It’s hard to imagine a sweeter vindication for Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski than the one he could orchestrate for himself this offseason.
For a baseball lifer who has won championships in two different cities and just fell two wins short of adding a third title to his name, Dombrowski is making his mark as a Hall of Fame executive and one of the best to ever do it.
He’s also just over three years removed from Red Sox owner John Henry kicking him out the door because of a difference in opinion on the future direction of the franchise.
We know how Dombrowski likes to operate — full throttle — and how gratifying it would’ve been for him to add Mookie Betts to the names of long-term contracts he had given to Xander Bogaerts, Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Christian Vazquez while in Boston.
And we know what Henry wanted to do — go in a more cost-effective, future-oriented direction, which is why he fired Dombrowski in August of 2019 and replaced him with Chaim Bloom two months later.
Now we know the results: the Red Sox have finished in last place in two of the last three years while Dombrowski took the Phillies to the World Series in his second year at the helm. (In fairness, Bloom inherited a difficult situation in Boston, where ownership did not envision a long-term deal with Betts, though Dombrowski didn’t exactly inherit a perfect situation in Philadelphia, either.)
This winter, we’ll get perhaps the best chance yet to see Dombrowski add another point in his favor.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported this weekend that the Phillies “have real interest” in signing Bogaerts, who has played more games at shortstop for the Red Sox than any other player in franchise history.
This should come as a surprise to nobody.
Dombrowski loves Bogaerts, as just about anybody who has spent time in the Red Sox organization does.
Part of the reason is that Dombrowski, now 66 years old and having more than 40 years of front office experience, has long been the kind of executive who travels with the team. He’s in the clubhouse on a daily basis, understands the inner dynamics of team chemistry and has a keen awareness of the impact Bogaerts has on his teammates.
It’s why he broke his rule of negotiating contracts in the middle of the season to offer Bogaerts an extension after the 2019 season had already started. There are few players worth breaking rules for, and Bogaerts proved to be one of them, as Dombrowski signed the shortstop to one of the best deals in franchise history, offering him just $20 million per season while other top-tier shortstops would soon sign contracts with other teams that paid them salaries worth more than $30 million annually.
Go back and listen to what Dombrowski said then, in April of 2019, about why he thought Bogaerts was worth investing in as a shortstop over the long haul.
“We talked a lot about it but we think he can play shortstop for an extended period,” Dombrowski said at the time. “He maybe doesn’t have as much range as a couple other guys, but he has much more offense that he brings. He’s really taken well to Alex Cora and the staff about positioning. He’s done well. We’ve talked to Alex, Alex thinks he can be the shortstop for an extended period of time.”
Even back then, there were questions about Bogaerts’ longevity at the position. In the four seasons since, the 6-foot-2 Bogaerts has put those questions to rest.
“Everyone is different,” Dombrowski said in 2019. “Look how long (Cal Ripken Jr.) played short. (Derek) Jeter is a big guy, he played it. Everybody is different. His work ethic makes a big difference in that regard. He’s athletic. He works well with Alex and he wants to do it. There have been big shortstops that have done it.”
And if Bogaerts can’t do it?
“He’s athletic enough to play a lot of different positions,” Dombrowski said then. “If he had to switch over to second or first or left or third, it doesn’t just have to be third base. Because he’s athletic we think he can do that, but that’s nothing we’re thinking about at this time.”
Fast forward to 2022 and Dombrowski now has a chance to bring Bogaerts to Philadelphia, where the Phillies are trying to add those final few pieces that’ll put them over the top next season.
They really want a shortstop and have money to spend.
“There are four really good shortstops out there, right?” Dombrowski told reporters, including MLB.com, at the GM Meetings last week. “I wouldn’t get into any specifics on which ones we like, but we like all of them.”
The Red Sox can’t feel good about that.
They traded Betts to the Dodgers and watched him win a World Series in Los Angeles.
They let the Phillies steal Kyle Schwarber last offseason and watched him lead the league in homers and take his team to the World Series.
If they let Dombrowski swipe Bogaerts and bring him to Philadelphia, it’s hard to imagine a sweeter moment for the former Red Sox boss.
And a more painful one for the local nine.
