Dave Dombrowski knows more than you do

The Gray Eagle

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This guy has put on an absolute GM clinic from the time he was hired through today.

He took over a team that was about to finish DFL in the division for the second straight year and immediately turned it around. His teams have finished first in all 3 years he's been here and this year's team is as complete a team as you are ever going to see anywhere, not just in terms of talent and production but especially in terms of fitting together in every way and being completely focused on winning.

Dombrowski has been a godsend to the Boston Red Sox. He hasn't got too much love around here for a guy who just comes in first all the time and who has just put together the best team in the history of the franchise. It's time for him to get some props and respect for the job he's done.

Look at what he's done here, it's insane. He inherited a very good core and farm system, but there was so much more work to be done.

He gave all that money to David Price and took so much heat for it, but Price has now earned every penny of it.

He traded multiple prospects for a reliever, but Kimbrel has produced so much more than those prospects ever would have here. He traded more even higher rated prospects for Sale, but is there a Red Sox fan out there who wishes they could undo that trade? He brought in JD Martinez, who transformed the lineup by being the middle of the order bat that was so needed, on a good contract, and Martinez has fit this team so well in every way.

He inherited a manager who had won a World Series and who then won 2 straight titles, but he knew they needed a change and he made it. He would have been buried for that if the Red Sox had a bad year this year, but he had the guts to fire a successful manager and chose a replacement who had never managed in the US before, and it paid of amazingly well.

He made moves like giving 2 years to Moreland that were mostly panned on here, myself included, but Moreland's HR turned the World Series around.

He brought in Ryan Brasier on a minor league contract, and when Brasier showed he had the potential, he brought him to the majors instead of trading for a veteran reliever who might have blocked him.

With little salary space and no prospects, he brought in Eovaldi and Pearce-- what more needs to be said about those moves?

Here's the big picture: he took this franchise from back to back last place finishes to 3 straight first place finishes (for the first time in the history of the franchise) topped off by putting together the best team in the history of the franchise and winning it all, going 11-3 in the postseason.

He has been fantastic, and he deserves more love, especially on a message board where it seems like 90% of us are GM fanboys who can only look at baseball while pretending as if we were a GM ourselves. Dombrowski is a real GM, and he has shown he is an absolute master and deserves a ton of respect and admiration for what he's done here.

About time we show this man some love and respect for what he's delivered to us!
 

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This guy has put on an absolute GM clinic from the time he was hired through today.

He took over a team that was about to finish DFL in the division for the second straight year and immediately turned it around. His teams have finished first in all 3 years he's been here and this year's team is as complete a team as you are ever going to see anywhere, not just in terms of talent and production but especially in terms of fitting together in every way and being completely focused on winning.

Dombrowski has been a godsend to the Boston Red Sox. He hasn't got too much love around here for a guy who just comes in first all the time and who has just put together the best team in the history of the franchise. It's time for him to get some props and respect for the job he's done.

Look at what he's done here, it's insane. He inherited a very good core and farm system, but there was so much more work to be done.

He gave all that money to David Price and took so much heat for it, but Price has now earned every penny of it.

He traded multiple prospects for a reliever, but Kimbrel has produced so much more than those prospects ever would have here. He traded more even higher rated prospects for Sale, but is there a Red Sox fan out there who wishes they could undo that trade? He brought in JD Martinez, who transformed the lineup by being the middle of the order bat that was so needed, on a good contract, and Martinez has fit this team so well in every way.

He inherited a manager who had won a World Series and who then won 2 straight titles, but he knew they needed a change and he made it. He would have been buried for that if the Red Sox had a bad year this year, but he had the guts to fire a successful manager and chose a replacement who had never managed in the US before, and it paid of amazingly well.

He made moves like giving 2 years to Moreland that were mostly panned on here, myself included, but Moreland's HR turned the World Series around.

He brought in Ryan Brasier on a minor league contract, and when Brasier showed he had the potential, he brought him to the majors instead of trading for a veteran reliever who might have blocked him.

