After the overdue firing of former President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski Monday morning, a report from the Boston Globe should sound the alarms for Boston Red Sox fans.
According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, “In re-signing Eovaldi and then reaching a long-term deal with Chris Sale, Dombrowski put the Sox in a position where – based on their payroll projections and a significant desire to get under the luxury tax threshold sometime in the next two years to reset the penalty structure – they’ll likely end up parting with J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, or possibly even both this winter.”
While this should be the last scenario the front office should take, Dombrowski never managed the free agency front well. No way was a pitcher who had three Tommy John surgeries deserving of a four-year deal at $67.5 million –– sounds like a contract destined for failure.
The front office must keep Mookie Betts in the fold for years to come if they want to be contenders in the near future. They must continue to draft well, as well as develop these guys at a consistent pace.
While it sounded like Martinez was going to opt out at the start of the year, simply letting him go without showing interest is a bad way to create a marketable environment for free agents down the road.
