Call to the pen
Fansided

Ranking baseball’s general managers for 2018: Part 3

By Bill Felber

OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 13: General Manager David Forst of the Oakland Athletics sits in the clubhouse prior to the game against the Seattle Mariners at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on August 13, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Mariners 7-6. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 13: General Manager David Forst of the Oakland Athletics sits in the clubhouse prior to the game against the Seattle Mariners at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on August 13, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Mariners 7-6. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON – SEPTEMBER 26: Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski looks through a set of binoculars from his suite during the top of the third inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Baltimore Orioles in the first of two regular season MLB baseball games in a doubleheader at Fenway Park in Boston on Sep. 26, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

2. Dave Dombrowski, Boston Red Sox, +6.7 games

Entering the 2017-18 off-season, the Red Sox were already good enough that no major makeover was needed. So Dombrowski didn’t perform one.

But he did make one significant move, and that one – the free-agent signing of J.D.Martinez as a middle-of-the order bat, paid handsomely.

Martinez came at a pretty penny – a five-year deal at a shade under $110 million. But he returned a .330 batting average, 43 home runs, a league-leading 130 RBIs and +4.2 WAA while making a run at the American League’s MVP award.

Three other Dombrowski moves contributed to the extent of the Red Sox’ success, if not to the success itself.

In March he signed free agent Ryan Brasier as a bullpen backup. Brasier spent most of the season in Pawtucket, but once he arrived just prior to the All-Star break he delivered a 1.60 ERA in 33 innings of emergency work.

In June Dombrowski sent a minor leaguer to Toronto and got Steve Pearce, who hit .279 as a DH/outfielder.

Then in July, Dombrowski sent highly regarded prospect Jalen Beeks to Tampa Bay for starter Nathan Eovaldi. Beeks may in time develop, but Eovaldi – fresh from a succession of arm injuries – had proven with the Rays that he was big-league ready. He made 11 starts for the Red Sox, and added an ALDS victory over the Yankees.

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