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The Red Sox announced on Tuesday night that they have hired Dave Dombrowski to be their president of baseball operations.

General manager Ben Cherington declined the opportunity to continue as GM but has agreed to assist Dombrowski during the transition.

"I have known Dave very well for a long time," principal owner John Henry said. "[Chairman] Tom [Werner] and I have no doubts that Dave is the right person to strengthen our baseball operations group going forward. He is one of the most highly regarded executives in all of baseball, and had options to go with other Clubs. We feel very fortunate that he wanted to come to Boston, and wanted to further his career -- now with the Red Sox -- as one of the great architects of winning baseball clubs."

"Although we have achieved tremendous success over the last fourteen seasons, we had reached a clear internal consensus that we needed to enhance our baseball operation," Werner said. "In nearly four decades in the game, Dave is a proven winner and he can restore winning ways to Yawkey Way and help to fulfill the Red Sox goal, every year, to be playing meaningful games into October."
Dombrowski expressed his eagerness to begin working with the Red Sox in a statement released by the Red Sox.

"I want to thank John and Tom for this opportunity," Dombrowski said. "Although I did have other potential options within baseball, there was no option that stood out as clearly as the chance to come to Boston and win with the Red Sox. Boston is a baseball city like no other and its history and traditions are unique in our game. I expressed to John and Tom that Boston would be my absolute top choice and am honored to have the chance to serve Red Sox Nation."

zong wrote:What does that mean.... Cherington is out?

zong wrote:What does that mean.... Cherington is out?

JoeyBats wrote:I hope AA stays. I don't like the prospects he's traded during the recent trade deadline, but he's created a buzz in the city and a legit contender. He's also shown a few times he can restock the farm system. The logical move would be to hire a business guy to be the president and leave baseball operations to AA. Hope Rogers sees it that way as well.

JoeyBats wrote:I hope AA stays. I don't like the prospects he's traded during the recent trade deadline, but he's created a buzz in the city and a legit contender. He's also shown a few times he can restock the farm system. The logical move would be to hire a business guy to be the president and leave baseball operations to AA. Hope Rogers sees it that way as well.

Komodo wrote:If we only have a window of one more year after this (2016), Price isn't re-signing. He wants to compete every year, not just the first couple years of his new deal. Oh well.

Michael Bradley wrote:this team probably has one more year in their window (2016), and then it will get really tricky with Bautista and Encarnacion becoming free agents.

How much did all of Anthopoulos' moves cost the Jays? Not as much you might think. The salaries of Tulowitzki and shortstop Jose Reyes, one of the players who went back to the Rockies, were essentially a wash for 2015. The addition of Price increased the payroll by about $5.7 million, and Anthopoulos also added outfielder Ben Revere and relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe. But even with all that, the Jays' payroll remains below the league average, $146 million.

Meanwhile, Tulowitzki is under control for five more years, Martin for four more and Donaldson for three more, protecting the Jays even if sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion depart as free agents after next season. The team is in a flexible enough financial position to re-sign one or even both; the team's only major long-term commitments are to Tulowitzki and Martin.
Pitching, of course, will be an issue; Anthopoulos has parted with a dizzying number of potential young starters in his many trades --€“ Noah Syndergaard, Anthony DeSclafani, Daniel Norris, Jeff Hoffman, Justin Nicolino, Jesus Tinoco. But just when you think the Jays are out of prospects, they seem to come up with more.

This is not a club that needs to overhaul its baseball operations the way the Red Sox did. This is a club that needs a team president who will focus more on business and updating the Jays' home ballpark, Rogers Centre. Beeston said recently on a radio show that the facility will cost between $200 million and $400 million to upgrade.
Find that guy, and leave the baseball to Anthopoulos. The Jays are sitting on a hot free agent. And they're in danger of letting him slip away.