The Boston Red Sox didn't wait until the end of the season to cut ties with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who was officially sent packing Monday without so much as a press conference.
And it appears the writing had been on the wall for months.
In a column for The Athletic on Monday, Evan Drellich reported the Red Sox had been "grappling with Dombrowski’s future for some time."
"More than once since winning the World Series, Dombrowski asked ownership for an extension and was rebuffed," Drellich wrote, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.
That the Red Sox reportedly declined to give Dombrowski an extension on several occasions after he delivered them a World Series is an obvious red flag.
But the shortcomings of Dombrowski's "win now" strategy became glaring this season, as Boston's depleted farm system limited its options at the MLB trade deadline while the pitching staff has shown signs of age.
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According to Drellich, the ace of that staff, Chris Sale, was a point of contention between Sale and Red Sox ownership. Per Drellich, Dombrowski had to "push" ownership to approve Sale's $145 million contract in March, and that back-and-forth was one that Dombrowski "did not handle smoothly."
So, even as the Red Sox basked in the success of their 2018 title, it seems they were moving closer to cutting ties with Dombrowski in just his fourth season with Boston. On Monday, they finally pulled the trigger, leaving the front office with quite the tall task.
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