With little salary space and no prospects, he brought in Eovaldi and Pearce-- what more needs to be said about those moves?

Here's the big picture: he took this franchise from back to back last place finishes to 3 straight first place finishes (for the first time in the history of the franchise) topped off by putting together the best team in the history of the franchise and winning it all, going 11-3 in the postseason.

He has been fantastic, and he deserves more love, especially on a message board where it seems like 90% of us are GM fanboys who can only look at baseball while pretending as if we were a GM ourselves. Dombrowski is a real GM, and he has shown he is an absolute master and deserves a ton of respect and admiration for what he's done here.

About time we show this man some love and respect for what he's delivered to us!
Very nice post, and I couldn't agree more. Credit is due all around, but in his position, winning the World Series was almost the requisite. He has done it now, built a team anyone can admire. Most of the flak he took over the years concerned his liquidating the strong farm system, so carefully built up over 5 years. Yet it was clear Ben Cherington was out of his depth in roster construction, and DD has shown his skill in this regard. His navigation of this summer's trade market, getting Pearce, Eovaldi and Kinsler with limited means, was a masterclass. Luck comes into the equation, but his talents as a GM have shone through.
 

DeadlySplitter

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but "Dumbrowski" emptied our farm system and we're doomed in a couple years. just like the Tigers now. self-proclaimed experts on this very board said so. :beatit:
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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but "Dumbrowski" emptied our farm system and we're doomed in a couple years. just like the Tigers now. self-proclaimed experts on this very board said so. :beatit:
One of the best things about this season is not having to read that name for most of the year.

I'm not sure there is any skill at drafting but there is nothing more important in sports - or life for that matter - than talent evaluation. DD has a proven track record of being able to do this. What a masterful job and who's to say that they won't be better next year?

Also, for someone everyone feared was going to be "old school" all the way, his bringing a forward-thinking manager was a stroke of genius.

A while back, I ran into this list of best GMs from 2015. DD was #9. Wonder how high he is going to be when all is said and done.
 

SoFloSoxFan

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Dombrowski built the Marlins when I lived down there into the 1997 Champions. He had a team but could have competed for a few years but Huizenga ordered a fire sale instead. The players Dombrowski had drafted and acquired in the ordered selloff were a major part of the 2003 Championship. I have always been a fan.

He had his orders here in Boston. We aren't a player development machine for other teams, we are a team that needs to win. Choose your team, fill in the holes and trade the extraneous parts and win.

Now.

That is what he did.
 
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Apisith

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Him hiring Cora and obviously supporting him with numbers was a masterstroke because Cora was extremely aggressive in managing. I don't think I've seen another manager be so aggressive in managing the pitching staff and that was only possible because the FO and Cora were on the same page.
 

canderson

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He cut Hanley Ramirez stone-cold in the middle of a season. Just, flat out cut him to eat money and not have him around.

Not many GMs do that. That was when I kinda thought something might be special with this club.

Thank you, Dave!
 

BroodsSexton

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He cut Hanley Ramirez stone-cold in the middle of a season. Just, flat out cut him to eat money and not have him around.

Not many GMs do that. That was when I kinda thought something might be special with this club.

Thank you, Dave!
Incidentally, has there been any update on Hanley? Anyone know what happened to him? I see that he was tweeting the other day, but it kind of bums me out that a guy like that isn't invited in for the celebration. It's a long season. He was part of the hot start.
 

Harry Hooper

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He's done a great job. In particular, Dombrowski's in-season pickups these last 2 seasons have been excellent
 

sean1562

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He cut Hanley Ramirez stone-cold in the middle of a season. Just, flat out cut him to eat money and not have him around.

Not many GMs do that. That was when I kinda thought something might be special with this club.

Thank you, Dave!
Imagine if we had Hanley in the playoffs over Pearce, and then had to pay him 20 mil next season.
 

