Dombrowski rejects notion that Red Sox 'window' will soon close

LAS VEGAS -- There's likely a reason that the Red Sox are both willing to spend big and bring back almost all of their 2018 championship team for the 2019 season: the sense that it may be the final opportunity to win another title with the current group.

After all, following next season, Chris Sale, Xander Bogaerts and Rick Porcello are eligible for free agency and J.D. Martinez can utilize an opt-out clause in his contract. The year after, Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. will qualify for free agency.

Throughout the industry, the phrase can be often heard: the Red Sox' "window'' to win may soon be closing.

But Dave Dombrowski disputes that notion.

"I've never bought that,'' said Dombrowski. "I've heard it before. When I was with Detroit, I heard it at the beginning (of his tenure) and we won a lot more years after that. And I think the reality is, when you have a foundation of good players, which we will have under any circumstances and you have revenues to spend and a good organization, that your window of opportunity to win with that group of players may be done. But it doesn't mean that your window to win is complete.

"Because the reality is that, when you look at our club, we still have a lot of young players who aren't close to free agency. A couple of key guys -- (Andrew) Benintendi and (Rafael) Devers -- aren't free agents for quite a while. We have some starting pitching that we've signed for the long term and if we do lose 'X,' we can try to get 'Y.' And a lot of times, you want to retain your own players but if that doesn't work, you try to go out and get somebody else. Ownership has been very supportive of us having a good club. So, I've never bought that and I've heard it before.''

Eventually, however, the Sox will have to learn how to rebuild on the fly.

That can be a tricky proposition in a market like Boston, where the notion of a complete rebuild -- or ''tanking,'' as it's become known in industry -- is a complete anathema to ownership.

The Sox faced this problem before, in the aftermath of their 2013 title. When the Red Sox struggled in 2014, the team dealt off established stars (Jon Lester, John Lackey, Andrew Miller) who were nearing free agency. The returns that time mostly failed to pan out, though Eduardo Rodriguez at least provided some value in return for Miller.

The larger point, however, was that the Sox weren't able to sustain a winning team. They finished last in both 2014 and 2015 before beginning a run of three consecutive first-place finishes and trips to the postseason. Surely, the organization will want to avoid such pitfalls again when the current collection of players ages out of team control and heads to free agency.

The best method for maintaining a competitive team is to create a productive minor league system which can supply younger -- and by extension, less expensive -- players to replace the veterans who leave. Thanks to a handful of deals made by Dombrowski which landed established stars such as Sale and Craig Kimbrel, the organization's minor league ranks have been thinned out, particularly at the upper levels.

More recently, however, it's begun to rebound, and by the time the Sox need to turn to some internal options after 2020, may be in a position to supply reinforcements.

Until then, the Sox must manage their payroll, pick and choose which of its current free agents-to-be it will prioritize re-signing and make smart acquisitions through trades and free agency.

Bringing back Nathan Eovaldi last week is a step in that direction, since he could be viewed as a replacement should Porcello leave after the upcoming season.

More such creativity will be needed going forward, but it's not an easy task.

Dombrowski referenced his tenure in Detroit, and indeed, the Tigers won the pennant in 2012, reached the ALCS in 2013 and won the division in 2014, some 13 years after his arrival. But it's also worth noting that since then, the Tigers have had just one winning season (in 2016) and in the last two years, have finished a combined 68 games under .500, narrowing missing 100-loss seasons both times.

That's a reminder -- as if Dombrowski needs one -- of how difficult it can be to be competitive season after season without dropping back to retool.