Less than one year after winning the World Series, the Red Sox are shaking things up in the front office.
Boston parted ways with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Sunday. A team official confirmed the move to reporters at Fenway Park, per RedSox.com. The club will make a formal announcement Monday.
Multiple reports indicate the Red Sox will turn to a group within in the baseball operations department to assume Dombrowski’s responsibilities until a replacement is named.
The decision broke shortly after Boston’s 10-5 loss to the New York Yankees. Manager Alex Cora was asked about the move during his postgame press conference but didn’t elaborate on the topic too much.
“Surprised and shocked,” Cora said, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “Right now I don’t have too much to say. We’ll talk a little bit more (Monday).”
The move also came as a surprise to Cora’s players, who learned of the move after the loss to New York.
“Obviously I’ve played for Dave for a long time and I think the world of him and it’s just sad to see something like that happen,” Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello, who also played under Dombrowski in Detroit, told reporters. “At the end of the day, we’re the players that are on the field and the ones that can make or break a lot of things, and ultimately the onus comes on us and it’s unfortunate to see him take some of it. But that’s the decision ownership made and it is what it is.”
The move likely is surprising to others as well, just one season after Boston posted 108 regular-season wins en route to a World Series title. But it was time for a change in the midst of a disappointing 2019 campaign.
Dombrowski, 63, was under contract through the 2020 season.
