Red Sox fire Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations

Minutes after the Red Sox lost their second straight game to the New York Yankees, the team announced that it had fired Dave Dombrowski as its president of baseball operations.

The team's three assistant general managers -- Eddie Romero, Brian O'Halloran and Zack Scott -- will be in charge of Baseball Operations for the remainder of the season, at which point the team will undertake a search for Dombrowski's replacement.

Dombrowski's dismissal comes just 11 months after the Red Sox won the 2018 World Series in a season in which the team established a franchise record for most wins in a season. In Dombrowski's first three full seasons, the Sox won the American League East three times and one World Series title.

Questions about Dombrowski's job security first surfaced last month when Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy speculated that Dombrowski would not return for the 2020 season. Dombrowski, hired to replace Ben Cherington in August of 2015, was given a five-year deal which began with the 2016 season and had one year remaining on his contract.

As recently as last fall, on the morning of the team's World Series celebratory parade, principal owner John Henry said the team needed to get to work on a contract extension for Dombrowski and intimated that it would get done before the end of the 2019 calendar year.

But the team's deeply disappointing play on the field -- to say nothing of having the game's biggest payroll for the second year running -- apparently changed all of that.

"I just found out,'' said Alex Cora, who shared the news with players immediately after their 10-5 loss to the New York Yankees. "Surprised and shocked, obviously. Right now, I don't have too much to say. We'll talk a little bit more tomorrow. But he's a guy who gave me the chance to come here and be a big-league manager.''

Asked how surprised he was at the shakeup after the team won the World Series, Mookie Betts said: "It's a new year. You've got to turn the page on that. A lot of different things happened. A lot of things can change with the new year and this is one.''

Betts, who is eligible for free agency after the 2020 season, said the change at the top wouldn't impact his decision-making.

"It doesn't really matter who's there,'' said Betts. "It's going to be the same answer. Nothing's gonna change. This is proof that this is a business. Like I said, I love it here but it's still a business.''

J.D. Martinez, who was signed twice by Dombrowski -- once in Detroit and again here -- said he was shocked by the announcement.

"It is what it is,'' said Martinez. "We're trying to think about the game and stuff and then we get his with that -- wow.''

This is the second time Martinez has been on a team that has fired Dombrowski in mid-season. He was with the Tigers in early August when they fired Dombrowski and replaced him with Al Avila.

Martinez admitted that, last October, he couldn't have imagined Dombrowski would be fired 11 months later.

"Nope, absolutely not,'' said Martinez. "I guess ownership has their reasons. It's a business. That's their call. We have a job to do. We have to just keep chugging away. ... Dave gave me an opportunity in Detroit and he gave me an opportunity here, so he's always been a friend to me and we've always gotten along great, so obviously, I'm sad to see him go.

"But like I said, it's just wild.''

"It's tough to process, just coming out of the game,'' said Rick Porcello, the losing pitcher in the loss to the Yankees. "There's a lot of things to think about right now. But anything in this sport, there's a business aspect to it. It's just unfortunate. Obviously, I've played for Dave for a long time. I think the world of him. It's just sad to see something like that happen.

"At the end of the day, we're the players that are on the field and we're the ones that can make or break a lot of things. Ultimately, the onus comes on us and it's unfortunate to have to see him have to take some of it, but that's the decision ownership made and it is what it is.

"It's really hard to reflect on it right now. I'll have potentially a better answer for you in a couple of days. But you never like to see anyone lose their job over what we're doing on the field. Unfortunately, that's the case right here.''