrowski’s Red Sox clearly had a shelf life.
Imagine being a Tigers fan where he did the same dam thing and DIDNT win a ring.
I was one of the few people who left an A. I gave him that because he did exactly what ownership wanted him to do. They knew they would lose value on some of his traded, but the reason they hired him was to win a world series, and he did that.
I’m pretty much with you. Selling upside for established players will eventually deplete the farm but if those established players bring you a title, you did OK.
If DD had waited to resign Sale to make sure he was health and did not resign Pearce I believe he would not have been fired. Passing on Sale along with Pearce and Bradley would have saved the team about $48 million which would have been enough to get the Red Sox under the CBT and still have Betts and Price.
Dave did what he’s always done, traded potential for immediate help. There are several notable names like Moncada that will hurt now that the joyride is over, but that joyride did include a WS championship (in a year they cheated, but still).
Overall I’m quite happy with the Buttrey for Kinsler swap. Long term the Angels win that one, but in the hunt for a ring that trade made sense.
(in a year they cheated, but still) Really Dude….The ASTROS cheated…. The Red Sox didn’t do anything more than any other club was doing…. So sick of this BS. That 2018 team was dominant in so many ways unlike your Precious Angels who can’t figure out how to win with the best player in the game and are wasting away his prime years by giving out stupid massive long term contracts to position players and ignoring putting together a formidable pitching staff.
Boston fans never just own it. Big Papi was clean, the Patriots are too.
Deny, deflect, then go on an offensive.
Maybe, just maybe if we brought in a bunch of roid freaks and added a video crew to give them signs, we’d win as much as Boston teams do.
Or alternatively we could be front office complicit in killing one of our rotation with opioids?
I guess nobody wins this argument do they?
Tyler was a one off victim of an opiate epidemic with absolutely no proof of front office involvement. One guy selling to support his own habit is not an organization thing.
I dare you to find a Boston title without roid freaks (Papi, Manny, Edelman) or video help in either sport.
It’s a pattern one place. An unfortunate tragedy another.
Disgusting comment-
FO complicit ? More like 1 Rouge employee……… I hate the Angels but your outta line here
No, Mr Halo keep hoping …… 2002 is it for you…….no World Series in the foreseeable future……so sad
With Trout and Rendon I wouldn’t count the Angels out for the “foreseeable” future. Sure they need pitching and a lot to go right but if I were an Angel fan I’d have some hope.
Trading for Sale – A.. Extending Sale D-. He was not healthy and hadn’t been. All the signs for TJ surgery were there.
Yeah, this is it in a nutshell imo.
Luckyh – totally agree — Sale trade A+ , resign injuried Sale F. He missed most of the second half of 2018 and was resigned before he proved he was healthy. My opinion is that was why DD was fired.
After this series of topics you should look into a top 5 best and worst trades of the past 10 years for each team
He took over a team coming off back to back last place finishes in the AL East and won 3 straight ALE titles and one WS before 2019’s disappointment. Only Moncada was a true top prospect and there were questions about hitting the curve.
At the same time he refused to trade Bogaerts,Betts, Benitendi, or Devers.
That’s an A+
yup….and the bad system is as much a function of bad luck and injuries as anything else…..flags fly forever, and he was under the mantra to “win baby”; not every GM is……
Josh Taylor was a nice find for Marrero
amazing anyone wanted that bum. why the D-Backs kept him on the roster for as long as they did astounds.
Yes he’s LHP tho, not RHP as indicated
Jury still out on Dubon, but he way over paid for Thornburg… got took big time on that one… and we prolly would be looking at things totally different if Sale would have done his surgery last fall, and cleared enough to keep Betts…water under the bridge thou
If you find the time, I’d be interested in seeing one of these on Neil Huntingdon.
The only thing people remember is the Archer deal, but his trades are the only reason the Pirates even briefly crawled out of their basement home.
