McAdam: Dave Dombrowski already focused on building 2019 roster

The last time one of Dave Dombrowski's teams won a World Series, he was forced to immediately dismantle it.

Florida Marlins owner Wayne Huizinga ordered Dombrowski to sell off most of the veteran players in a cost-cutting measure designed to make the team more attracted to potential buyers. There was no chance for Dombrowski to build on his success; instead, he soon found himself in the salvage business.

Dombrowski will be under no directive this time. There are no guarantees that the 2019 Red Sox will be an exact replica of the team which won the franchise's ninth title -- and fourth in 15 seasons -- Sunday night in Los Angeles. Even for a big-market team like the Red Sox, that's almost impossible to achieve, and for that matter, that might not be the wisest course of action.

In 2018, some roster turnover is virtually assured.

But Dombrowski will be given the latitude to pick-and-choose as he sees fit - within reason -- when it comes to retaining the current roster.

"I think efforts will be made to keep as many players together as we can, ideally,'' said Dombrowski. "But I also know baseball rules, finances, make it difficult because sometimes when guys become free agents, they receive offers they can't refuse. But if you told me today we could bring the same club back together totally, we'd be thrilled with that. I don't think it's probably realistic because you see with free agency and what that brings.

"But I would think we'll have a real core of our group of players together and we'll find out and see how many of those guys stay. I don't have any idea at this time. All things being equal, I think they would like to stay here. But again, sometimes there are offers to you that you can't refuse.''

The Red Sox had their biggest payroll in franchise history and for 2018, the biggest in the game. The team exceeded every luxury tax threshold this past season, and doing so again in 2019 will result in a steeper task rate. But Dombrowski said he's received no signal from ownership that he needs a reset to get back under any threshold.

'There's been no mention of (being under the luxury tax threshold) for next season,'' said Dombrowski.

When asked about holes to fill, Dombrowski again noted that it would depend on how the Sox do in retaining their own free agents.

Roughly a half-dozen players -- many of them mid-season acquisitions -- are eligible for free agency, which is already underway. Closer Craig Kimbrel, reliever Joe Kelly, starter Nathan Eovaldi, second baseman Ian Kinsler and first baseman (and World Series MVP) Steve Pearce head the list of potential free agents.

"I don't think you can define (areas of need) until you know who you're keeping,'' Dombrowski said. "But if you took the opposite tact and you lost everybody -- which I don't anticipate -- I would think we would somehow need to address our bullpen because a couple of key guys (Kelly and Kimbrel) are free agents. Our starting pitching, we're pretty good there (with Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright under control). But you always have to be cognizant there.

"From a positional player standpoint, I think we're pretty set."

Dombrowski's first order of business will be in determining which free agents will be given qualifying offers. Dombrowski confirmed that the Sox are interested in doing so, but couldn't get more specific because of MLB regulations. Such offers -- valued at $17.9 million this year -- must be made by Friday midnight, with players having a week to accept or decline.

Since players traded in the final year of their existing deals -- a group that includes Kinsler, Pearce and Eovaldi -- are not eligible, that leaves Kimbrel as the most likely recipient of a qualifying offer. Though the Red Sox wish to retain Kelly, too, they would not want to risk that he would accept it, forcing them to pay almost $18 million for a set-up reliever.

Kimbrel will certainly reject the offer, a process which will allow the Red Sox to continue negotiating with him for a longer term deal while also serving to protect them in the event he signs elsewhere. Under such a scenario, the Red Sox would get a draft pick in compensation.

Once the offer is made Friday, Dombrowski will begin an accelerated offseason that already finds him -- if happily so -- weeks behind many of his colleagues whose teams either failed to qualify for the postseason or bowed out in earlier rounds.

Dombrowski identified two current members of the roster -- Matt Barnes or Ryan Brasier -- as potential closing candidates if the team is unable to retain Kimbrel.

"I don't think we could go into a closer-by-committee approach,'' Dombrowski said. "So if it wasn't Craig, it would be (either Barnes or Brasier) or we'd have to see what other alternatives existed outside the organization.''

Lastly, there's the matter of some of the organization's core players (Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr.) who are arbitration-eligible and inching closer toward free agency.

"We're always open-minded about having conversations with players we want to keep,'' Dombrowski said. "It's not something we'll start today. But I would think, over the wintertime, there are some guys we'd like to identify that we'd like to try to keep on a long-term basis.