YTF

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but "Dumbrowski" emptied our farm system and we're doomed in a couple years. just like the Tigers now. self-proclaimed experts on this very board said so. :beatit:
Yeah, one thing I never got with all of the "he's depleting the farm system" talk was that the very best of the farm system, the cream of the crop, had recently made it to the big league roster. Betts, Benintendi, Bradley, Bogaerts, Vasquez, Swihart and Rodriquez were on the big team and contributing. Honestly I think DD would have been negligent not to trade for the likes of Kimbrel and Sale. The deals he made involved minor leaguers that many people saw great upside in though some of those players were perhaps blocked from the Sox roster by the plethora of good young talent already in the bigs. None DD's deals subtracted young, solid, cost controlled talent from the major league roster. The core of this team is some pretty amazing home grown talent complimented by a couple of strong FA acquisitions, some shrewd deadline dealing and a couple of big trades that looked great to me at the time and even better now. Is the farm system a bit lacking at the moment? Compared to a few years back, yes. But most of that great young talent that was there will forever be referred to as 2018 World Series Champions from the city of Boston.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Yeah, one thing I never got with all of the "he's depleting the farm system" talk was that the very best of the farm system, the cream of the crop, had recently made it to the big league roster. Betts, Benintendi, Bradley, Bogaerts, Vasquez, Swihart and Rodriquez were on the big team and contributing. Honestly I think DD would have been negligent not to trade for the likes of Kimbrel and Sale. The deals he made involved minor leaguers that many people saw great upside in though some of those players were perhaps blocked from the Sox roster by the plethora of good young talent already in the bigs. None DD's deals subtracted young, solid, cost controlled talent from the major league roster. The core of this team is some pretty amazing home grown talent complimented by a couple of strong FA acquisitions, some shrewd deadline dealing and a couple of big trades that looked great to me at the time and even better now. Is the farm system a bit lacking at the moment? Compared to a few years back, yes. But most of that great young talent that was there will forever be referred to as 2018 World Series Champions from the city of Boston.
Agree with you. One big example: Margot. Where is he playing on this team? I mean I'm glad Cherington didn't trade assets in a quixotic chase to make the playoffs with flawed teams but keeping him with this team built as it is would have been, as you say, GM malpractice.
 

chawson

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Incidentally, has there been any update on Hanley? Anyone know what happened to him? I see that he was tweeting the other day, but it kind of bums me out that a guy like that isn't invited in for the celebration. It's a long season. He was part of the hot start.
Hanley hit .333/.392/.530 during the Sox 17-2 opening run. He'll get his ring.
 

JimD

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The funny thing is, the hard work for Dave Dombrowski may only be just beginning. This is not in any way to diminish the amazing job he has done over the past three years - firing Farrell and hiring Cora, bringing the analytics department back to a state-of-the-art operation and using what they produced, keeping the right young player in Devers when other top-tier prospects were used to get stars, generally trading for the right guys, and pulling off shrewd in-season trades when the baseball media kept telling everyone that the Sox didn't have the assets to make deals. But DD now has a tricky minefield to navigate over the next few years, first with some higher-profile players leaving as free agents and right afterwards in having to negotiate deals to hopefully keep the key homegrown players playing for the Sox organization for years to come (probably starting with renewed discussions with Mookie and his agents this winter). The fanbase is not going to settle for a Red Sox team that falls back to the pack again, especially with the Yankees now entrenched as playoff contenders themselves for likely the next half-decade or longer. It will be fascinating to see how all of this plays out.
 

Return of the Dewey

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The funny thing is, the hard work for Dave Dombrowski may only be just beginning. This is not in any way to diminish the amazing job he has done over the past three years - firing Farrell and hiring Cora, bringing the analytics department back to a state-of-the-art operation and using what they produced, keeping the right young player in Devers when other top-tier prospects were used to get stars, generally trading for the right guys, and pulling off shrewd in-season trades when the baseball media kept telling everyone that the Sox didn't have the assets to make deals. But DD now has a tricky minefield to navigate over the next few years, first with some higher-profile players leaving as free agents and right afterwards in having to negotiate deals to hopefully keep the key homegrown players playing for the Sox organization for years to come (probably starting with renewed discussions with Mookie and his agents this winter). The fanbase is not going to settle for a Red Sox team that falls back to the pack again, especially with the Yankees now entrenched as playoff contenders themselves for likely the next half-decade or longer. It will be fascinating to see how all of this plays out.
Agree. It'll be interesting to see what kind of run he can maintain for the franchise.

