After a stretch of time when the Red Sox won three consecutive AL East titles — culminating in a franchise-record 108 wins and a World Series championship last season — Boston general manager Dave Dombrowski is quickly learning how forgetful his fan base can be.
Sitting at third place in the AL East, 16 games behind the first-place Yankees and six games back in the wild-card race, the Red Sox’s season has essentially flopped.
And fans aren’t being shy in pointing fingers at the fourth-year GM and putting him on the hot seat.
“Well, I don’t want to say too much about it,’’ Dombrowski told USA Today. “But I am surprised. At least a little bit. I mean, we did win three divisions and a World Series. But I get it. This is a tough market. It’s been known as that.
“Growing up in this game, I was always told there are three markets that are different than everywhere else: Boston, New York and Philadelphia,” he added. “And I’d have to say it’s probably lived up to be true. If you don’t have thick skin, you’re not going to survive in this game. You won’t survive in this market for sure.”
Choosing to make minimal changes to his reigning championship roster hasn’t panned out the way Dombrowski expected. Last year’s AL MVP Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez had significant dropoffs this season.
The Red Sox’s struggles have stemmed primarily from the bullpen, where the team once featured star relievers Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly before Dombrowski allowed them to leave in free agency.
Now, Boston is tied for the American League lead with 22 blown saves.
Things have gotten progressively worse, with Chris Sale landing on the injured list with a season-ending elbow injury on Monday. Dombrowski signed Sale to a five-year, $150 million contract extension this offseason, and he was repaid with the seven-time All-Star’s career-worst 4.40 ERA. The Red Sox also re-signed Nathan Eovaldi to a four-year, $67.5 million deal this offseason, and he has spent this season either injured or struggling in the rotation and bullpen.
“I know people wanted us to win, and we wanted to win, the expectations were there,’’ Dombrowski said. “It’s just a situation where you look back, somebody seems to get blamed for whatever happened. The fans have been great. And so has ownership. It’s just a (media) theme that always seems to take place.
“We haven’t played as well as we hoped, and people have problems with the decisions we made. I understand that. I guess that’s just the way it is.’’
Dombrowski has one year left on his five-year contract, and there reportedly has been no sign of any contract extension discussions.