Red Sox Look Toward Bright Future With Dombrowski Leading Charge

Coming into the 2015 MLB season, Red Sox fans had high expectations for the newly revamped offense with offseason signings Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. With the opening day rotation, however, those expectations were destined to falter. This team is third in offensive production, but lacks the most important piece to an MLB roster, a strong pitching staff. In recent years, history shows that pitching wins championships. The Sox entered 2015 with no established ace in the rotation. With the front office gambling on hitting in 2015, they set the team up for failure. While offense is great and draws a large crowd, Boston fans want a winning team. New President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski has a track record of signing elite pitching and has already established his motive to continue doing so in Boston.

In the last 15 years, the Red Sox have won three World Series. In 2004, 2007, and 2013 Boston’s pitching staff led them to these titles with hitting being a compliment. Ortiz is known to be the savior and the key reason Boston has won multiple titles. While he has been a huge piece to these titles, pitching not only got the Sox to the playoffs, but also carried them in the postseason. In all three championship-winning years, the Sox pitching staff finished in the top half of baseball in pitching during the regular season. It was no different in the postseason, as all three years the Sox were a top three postseason staff. To put this season into perspective, the St. Louis Cardinals, the team with the best record in baseball, have the 23rd ranked offense, but boast the best rotation in baseball statistically. While hitting is undeniably important, pitching has proven to be essential to winning.

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With all these numbers available to the front office, one has to question decisions made in recent years. While Larry Lucchino and John Henry have been stable parts of the organization, leading the team to three World Series titles, maintaining the great Fenway Park, and setting the most consecutive sellouts record, their consistency must be questioned with the payroll they have. How can an ownership group that has that type of payroll be so inconsistent with a team plan? A perennial World Series contender, the St. Louis Cardinals, have a very consistently run organization and it shows on the field. With Dombrowski now the head of baseball operations for the team, how much control and time will he be given? How much of an impact will Henry and Lucchino have in decision-making? If ownership backs off, Dombrowski has the pieces at his disposal to field a playoff team as soon as next year.

With a young core and a strong farm system, Dombrowski has already made a statement that he will look to acquire strong pitching this offseason. Dombrowski made moves for David Price and Anibal Sanchez during his tenure in Detroit. When given statistics of the 2015 Red Sox during a press conference, Dombrowski set his mission straight, “I guess we need to find some better pitching is what it comes down to.” With his history, look for Dombrowski to make a blockbuster move for an ace or two this offseason. To Boston fans, it is not a matter of how we win, it is a matter of are we winning. History shows that strong pitching will bring winning ways back to Boston.

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