McAdam: Tight division race with Yankees won't change Dave Dombrowski's approach

BALTIMORE — The Red Sox and New York Yankees are locked in a race for supremacy in the American League East, with both teams on pace to win well over 100 games, and no more than two games separating the teams in the standings since the beginning of May.

Problem is, one of those teams will finish second in the A.L. East and likely be relegated to a one-game, win-or-go-home wild-card game. That would be a poor consolation prize after such a great regular season.

But despite the unappetizing prospect of such a magical regular season being quickly wiped out with one post-season loss, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that scenario doesn't impact how he goes about his job.

Back in 2004, at the height of the rivalry between the teams, finishing first in the division barely mattered. All that was lost to the wild-card team was home field advantage. Now, the stakes are far greater.

But regardless of the threat posed by the Yankees or the potential for the division championship to be unresolved until the final weekend of the season — a head-to-head Red Sox-Yankees matchup at Fenway — it's business as usual for Dombrowski.

"It doesn't change it at all,'' said Dombrowski, "because, really, your goal is always to win (your division). That's what your goal is and if you don't win your division, then hopefully you're good enough to qualify for a wild card at that point. You never take anything for granted. But it doesn't change (my job) at all because this is the same thing you've been trying to do for the last number of years.''

Nor, Dombrowski added, does it lend any more urgency to in-season roster decisions or how he approaches the relative significance of every game.

"It's really been the same thing for a number of years,'' said Dombrowski of the current playoff format, which was implemented with the 2012 season. "This is not new. You're always trying to win every game you possibly can, but you also have to be careful, under any circumstances, that you're not doing anything foolish with your club, or push people beyond the brink.

"When you get down the stretch, maybe you're doing things a little differently then. But we have a hundred games to play at this point. I mean, we're trying to win our division. We set our goal at the beginning of the year. That's our goal every single day. But yet, you can't do things that are short-sighted. You still have to give guys rest. You don't want them throwing too many pitches. We'll try to do everything we can to win, within reason. But you don't do anything different, because the goal was always to win the division.''

Now that the first-year player draft is complete, teams will now turn many of their scouting resources to the non-waiver trade deadline at the end of July.

This year, thanks to a seemingly record number of teams focused on the future rather winning in the present -- or, "tanking'' in the vernacular of the day --  there should be no shortage of sellers. But even though those teams are easily identified, it doesn't guarantee that trades will take place earlier than usual, according to Dombrowski.

"I don't know how that's going to play out,'' Dombrowski said. "Usually, clubs are willing to make deals at any point if they get what they want. So that's the key -- if they get what they want, then they'll pull the trigger. Usually, (this early), the asking price is quite high. That's something you deal with every year. There might be more clubs than normal willing to pull the trigger quickly because they're more defined, but it doesn't mean they will because usually, the only way they do that is if they get what they want.''

And, it should go without saying, it takes two to deal.

Last summer, the Arizona Diamondbacks jumped the line when they acquired J.D. Martinez from the Detroit Tigers on July 18, almost two full weeks ahead of the deadline and rode Martinez's offensive contributions to a wild-card spot in the N.L. West.

With a number of potential game changers available on the trade market this summer -- including Baltimore's Manny Machado -- it's possible that one big deal in late June or early July could set off a chain-reaction, with teams swinging into action earlier than usual and reaping the benefits of an extra few weeks from their summer rental.

Maybe the Sox will swing a deal well in advance of July 31, or maybe they'll wait. Then again, they may make no move at all, deeming the asking price too high or the return insufficient.

No matter what they do or don't do, however, it won't be dictated by the looming presence of the Yankees, or the promise of a thrilling finish to an already fascinating division race.