Theo had a pretty great one 2003-2009: 6 playoff appearances, 4 ALCS appearances and 2 WS wins.

Dombrowski is on his way with 3 playoff appearances, 1 ALCS and 1 WS from 2016-2018.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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DD took a ton of shit amidst cries of "but we needed a reliever" and then rolled out Eovaldi who was both a starter and a reliever and who was balls out in the postseason. Eovaldi, Pearce, and yes even Kinsler (who was a help until he got hurt, he was never any good after that) really buoyed the team this year.
 

timlinin8th

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Him hiring Cora and obviously supporting him with numbers was a masterstroke because Cora was extremely aggressive in managing. I don't think I've seen another manager be so aggressive in managing the pitching staff and that was only possible because the FO and Cora were on the same page.
To add to this, giving a rookie manager the space to manage the team without interfering in the day-to-day operations is not something a lot of men in positions of power would do. He was with the team on every road trip, watching, scouting, but everyone on the team confirms that while he was providing the pieces that it was CORA’S team to manage.
 

brandonchristensen

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He cut Hanley Ramirez stone-cold in the middle of a season. Just, flat out cut him to eat money and not have him around.

Not many GMs do that. That was when I kinda thought something might be special with this club.

Thank you, Dave!
And Panda.

A three year investment of 18m on nothing. And then another 20 on Hanley for half of this year. That’s a huge amount of sunk cost.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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...None DD's deals subtracted young, solid, cost controlled talent from the major league roster. The core of this team is some pretty amazing home grown talent complimented by a couple of strong FA acquisitions, some shrewd deadline dealing and a couple of big trades that looked great to me at the time and even better now. Is the farm system a bit lacking at the moment? Compared to a few years back, yes. But most of that great young talent that was there will forever be referred to as 2018 World Series Champions from the city of Boston.
I think this is key. It wasn't just that DD correctly evaluated what MLB talent to acquire, he evaluated which young players not to trade. Lots of teams allegedly inquired about Betts, Bradley, Ben10, etc. DD made the right decisions to maximize this team's championship window.

And yes, replacing Hanley with the affordable Pearce who could provide the RH platoon power we needed more flexibly and reliably was tremendous GMing. As was getting Eovaldi's surprisingly flexible/durable 100 MPH right arm...
 

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I think this is key. It wasn't just that DD correctly evaluated what MLB talent to acquire, he evaluated which young players not to trade. Lots of teams allegedly inquired about Betts, Bradley, Ben10, etc. DD made the right decisions to maximize this team's championship window.
This was the thing that drove me crazy about Cherington. He was smart and talented enough to know which young players to draft, he just wasn't confident enough to trade the players that he knew wouldn't help him. The Sox have a good, young outfield of Benintendi, Betts and Bradely; where was Margot going to play? You trade him for someone that's going to make your team better. Because a prospect turns into a suspect very quickly. The trick is to know exactly when to trade these guys, and DD has a pretty good idea of when to make those deals.
 

Return of the Dewey

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I think this is key. It wasn't just that DD correctly evaluated what MLB talent to acquire, he evaluated which young players not to trade. Lots of teams allegedly inquired about Betts, Bradley, Ben10, etc. DD made the right decisions to maximize this team's championship window.

And yes, replacing Hanley with the affordable Pearce who could provide the RH platoon power we needed more flexibly and reliably was tremendous GMing. As was getting Eovaldi's surprisingly flexible/durable 100 MPH right arm...
I remember during the end of the 2015 season, there was a lot of talk about trading Bradley. During a meaningless game in August, soon after DD was hired, JBJ made a spectacular catch in Fenway. They showed DD in the box saying "wow" out load. It was then that I knew JBJ wasn't going anywhere.
 

