The Boston Red Sox fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski on Sunday and have elevated senior vice president Raquel Ferreira and assistant general managers Eddie Romero, Brian O'Halloran and Zack Scott to jointly lead their baseball operations department for the rest of the season.
Dombrowski, 63, was the architect behind Boston's 2018 World Series championship and had a contract that ran through the 2020 season. The Red Sox are in the midst of a disappointing campaign that has them eight games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League and 17½ games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
The Red Sox formally announced the firing Monday morning.
"Four years ago, we were faced with a critical decision about the direction of the franchise," Red Sox principle owner John Henry said in a statement. "We were extraordinarily fortunate to be able to bring Dave in to lead baseball operations. With a World Series Championship and three consecutive American League East titles, he has cemented what was already a Hall of Fame career."
Ferreira, the senior vice president of major league and minor league operations in her 21st year with the Red Sox, will be part of an interim decision-making team and is set to become the highest-ranking woman ever in a Major League Baseball team's baseball operations department.
Romero, O'Halloran and Scott are longtime and well-respected Red Sox employees, as well, each hired by former Red Sox GM and current Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. When Epstein resigned from the Red Sox after the 2005 season, they installed a committee to make baseball operations decisions before rehiring Epstein in January 2006.
While Dombrowski's job security has been in question in recent weeks, the change is nevertheless a shocking about-face for an organization that less than a year ago was basking in the afterglow of a 108-win regular season and a dominant run through the postseason that included a five-game World Series victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whom Dombrowski hired before the 2018 season, said after Boston's 10-5 loss to the Yankees on Sunday that he was "surprised and shocked" to learn of the move.
"This is a guy that gave me a chance to come here and be a big league manager," Cora said. "It's one of those things that caught me. They just told me, so I'm not ready to talk about it."
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https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27573900/red-sox-fire-dombrowski-one-season-title
Dombrowski, 63, was the architect behind Boston's 2018 World Series championship and had a contract that ran through the 2020 season. The Red Sox are in the midst of a disappointing campaign that has them eight games back of the second wild-card spot in the American League and 17½ games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East.
The Red Sox formally announced the firing Monday morning.
"Four years ago, we were faced with a critical decision about the direction of the franchise," Red Sox principle owner John Henry said in a statement. "We were extraordinarily fortunate to be able to bring Dave in to lead baseball operations. With a World Series Championship and three consecutive American League East titles, he has cemented what was already a Hall of Fame career."
Ferreira, the senior vice president of major league and minor league operations in her 21st year with the Red Sox, will be part of an interim decision-making team and is set to become the highest-ranking woman ever in a Major League Baseball team's baseball operations department.
Romero, O'Halloran and Scott are longtime and well-respected Red Sox employees, as well, each hired by former Red Sox GM and current Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. When Epstein resigned from the Red Sox after the 2005 season, they installed a committee to make baseball operations decisions before rehiring Epstein in January 2006.
While Dombrowski's job security has been in question in recent weeks, the change is nevertheless a shocking about-face for an organization that less than a year ago was basking in the afterglow of a 108-win regular season and a dominant run through the postseason that included a five-game World Series victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whom Dombrowski hired before the 2018 season, said after Boston's 10-5 loss to the Yankees on Sunday that he was "surprised and shocked" to learn of the move.
"This is a guy that gave me a chance to come here and be a big league manager," Cora said. "It's one of those things that caught me. They just told me, so I'm not ready to talk about it."
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27573900/red-sox-fire-dombrowski-one-season-title