McAdam: Red Sox' search for new top baseball executive continues to hit roadblocks

The pattern has been established: as soon as one door opens to a potential solution to the Red Sox' president of baseball operations vacancy, it soon closes.

The collapse of the Chicago Cubs in the final weeks of the season led to rampant speculation that perhaps Theo Epstein would return to Boston, eight years after he left, to restore the franchise to glory. That lasted only a day or so before Epstein publicly announced that he had work still to do in Chicago and would not be going anywhere.

Then, the sudden and shocking elimination of the Los Angeles Dodgers from the playoffs created a groundswell for Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman as the perfect hire for the Red Sox. Friedman had won with a small budget in Tampa Bay, with a big budget in Los Angeles, and more to the point, had overseen a Dodgers organization that has enjoyed sustained success at the major league level (five straight division titles under Friedman) and a Top Five minor league system.

The fact that Friedman was also nearing the end of his contract and untethered to the Dodgers past this month served to only heighten the interest. Here was a proven executive, seemingly with all the necessary skills, soon to be a free agent.

It made perfect sense.

Until Monday, when it didn't.

Friedman told reporters in Los Angeles that a contract extension with the Dodgers would be finalized in a matter of days, effectively taking him off the market and closing one more door for the Red Sox.

"At this point,'' said one baseball source, "it wouldn't surprise me if they went 'status quo'.''

By that, the source meant that the Sox could continue to be run indefinitely by the Gang of Four -- Eddie Romero, Brian O'Halloran, Zack Scott and Raquel Ferreira -- that has been put in charge by ownership in the immediate September firing of Dave Dombrowski.

One of the benefits of moving on from Dombrowski when they did was to signal to the rest of the industry that the Sox would have an opening. Doing so with three weeks remaining in the season would presumably give time to interested executives working elsewhere to arrange for permission to speak to the Red Sox about their opening.

Instead, the response throughout the industry has been decidedly underwhelming.

No one has been interviewed for the position and obtaining permission from other organizations to interview executives currently under contract has proven to be a daunting task. It's believed that, through back channels, the Sox have sought to sound out prospective candidates.

"I think,'' said the source, "(the Red Sox) are finding that maybe this (job) doesn't have the allure they thought it did.''

A number of factors are likely contributing to that perception.

The last two top baseball executives -- former GM Ben Cherington and Dombrowski -- were each effectively pushed out of their roles less than two years after winning a title. Cherington, who won a World Series in October 2013, was nudged aside by the hiring of Dombrowski in August of 2015, some 22 months later.

And Dombrowski's reign as president of baseball operations lasted all of 11 months after the Red Sox won 108 regular season games and captured the World Series last October.

That sense of instability could scare off some otherwise interested candidates, who might reasonably ask of themselves: "Why I try to get out my job as a No. 1 here and go somewhere where I might only last a few seasons?''

Also, any new executive jumping to the Red Sox would be joining the organization at a time when there's the expectation that payroll will be cut by more than $30 million for 2020.

Within weeks of accepting the job, the new executive might be tasked with trading off the popular Mookie Betts, a year away from free agency, while seeking a replacement for J.D. Martinez, who has the option of opting out of his contract early next month.

In the meantime, a new executive would be inheriting a team saddled with long-term contractual obligations to an aging starting rotation.

Chris Sale has not yet begun the five-year, $145-million extension he agreed to last March and Nathan Eovlaldi, who missed half of last season with injuries and was mostly ineffective the rest of the year, still has three years and $57 million remaining. David Price, who had a 7.88 ERA in the second half and underwent a surgical procedure on his left wrist in the final week of the regular season, still has three years and $96 million remaining.