The Raccoon

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DD gets / has gotten a lot of praise for those 3 big midseason acquisitions and rightfully so.
But the roster going into the season was already really good!

It's one thing to do trades in June-August because you "messed up" in the offseason (*cough* Yankees starting rotation... *cough*) but those 3 trades weren't the follow-ups of bad roster management to start the season but only neccessary adjustments to developments within the season:
Pearce: It was the correct move to go into the season with Hanley and I think they nailed the timing of his release and the way they did it. Found the perfect guy to replace him.
Kinsler: They expected Pedey to come back (and fill 2nd with Holt/Nunez until his return) and when it got obvious that Dustin was done for the year, they filled his position with a veteran guy. Kinsler had a unlucky postseason - but still a great pickup to fortify second base.
Eovaldi: The starting rotation was a strength coming into the season - but when Pomeranz wasn't able to deliver, Wright struggled to get healthy (and the bullpen had some injuries / slumps as well), they found the right guy again.

Absolute clinic from start to finish by Dave Dombrowski!
 

JimD

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This was the thing that drove me crazy about Cherington. He was smart and talented enough to know which young players to draft, he just wasn't confident enough to trade the players that he knew wouldn't help him. The Sox have a good, young outfield of Benintendi, Betts and Bradely; where was Margot going to play? You trade him for someone that's going to make your team better. Because a prospect turns into a suspect very quickly. The trick is to know exactly when to trade these guys, and DD has a pretty good idea of when to make those deals.
Theo arguably had those same prospect blinders on - Michael Bowden and Lars Anderson could have fetched some very nice pieces in return at one point.
 

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I wanted Dombrowski gone after 2016 (I wanted pretty much everyone gone then). He's had some minor missteps and some major victories. We talk about all the right strings that Cora made, but Dombrowski has made so many ballsy moves mixed with so many minor upgrades that he deserves just as much credit as Cora.

I still fear a Dombrowski constructed bullpen, but Cora's approach to that this post season eliminated that fear.
 

TheYaz67

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Dombrowski also looks great in comparison to his counterpart in LA (Zaidi) whose major mid-season acquisitions either came up small in the postseason (Machado) or just downright sucked (Madson)....
 

lexrageorge

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Just thought it may be worth highlighting the current status of some of the prospects that DD traded to build the current roster:

Shaun Anderson (Nunez): Reached AAA for the Giants for the first time. Has been OK; ceiling seems to be a middle reliever or perhaps back of rotation starter (a-la Velazquez).

Greg Santos (Nunez): Did not have a good season pitching at low A, but will only be 19 next year.

Santiago Espinal (Pearce): Showed some promise at Salem, but as noted upthread, is already 23. Had a decent year (0.748 OPS) for the Fisher Cats (AA) after the trade. Can live with the outcome no matter what happens on this one.

Ty Buttrey (Kinsler): Flashed a 1.63 FIP and 128 ERA+ performing bullpen duty for the Angels after trade. Has shown he can strike out major league hitters, but he's still projecting as a middle reliever type. Kinsler was hurt and probably the worst position player on the post-season roster, but they needed someone to play second with Pedroia out. At the very least, his contributions helped keep Holt from burning out from overuse, a concern with Holt in years past.

Williams Jerez (Kinsler): Posted a 5.36 FIP for the Angels. Walks a lot of batters, and is already 26.

Yoan Moncada (Sale): With the caveat that he is still young (23), he led the AL in strikeouts. Showed some power (17 HR's) for a 2B, but hasn't been great defensively. He could still be an everyday player at the major league level, but that's still debatable.

Micheal Kopech (Sale): Was widely considered the prize of the Sale trade. Started off with a bang in his first 3 appearances (0.82 ERA) that got the local sports radio mediots frothing at the mouth (who were ignoring the fact that just about any pitcher can have a dominant stretch for 11 innings). Then the wheels fell off when it was revealed he would need TJ. We'll see what happens in 2021.

Victor Diaz (Sale): 23 y/o pitcher who struggled in A ball in 2017 and may be out of baseball.

