Roche: Dombrowski Delivers For Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) - Dave Dombrowski was brought to Boston by John Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon to become the lone voice of the baseball side of the Red Sox.
Dombrowski then took the final months of the 2015 season to assess what he had. He simply watched, took notes, asked questions of his new baseball evaluators, and looked at what he had.
He then declared to everyone that he wanted a true ace at the top of his rotation and some power arms in the bullpen.
On December 1st he had both.
First, Dombrowski traded for a power arm for the bullpen in Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel is arguably one of the top 3 closers in the game. Dombrowski paid a hefty price in giving up four legitimate prospects, but knew he had to give something to get what he wanted.
He then declared that his ace would probably have to come from the free agent market because he didn't want to empty the Sox farm system. He narrowed it down to the top two aces that were for sale: David Price and Zack Greinke.
On December 1st, Dombrowski told the two that he wanted an answer (see Bob Nightengale's USA Today story) by the end of the day. He got it. David Price accepted the largest ever deal (for now) given to a starting pitcher at 7 years and 217-million dollars (an AAV of 31-million).
Mission accomplished.
You can argue whether both pitchers will be stars in Boston, but you can't argue that Dombrowski did exactly what he said he would do. It's now up to Price and Kimbrel to show Red Sox fans if the deals are worth it.
Kimbrel is signed for the next two seasons, with an option for 2018. Price has an opt-out after three seasons. We'll certainly know by then whether these deals worked.
The advantage of having David Price over other free agent starters are: 1) He's pitched in the AL East (29-4 in his career at Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Rogers Center, and Camden Yards), 2) He's shown no signs of wear and tear averaging 31 starts, 216.5 innings, 15.75 wins, and 213 over the past 4 years. He should have 3-4 prime years in him, 3) There's less concern over him having to adjust after having been traded and pitched in bigger markets like Detroit and Toronto, and 4) He should be a good mentor for Eduardo Rodriguez and other young pitchers in the Sox organization.
Meanwhile, there are a bunch of negatives being pointed out across Red Sox Nation. He's never won in the postseason as he's recorded a 2-7 record with a 5.12 ERA (although Randy Johnson had that same record entering the 2001 playoffs with the Diamondbacks and he went 5-1 in leading Arizona to a WS title). 217-million dollars is an awful lot of money to give any ballplayer, especially one that hasn't won in the postseason. Sox fans will cry (and rightly so) that they should have signed Jon Lester for half that money when they had the chance and Lester had just pitched the Sox to a World Series title at that point. (Let it be known that I believe letting Lester go was the biggest mistake the Henry ownership group has made in their tenure).
Would Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto, or Jordan Zimmermann have been a better alternative? Or, should Dombrowski have given more prospects (Betts, Swihart, etc) and traded for a Chris Sale or a Sonny Gray? Only time will give us the answer to those questions.
I like the idea of Price, Porcello, Rodriguez, Miley, Buchholz, and/or Joe Kelly in the Sox rotation. Dombrowski may also not be done as he could wheel and deal for another starter, reliever or positional player. It's only early December.
I applaud John Henry for realizing he made a mistake in letting Lester go. He also changed his philosophy on 30-plus year-old pitchers. It's better than not doing anything.
The Red Sox - on paper - are a better team than they were before Dave Dombrowski arrived. It's now up to the players to go out and perform.
I applaud Dave Dombrowski for delivering on what he promised.