Honestly…. the only bad trade was with Milwaukee…. Shaw and pieces for Thornburg just didn’t work out. Sale was worth Moncada and Kopech. Moncada has two much swing and miss for my liking even though he has improved on it as of late….. Kopech also had to have TJ Surgery so that is sort of a wash now with Sale doing the Same….. he has great stuff but command issues. I think Sale will be really good for a couple years once he returns from the Surgery…. so this trade works for both teams.
Sale is a cry baby dusch bag. A punk. Watched him on the south side. Great pitcher,greater ego.
Of course that can be said about a lot of players. (Or people in general).
Always wondered how to spell “dusch.”
Dubon was a big loss. The kid can play and has been good at all levels. Trading a star like Moncada is tough, but you had to trade he or Devers to get Sale. They made the right call.
Padres add Dombrowski to their FO they win a WS in a the relative near future! He knows how to leverage prospects for impact talent.
with their current situation they need that. too many prospects to protect/use at the ML level. have to cash in some chips. they missed out on Kluber.
Towinagain – it might be worth it to the Padres to empty the farm to win their first ever World Series, but the aftermath would not be much fun.
I suppose you can pick on any single trade, but wow does that Chris Sale trade look very bad.
How so? They won a world series because of that trade. Of course they gave up good talent to get him. That’s how trades work.
Now, the extension was clearly a mistake. But trading for Sale to begin with? Nobody on the Red Sox is regretting that.
Dombrowski gets an “A” from me. In Boston and Detroit, Dombrowski was given an ownership mandate(s) to put all his chips in the center of the table and “win now”.. .Dombrowski was and is superb at leveraging “futures” for present Division Titles, making the league championship series, winning league championship series, making the WS and winning the WS. (Boston and Detroit). In Florida, Dave D’s handiwork is all over 2 World Series Titles with a lower budget outfit. In Montreal, Dombrowski built a farm system machine of top young players making large impacts on the MLB club on a shoestring budget.
I am surprised that Dombrowski has not yet landed in the Front Office of some up and coming ballclub. The Padres could use a guy like Dombrowski to get their 1st World Series title…The Padres have the farm capital and young talent tailor made for a gunslinger like Dombrowski to leverage into another World Series title…
I don’t have a problem with Dave D’s trade history. The problem is the free agent signings and the reactionary extensions.( Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, Steve Pearce, etc.) And yet the RedSox have another world series crown.
The law firm of Carson and Thornburg has sued the pants off the Red Sox. Bum arms. What are going to do?
shame about what happened to Smith. that guy looked like he could have been real good.
Personally I gave him a D. I wasn’t happy with the depletion of our farm system as to what he brought back in those trades. Don’t get me wrong he brought a few guys in but even with the WS win we lost way to many prospects.
Incorrect link for RHP Victor Diaz who was part of the Chris Sale return going back to the White Sox from Boston. The correct link is: baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=dia…
Diaz hasn’t pitched an inning for a White Sox affiliate since 2017, missing each of the past two seasons with arm/shoulder injuries. Nonetheless he is still in the White Sox system, currently listed on their A+ Winston-Salem roster. Diaz was always considered a lotto pick in the Sale trade with a fastball that regularly sits in the mid-to-upper 90’s and can hit 100 mph with good movement.
All 4 of the prospects acquired from Boston are still with the White Sox. Yoan Moncada is emerging as a potential superstar at 3B after his excellent 2019 season. SP Michael Kopech is expected to be a major component of the White Sox rotation at some point in 2020 after having fully recovered from his September 2018 TJ surgery. Kopech was hitting 100 mph this spring and still possesses the ceiling of a TOR with an 80-grade fastball and plus slider to go with his improved changeup and command. Outfield prospect Luis Alexander Basabe has had numerous injuries of his own but is set to open the 2020 season at AA Birmingham where he finished up last year. Basabe is still listed among the White Sox top-10 prospects and generally regarded as their third best OF prospect behind Luis Robert and Micker Adolfo.
Dude my argument is not what was traded by our team. It’s with the amount of trades he made we did not get enough in return for the majority of the trades he made. Yes certainly a few trades worked out but to me? Not enough worked out which is why we are depleted in our farm system.