Luis Basabe (Sale): He earned a promotion to AA and has shown some good power this season in both A and AA. Probably one to watch, but still likely a year or two away from sniffing the majors. An outfield, it was unclear where he would fit in to the team's plans.

Anderson Espinoza (Pomeranz): Probably the most controversial trade at the time. But when every anyone says that TJ surgery is routine and that the player should be back to form in a year or so should take a hard look at Espinoza, who has now missed 2 full seasons of minor league ball after undergoing Tommy John. Pomeranz was useless in 2018, but he did play a key role for the team in both 2016 and 2017.

Travis Shaw (Thornburgh): OK, not everything DD touches turns to gold.

Maurcio Dubon (Thornburgh): 0.922 OPS in AAA, but it was in Colorado Springs. Will be 24 next year and still has not had a major league at bat.

Josh Pennington (Thornburgh): 22 year old that has yet to make it out of A ball.

Yeison Coca (Thornburgh): 0.728 OPS in his 3rd season in rookie league ball. Will be 20 next season, so it's safe to say he's still at best a few years away from sniffing the majors.

Wade Miley (Carson Smith): Cafardo's bleatings to the contrary, he was essentially a below average pitcher until he found some success as a starter (albeit only 16 starts and 80 innings) for the Brewers this season. Gained some fame for being used successfully as an "opener" in the NLCS. He's 31, so this season and possibly next probably represent the pinnacle of his career arc.

Jonathon Aro (Carson Smith): Basically a career minor leaguer at 28.

Roenis Elias (Eric Filia): One of the board's long time favorites. The 30 year old seems to have gained a foothold as a middle reliever for the Mariners.

Jalen Beeks (Nathan Eovaldi): I'm guessing he would project as an Eric Van favorite. ERA+ of 94 for the Rays after the trade, which means he was a league average middle reliever. I'm not losing any sleep over this one.

Logan Allen (Kimbrel): At 21, had a nice run for AA and AAA (combined 14-6, 2.54 ERA, 1.08 WHIP). But walks a lot of guys. Could be one to watch.

Carlos Asuaje (Kimbrel): 0.566 OPS as basically a left-handed platoon player for the Padres. Will be 27 next season.

Javy Guerra (Kimbrel): Sniffed the majors this year. Hasn't really shown anything with the bat in the minors.

Manuel Margot (Kimbrel): Ignoring Miley (established major leaguer) and Shaw (ditto), Margot has had the most major league success of the bunch. But for all the hype, his career OPS+ is 88. Granted, he'll only be 23 next year, and can flash a major league glove in the outfield.
 

Ale Xander

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He cut Hanley Ramirez stone-cold in the middle of a season. Just, flat out cut him to eat money and not have him around.

Not many GMs do that. That was when I kinda thought something might be special with this club.

Thank you, Dave!
I love Hanley, and I think we would have won with him, but we wouldn't have gotten Pearce, so I guess I'm now, with the MVP, deserved over Price or not (prob not), ok with it. It would have been nice to see Hanley's personality during this run and especially this week.


Darn, we traded a lot for Thorn in our side.
 

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DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Good post lex. Not sure it’s entirely fair and balanced in every particular but it’s nice to see it all in one place. Winning the World Series makes it all look good.

If the Sox had Cleveland’s division set up, things might be different but they are in a division with another team with good young cost controlled players and it’s always going to be an arms race to avoid a play in game. Hanging on to prospects is just not a luxury they can afford some years.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Lex's list is a great example of the notion that minor leaguers are often just lottery tickets. Some of those guys are going to have decent or good major league careers. Most of them are never going to be heard from again.

And two of the pitching prospects had TJ surgery. It's a hard road to haul.
 

