The Boston Red Sox are in the middle of a disappointing season, but their future looks much brighter with the addition of Dave Dombrowski as the new president of baseball operations, which Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Tuesday.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe noted general manager Ben Cherington also stepped down, although he will assist Dombrowski during the transition period. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Frank Wren is the "leading contender" to be named general manager under Dombrowski.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported the Blue Jays were also in serious conversations with Dombrowski, which led to Boston giving the veteran front-office man full power over baseball operations.
Red Sox owner John Henry noted his relationship with Dombrowski when commenting on the hiring, per Nightengale:
I have known Dave very well for a long time. [Chairman] Tom [Werner] and I have no doubts that Dave is the right person to strengthen our baseball operations group going forward. He is one of the most highly regarded executives in all of baseball, and had options to go with other clubs. We feel very fortunate that he wanted to come to Boston, and wanted to further his career — now with the Red Sox — as one of the great architects of winning baseball clubs.
ESPN.com's Gordon Edes noted the team will hold a formal press conference Wednesday.
Dombrowski was released from the final year of his contract with the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 4 after almost 14 years as the team's president and general manager. He helped lead the Tigers to the past four American League Central titles and also served as the general manager for the Montreal Expos and the then-Florida Marlins before joining Detroit.
The Red Sox have failed to live up to expectations this season, but they are still one of the marquee franchises in all of baseball, with three World Series titles since 2004. Dombrowski recognized the opportunity to work under the bright spotlight in Boston when he accepted his new position, per Nightengale:
If Dombrowski's track record is any indication, the Red Sox are in store for future success. He joined Detroit after it lost 96 games in 2001 and quickly made it one of the best teams in the American League with high-profile additions such as draft pick Justin Verlander, trade targets Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer and free agent Prince Fielder.
The Tigers won the American League pennant in 2006 and 2012 under Dombrowski.
ESPN Stats & Info highlighted his ability to turn around the franchise:
Dombrowski brings a proven ability to add key pieces and develop a winner to the baseball-rich market of Boston, where fans pour into Fenway Park with unquestioning loyalty every summer. The Red Sox were already a destination team for marquee free agents, and now they have one of the best front-office executives in the league making the personnel calls.
The struggles of the last two seasons could be reversed quickly in Boston.
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