That is how trades for quality established major league players go. I am sure the Braves would have loved to make several trades 3-4 years ago, but everyone they called would immediately ask for Acuna. The Padres tried for 2 years to trade for Noah Syndergaard. First the Mets asked for Tatis and Paddack. Later they asked for Gore and Patino. Those Price’s are absolutely outrageous, unless it brings you a World Series title. Then it is worth it.
Nearly every trade of prospects for major Leaguers is an overpay.
I don’t think it means much to evaluate a GM based solely on trades. They have to be evaluated along with the teams payroll during their tenure and a perspective of what they “inherited” and what they “bequeathed”, and how the the team performed during that period. That’s a lot to digest but that’s the reality. Dombrowski spent lots of money, made lots or trades and won a world series. . . .now what? The RS are likely going to be division bottom dwellers for a couple of years until they rebound.
This is true but did the sox cheat as badly as the Astros? I agree that every team does it to a extent but if they cheat as badly as the Astros did then if we didn’t win that WS that makes his tenure look a lot worse. I just wasn’t happy and obviously the Sox themselves were not either. Kind of telling wouldn’t you say?
the jury is still out on that one. Cora seemed a big fan of the whole thing. veru possible he took it to a whole new level. complexity of it may explain why we don’t have the report yet.
solid B. no big wins but not really any losses save Dubon. Wilson and Taylor were good gets for very little though.
It seems like there are several very smart baseball people on this site that could takeover a talent rich farm system like the Padres, trade for established players/stars and win a WS.
Sustaining success for a long period of time at the Major League level while managing a salary cap, juggling a 40 man roster and keeping the prospect pipeline open seems like more of a challenge.
Perhaps it’s a matter of how someone defines success – win a WS vs competing annually for championships.
Here’s the test; would you rather have Dave Dombroski or Andrew Freidman as your President of Baseball Operations?
Dave did the same thing in Boston that he did in Florida and Detroit. Play for the now at the expense of the future. Sucks that he’s never around for when the future comes. He doesn’t have to deal with the down years
There isn’t a trade that I really was overly concerned about. A better study is the contracts he gave out that backfired tremendously.
Lazerazier84 – agreed. Cherington was fired after disastrous FA signings of Sandoval $95, Hanley Ramirez $88, and Rusney Castillo $72 million. His biggest trade disaster was Lackey for Joe Kelly and Allen Craig (around $35 million bust). DD spent big on Price and resigning Sale, but his biggest miss was on not allocating properly around the CBT. If DD did not resign Sale and non-tendered Bradley he would have saved about $42 million and gotten under CBT, and he still would have had Betts and Price for 2020.
Personally I think Betts was NEVER going to resign, so I am fine with the Betts and Price for Verdugo, Downs, and Wong. Better than having him walk and getting nothing in return, and why keep Betts for 2020 when they were going to have a non-competitive rotation.
At least 4 or 5 WS appearances. Yanks need to make him happen. Long overdue cutting bait with Cashman.
Hi! You appear to have forgotten the trade for Steve Pearce on June 28, 2018.
He traded away a lot of prospects but most of them look like busts or got injured except for moncada who also took several years to become a capable mlb hitter.
Yeah this is not the modern way to run a team but generally he traded the right guys and very few prospects he traded became above average mlb players in his time in Detroit and the early red sox trades too (latest can’t be judged yet)
The fact that he did not trade Betts, Beni,Bogey or Devers gets him an A.
Dave Dombrowski’s most spectacular trade was with theMontreal Expos:
Randy Johnson traded by Montreal Expos with Brian Holman and Gene Harris to Seattle Mariners in exchange for Mark Langston and a player to be named later (May 25, 1989); Montreal Expos received Mike Campbell (July 31, 1989).
Just sayin.
Worst thing you can say about DD’s trades and free agent signings are 1) I could have done them. He paid full price and occasionally more. He found no hidden gems 2). He left Sox in bad salary position… not good for Sox or the game to overshoot the cap for multiple years.
Not all the blame goes to Dave D. You better look at the top, especially owner Henry and cohort Werner.