RedOctober3829

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DD took a ton of shit amidst cries of "but we needed a reliever" and then rolled out Eovaldi who was both a starter and a reliever and who was balls out in the postseason. Eovaldi, Pearce, and yes even Kinsler (who was a help until he got hurt, he was never any good after that) really buoyed the team this year.
The shit he took about not adding a reliever was warranted at the time. The reason they had to turn to so many starters in the postseason is because they were 1 high leverage reliever short in the pen. No one could have foreseen the impact that all of the starters were going to have out of the bullpen in the postseason. If they did not do what they did, DD would have taken shit for not adding another reliever at the deadline for a long time. Believe me, I'm happy with what Dave has done and he has done a wonderful job since taking over but because the gamble worked doesn't mean it was not a gamble. I just hope that all of the work the starters did out of the pen in the postseason doesn't lead to either arm injuries or poor performances next year.
 

PrometheusWakefield

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Good list, but too down on Moncada. He was 2.0 WAR last year. That means he's already a major league regular in a season that started with him at 22 years old. He's got to improve his contact to be sure, but he's still on track to be an all star caliber player.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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The shit he took about not adding a reliever was warranted at the time. The reason they had to turn to so many starters in the postseason is because they were 1 high leverage reliever short in the pen. No one could have foreseen the impact that all of the starters were going to have out of the bullpen in the postseason. If they did not do what they did, DD would have taken shit for not adding another reliever at the deadline for a long time. Believe me, I'm happy with what Dave has done and he has done a wonderful job since taking over but because the gamble worked doesn't mean it was not a gamble. I just hope that all of the work the starters did out of the pen in the postseason doesn't lead to either arm injuries or poor performances next year.
OR, he had already discussed with Cora the plan to use starting pitchers as rovers on their throw days, and had the starters' buy in on that plan, so acquiring another starting pitcher who could also be used as a power arm out of the pen filled two slots.So they perhaps did foresee the roles the starters filled out of the pen.

All moves are gambles. Last year DD acquired Addison Reed for a bullpen role, and he pitched well, but they still got bounced in the first round.
 

RedOctober3829

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OR, he had already discussed with Cora the plan to use starting pitchers as rovers on their throw days, and had the starters' buy in on that plan, so acquiring another starting pitcher who could also be used as a power arm out of the pen filled two slots.So they perhaps did foresee the roles the starters filled out of the pen.

All moves are gambles. Last year DD acquired Addison Reed for a bullpen role, and he pitched well, but they still got bounced in the first round.
I'm sure they planned this out well in advance. In fact, I'm confident in saying Cora discussed this on his interview. It doesn't take away from the fact that using starters as rovers is a big risk. I think we can all agree on the fact that we are happy it worked out.
 

RG33

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I'm sure they planned this out well in advance. In fact, I'm confident in saying Cora discussed this on his interview. It doesn't take away from the fact that using starters as rovers is a big risk. I think we can all agree on the fact that we are happy it worked out.
Well, it can be perceived as a “big risk”, or it was the reason they acquired Eovaldi in lieu of another RP. It also is what the last two world championship teams have done, and obviously Cora has been a part of both. I think it was much more plan than risk — and it has worked twice now in glowingly fashion and will likely be copy-catted all across baseball now.
 

chrisfont9

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Agree with quite a lot of the above, Dombrowski has clearly made the best of what he was given, which was a decent club but is now truly elite.

But? Also? I'm with Jim D above in being very curious in seeing how he does from here. He was the perfect man for the job up til now, and if he's the right man for the next phase of the job, making decisions about whom to retain and rebuilding the farm system, then he's first-ballot HOF material.
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

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Well, it can be perceived as a “big risk”, or it was the reason they acquired Eovaldi in lieu of another RP. It also is what the last two world championship teams have done, and obviously Cora has been a part of both. I think it was much more plan than risk — and it has worked twice now in glowingly fashion and will likely be copy-catted all across baseball now.
Dombrowski said as much about Eovaldi when he acquired him.
 

joe dokes

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Well, it can be perceived as a “big risk”, or it was the reason they acquired Eovaldi in lieu of another RP. It also is what the last two world championship teams have done, and obviously Cora has been a part of both. I think it was much more plan than risk — and it has worked twice now in glowingly fashion and will likely be copy-catted all across baseball now.
You dont get it. Everything that works out is luck, in spite of the bad moves that necessitated that luck. rinse. repeat.
 

