The Boston Red Sox officially announced Wednesday that Dave Dombrowski will be taking over as president of baseball operations, with general manager Ben Cherington stepping down from the post he's held since October 2011.
Per Ian Browne of MLB.com, Cherington is going to stick around to help Dombrowski with the transition. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that former Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren is the leading candidate to take over as Boston's general manager.
Dombrowski did say Wednesday, per the Boston Globe's Alex Speier, he was originally "hopeful" Cherington would stay, and he plans on hiring a general manager before adding there is no leading candidate for the job at this time.
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner was very complimentary of Cherington, per the team's official Twitter feed:
The press conference kicked off with Red Sox owner John Henry calling this "a great day" for the franchise, per the Boston Herald's Scott Lauber.
One of Dombrowski's first comments at the press conference was about the decision to join now instead of waiting until after the year, per the Boston Globe's Michael Vega:
That's an underrated aspect of making big changes like this one. Getting it done sooner allows a front office to prepare for the offseason. Dombrowski will now be able to evaluate where the Red Sox are from a talent standpoint, find their needs and make deals this winter to get better.
As far as positions the Red Sox may be looking to upgrade, Dombrowski addressed the elephant in the room, per the Boston Herald's Jason Mastrodonato:
Boston starting pitchers rank 23rd in innings (675.1) and 28th in ERA (4.88). Pitching was a concern for the Red Sox when the season started, with Wade Miley, Rick Porcello and Justin Masterson as their big acquisitions.
Those fears have proved to be prophetic, though the good news is Dombrowski has a strong track record of building a pitching staff from his tenure with the Detroit Tigers.
In terms of Dombrowski's vision for the roster moving forward, Bob Halloran of WCVB provided his plan on Twitter:
Power pitching was always Detroit's top priority when Dombrowski was GM. One of the great running jokes every year leading up to the MLB draft was you could project whom the Tigers would take by finding a tall, hard-throwing right-hander.
Per Speier, Dombrowski made a point to say that having a legitimate ace is what teams look for if they want to win a World Series. He did add that it's possible to win big with a deep bullpen, but starting pitching is the ideal scenario.
Even though Dombrowski has a vision for the Red Sox, he isn't going to change the entire system that's been used, per Fox 25's Mark Ockerbloom:
It's a smart philosophy to have, because there are good things happening with the Red Sox despite the team's 53-66 record.
There's a lot of young talent on the roster, such as Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart, Henry Owens, Xander Bogaerts, Rusney Castillo, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Eduardo Rodriguez, to build around.
That young core and the farm system was a key talking point for Dombrowski, per the Red Sox's official Twitter account:
Per Speier, four members of the young core currently in the big leagues were specifically cited by Dombrowski:
A strong farm system is more important than ever, though Dombrowski was able to make the Tigers into a consistent World Series contender for the last four years despite not having a highly regarded system.
Dombrowski will face more scrutiny in Boston than he would in most markets. It's a huge fanbase that's very vocal in good times and bad.
Fortunately, per Over the Monster's Marc Normandin, Dombrowski does have an understanding of what he's in for with the Red Sox:
It's been a rough two-year stretch for the Red Sox. Since winning the World Series in 2013, they have sat at the bottom of the American League East standings. Cherington's formula worked for one season, but something has gone awry since then.
Dombrowski is walking into a situation with a cupboard that's well-stocked for the long haul, but he needs to find short-term answers to avoid another bad season in 2016.
It will be a more difficult challenge with the Red Sox than the one Dombrowski had with Detroit, simply because the American League East has more depth and fewer financial restrictions than some of the teams in the American League Central.
Yet, Dombrowski's track record of building rosters, finding quality starting pitching and adjusting things during the season via trades gives the Red Sox a lot to be excited about.
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