The Red Sox aren’t “actively looking” for pitching help, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
“Can you always be better? Sure. Will we always be open-minded? Sure. But we’re not actively looking for pitching,” said Dombrowski, who added that he doesn’t “even know where” he would slot a No. 2 starter type.
Here’s more out of the AL East:
- The fact that there is a real competition between Travis Shaw and Pablo Sandoval at third base is a reminder of exactly how Dombrowski runs the Red Sox and how much control he exerts over the team, Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald writes. For his part, Sandoval is trying to play down the attention that the brewing competition is getting. “Every day is a competition — every single day, every moment. Every guy competes to be better and better,” Sandoval said. “I don’t know why you guys make a big deal. Every guy is here working hard to make the team look better, win games. Every guy here is working together to be better and better, so that’s good.”
- Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe laid out the pros and cons of benching Sandoval in favor of Shaw. On one hand, putting Sandoval on the bench would send a clear message to players like Rick Porcello, Hanley Ramirez, and Rusney Castillo that a high-priced contract does not guarantee your place as a starter. On the other hand, Sandoval is the type of player that needs support to succeed rather than negativity. Also, Sandoval probably wouldn’t be much of a contributor off the bench and would likely be relegated to pinch-hitting against righties, Abraham writes.
- Indeed, Dombrowski says that he does not believe that contracts should dictate spots in the lineup, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes. “I thought it was important, because I’m new here, that that was my philosophy, and our philosophy as an organization, that I had a chance to visit with [principal owner] John Henry and [chairman] Tom Werner and know they supported that. I thought it was important to do that. I think for good organizations, and clubs that are trying to win, you need to play the best guys to win,” Dombrowski said.
- Earlier today, the Red Sox announced that reliever Carson Smith will be placed on the disabled list due to a strain of his flexor mass muscle.