BaseballJones

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Well, it can be perceived as a “big risk”, or it was the reason they acquired Eovaldi in lieu of another RP. It also is what the last two world championship teams have done, and obviously Cora has been a part of both. I think it was much more plan than risk — and it has worked twice now in glowingly fashion and will likely be copy-catted all across baseball now.
The "rover" idea makes tons of sense in the playoffs, because it's a short window of time. It works only if you have starters who are good with the idea, who are ok with their routine being thrown off. I guarantee that not every starter would be into it or be effective at it.

And I don't think it would work out over the course of a season. But for the playoffs, yeah it makes a ton of sense. Just need the full buy-in from the starters, and clearly, the Sox had that this year. They all couldn't WAIT to jump in.
 

JohntheBaptist

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I'm sure they planned this out well in advance. In fact, I'm confident in saying Cora discussed this on his interview. It doesn't take away from the fact that using starters as rovers is a big risk. I think we can all agree on the fact that we are happy it worked out.
Was it that big a risk? He'd been part of the Astros doing it to win a WS the year before. I agree they likely planned on it. They approached the trade market accordingly, and executed. It isn't any bigger a risk than picking their reliever to acquire and relying on him--relievers are volatile, especially in small samples, and if *that* didn't work it'd be "DD can't build a bullpen."
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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DD took a ton of shit amidst cries of "but we needed a reliever" and then rolled out Eovaldi who was both a starter and a reliever and who was balls out in the postseason. Eovaldi, Pearce, and yes even Kinsler (who was a help until he got hurt, he was never any good after that) really buoyed the team this year.
Haha, so Kinsler was a help for two games?

He was a steady glove, that certainly helped down the stretch. And outside my vitriol for him over the big error, it wasn’t hard to tell his bat was toast. I’ve gotten over it (since he helped us win) at least enough that I no longer wish he would die in a fire, but he had a 64 OPS+ and outside one good game against MFY he was even worse in playoffs.
 

nvalvo

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DD has been excellent for where the Sox were on the success cycle — turning payroll space and a top farm system into three division titles and a WS champion. The ML results were pretty poor under late-period Theo and Ben — 2013 WS excepted — but between the 2011 draft and some savvy trades (Miller for Rodriguez!) there was a ton of quality in the organization as a whole when Dombrowski got here. But he was very efficient in how he expended those chips!

I want to second those who will be fascinated to see how he shifts gears. I am not one of those who thinks he is only a win-now GM, as has been the knock: his track record, especially his Montreal track record, suggests otherwise. I think he makes it work.

I've been delighted by the work of the International Scouting department. Beyond the more traditional signings of international amateurs (Bogaerts, Devers, Moncada, Espinoza, Darwinzon Hernandez, Christopher Acosta — keep an eye on Acosta), but also international pros like Hector Velazquez, Esteban Quiroz, and Ryan Brasier. They basically acquired 1.2 fWAR and a depth middle infielder for free. (And who the hell else is scouting the Mexican league?)
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Haha, so Kinsler was a help for two games?

He was a steady glove, that certainly helped down the stretch. And outside my vitriol for him over the big error, it wasn’t hard to tell his bat was toast. I’ve gotten over it (since he helped us win) at least enough that I no longer wish he would die in a fire, but he had a 64 OPS+ and outside one good game against MFY he was even worse in playoffs.
Second base defense was a trash heap until he got here.
 

sean1562

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Yea of all of the guys traded, the only really regrettable loss is Shaw. Margot is basically JBJ but less power and faster, which is definitely a valuable player for the Padres in that stadium. He still has the most potential and is still young. I just pulled Lorenzo Cain's stats to compare his career trajectory, and man what a strange career that guy has had. Medicore first few years then legitimate star.

All of our big prospects were cashed in for players that made a big difference on the team, and we still have Benintendi and Devers. Really great job by Dombrowski building this team, hopefully we can get lucky on some of the guys we have in the minors and keep this window open through the early twenties.