AL East Notes: Red Sox, O’s, Blue Jays

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe looks at the Red Sox’ decision not to add a reliever to prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. That non-trade scenario that flew in the face of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s reputation as “Dealer Dave” — one of the most aggressive executives throughout the industry. Dombrowski, though, talks with Speier about the fine line that an executive needs to walk in being content with the strengths the organization has. “I’ve been with clubs that were very good and won world championships and clubs that lost world championships — every club could be better,” said Dombrowski. “Once you improve something, the public pressure is there to improve something else. You just have to be aware that you’ll have to be content with what your club is at certain stages.”

Red Sox special assistant Tony La Russa, meanwhile, speaks about the process of deliberating whether the better move was to add a reliever or to move forward with a trade for righty Nathan Eovaldi. Perhaps the Sox could’ve found a way to do both, but if it was indeed an either/or scenario, it’s hard to argue with the results of that decision-making process.

More from the division…

• With new front office leadership on the horizon, the Orioles aren’t likely to lean as heavily on the Rule 5 Draft, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports. Baltimore’s previous Rule 5 endeavors didn’t really lead to much success (Joey Rickard, Ryan Flaherty and T.J. McFarland are the most notable players to date), though outfielder Anthony Santander and righty Pedro Araujo could yet change that reality. Kubatko takes a look at the Orioles’ roster on the whole, noting that Trey Mancini, Cedric Mullins, Jonathan Villar, Chris Davis, Dylan Bundy, Andrew Cashner, Alex Cobb and Mychal Givens are more or less the only locks for the roster (barring a surprise release of Davis or further trades from the team’s pitching staff). Whoever is brought in to lead the Orioles will have plenty of fringe pitching options on whom to make decisions and will need to add significant depth to a thin roster that is lacking in big league experience.
• Speaking of new Orioles decision-makers, Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that Baltimore “has sought to interview” MLB exec Kim Ng, while SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that Ben Cherington is also “in play” for the Orioles. It’s not clear if either is interested in the post, though Ng has drawn interest from the Giants and the Mets so far as well and was reportedly expected to interview with New York. Cherington withdrew his name from consideration for the Mets and Giants posts, though The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal previously reported that Cherington could be interested in a GM gig that would allow him to build an organization from the ground up. That’d certainly be the case in Baltimore, so perhaps the Orioles opportunity will hold greater appeal for him.
• Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith outlines an exhaustive offseason plan for Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins to follow, covering everything from option decisions to 40-man roster cuts, potential free-agent additions and some trade suggestions. Nicholson-Smith opines that Yangervis Solarte’s option should be declined, while Dalton Pompey is trimmed via a DFA. Veterans Kendrys Morales and Russell Martin should be considered largely sunk costs in the final seasons of their contracts, with the vast majority of their salaries being eaten in trades to save a few million dollars. While it’s all speculative in nature, it’s also an excellent look at the wide-ranging slate of decisions that Shapiro, Atkins and the rest of the front office will have to consider in what looks to be a busy offseason in Toronto.