BOSTON -- Here is a punch list of people potentially impacted by the Boston Red Sox's hiring of Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations:
John Farrell. Dombrowski said he spoke with the Red Sox manager on the phone Tuesday night, hours after Farrell underwent his first round of chemotherapy for lymphoma.
"We’ve crossed paths. We know each other a little bit. I wouldn’t say we know each other real well,” Dombrowski said. "I told him, 'First and foremost, you need to take care of your health, and that’s the most important thing.' ... As I told him, ‘You take care of yourself. When you have an opportunity to visit in person, you call me and let me know, and we’ll work on getting together.’ He thought he would be able to visit by the end of this homestand, so we’ll sit down and visit, just really to get to know each other even better and get his feeling on the ballclub.”
Dombrowski could have ended all speculation about Farrell’s future employment by declaring Farrell his manager for next season, assuming a return to health. Dombrowski kept his options open, however, and noted only that Farrell is under contract for next season.
A comment by team chairman Tom Werner suggested ownership remains in Farrell’s corner.
"I don't hold John Farrell in any sense responsible for our team's performance," Werner said after the news conference. "As to the future, I'm sure the two of them will sit down and will figure out a path forward that's good for both of them. One attribute that John has that is as strong as any manager in the game is his ability to communicate."
Sam Kennedy. Kennedy was only recently named to succeed outgoing CEO Larry Lucchino as the club’s president. Kennedy presumed he would have a seat at the table when baseball decisions are made, as Lucchino does. Dombrowski, however, changes that equation.
"We work together," Dombrowski said, "but not on baseball decisions."
Kennedy, who will run the business operations side of the company, insisted he is not dismayed by the change and said he fully anticipates being involved in baseball discussions.
"We’re both in the same business: baseball," he said. "It’s my job to support Dave and the baseball operations side in any way possible. I’ve known him for a long time, and I expect we’ll collaborate on a lot of things."
Frank Wren. The former general manager of the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves has already been mentioned as a leading candidate to join Dombrowski as GM. He was an assistant to Dombrowski in both Montreal and Florida. The two were seen together a few weeks ago, when the Tigers were at Tropicana Field to play the Rays, but that was a social visit as much as anything else.
Wren might receive consideration, but Dombrowski has barely begun to assemble a list of prospective candidates. Henry and Werner said minority candidates will be interviewed to satisfy the requirements of the commissioner’s office. Someone who has been a GM might not be comfortable playing second banana to Dombrowski.
"I don’t want to rush that right now,” he said. "I think it’s important to get the right person and not rush it.”
Jerry Dipoto. The former Los Angeles Angels' GM was recently hired as a consultant to Ben Cherington. His job is to evaluate talent in the Sox system and help chart an offseason strategy. Werner said DiPoto will fulfill that assignment.
"I spoke to Jerry last night," Werner said. "He gave me a very interesting factoid about something he saw in Pawtucket."
Dombrowski wasn’t quite that definitive, though he said he would welcome Dipoto's input.
"I don't know exactly what the agreement is," Dombrowski said. "I have a lot of regard for Jerry. If he's going to do that, I'd love for him to continue to do that, but I have to talk to him."
Members of Cherington's baseball operations staff. An incoming executive is expected to bring some of his own people, but Dombrowski said he didn't plan to adopt a scorched-earth policy on the Cherington holdovers.
"I think it's important to know -- and I've talked to some people in the front office very quickly in the baseball end of it -- I'm not here to blow up the operation,” Dombrowski said. "There are a lot of good people here. They have good reputations. When I originally went to Detroit, we kept everybody there and evaluated them over a time period. I think it's a situation where I look to hopefully enhance what we have and work together closely, and if we can add people to the organization from wherever it may be, we're open-minded to that. I hope that most of the people here will be in a position to stay and be able to help.”
That evaluation period might not last long, however. When Dombrowski took over as president of the Tigers in 2002, he fired Randy Smith as GM just six games into the season and named himself the replacement.
Bill James and the data analysts. James was hired directly by Henry, so Kim-Jung Il could have been named president of baseball ops, and it would have no impact on his status. But Dombrowski, along with Henry and Werner, insisted there will not be a "sea change” in the role analytics play in Sox decision-making.
"I think we're in a spot in today's world where we're basically termed, 'You're analytical or you're non-analytical,'" Dombrowski said. "I don't really agree with that at all. I think the reality is that you use all the information you possibly can to come to the best decision you possibly can.
"We don't have -- or did not have [in Detroit] -- as big an analytical department as some other organizations do, for various reasons. But I did have people in our office that would give you any analytics that you wanted to get. And we would be up-to-date on any type of thing that you could get."
Toronto Blue Jays. Dombrowski would not identify which team besides the Red Sox interviewed him, but a source said the Blue Jays were prepared to give Dombrowski everything he wanted to succeed outgoing club president Paul Beeston.
Werner said the Sox were aware another club had made a strong bid for Dombrowski.
"I knew he had other opportunities, one at a level not only for baseball operations but the whole team with an unfettered hand," Werner said. "I was very pleased his heart is in evaluating ballplayers, creating a winning team and the opportunity to do that in Boston.
"Talk to him, but my feeling was he didn't need to have all the marbles. He wanted be part of a group to bring another World Series to Boston. It was not of paramount importance that he have all the marbles. This is what he loves."
Rick Porcello. Dombrowski's Tigers drafted Porcello and developed him before trading him the past winter to the Red Sox for Yoenis Cespedes, whom he subsequently flipped to the New York Mets at the July trade deadline.
"First of all, Rick Porcello has the ability to be a very solid pitcher," Dombrowski said. "A young pitcher who's been through a lot and has always been a tough competitor.
"I really don't know what happened to him over here. I haven't seen him pitch very often. I'm surprised that he hasn't done better. I'm not really sure why [he hasn't]. I'll be interested to find out what people's observations are. We always thought he'd be a good big league pitcher and still do."
Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. No, Dombrowski said, he won't be asking them to switch positions before the end of the season. That's never a good idea at this time of year, and someone might get hurt.
As for what Ramirez's best position might be, Dombrowski said, "I'm not sure at this point. I haven't seen him play left field very much. One thing you have to be careful about -- and I've had some experience with this with some good athletes -- you can't just assume they can play another position."
Dombrowski said he saw an MLB network segment this spring in which Ramirez was ranked the No. 1 left fielder in baseball entering the season.
"I remember at the time saying, ‘How can people make that statement when they don't know if he can play left field or not?"'
