RED SOX: Target always to battle for a championship

Principal owner John Henry and president Dave Dombrowski laid the groundwork.

NEW YORK -- The offseason message couldn’t have been clearer from Red Sox principal owner John Henry and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

Competing for American League East titles was only the baseline standard for the club and far below the expectation. Considering its payroll and handful of high profile player moves over the previous two seasons, the mandate from the front office was for Boston to annually battle for playoff progress and World Series championships.

Failure to do so cost manager John Farrell his job, and the clock started on Dombrowski’s tenure as he looked to make his first hire to the corner office in the Fenway Park home clubhouse. The Red Sox raided the staff of the 2017 champions by bringing back Alex Cora, plucking the former Boston utility man from his role as bench coach under Houston manager A.J. Hinch.

Farrell was fired despite his 2013 World Series ring and the first back-to-back division crowns in franchise history. A combined 1-6 record in AL Division Series play against Cleveland and Houston over the last two years was deemed unacceptable, and the Red Sox bowed out of the postseason with a whimper each time. Boston had spent just shy of $395 million combined on two Opening Day rosters that won a single postseason game.

“I thought our approach last year in the playoffs was lacking a little bit,” Henry said. “This year you could see our approach was much more aggressive. The staff on throughout baseball operations, the coaching staff – they did a terrific job all year long.”

Fast-forward to Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, and a champagne-drenched Henry was speaking in the visiting clubhouse. Cora and the Red Sox were more than just three-time AL East winners and franchise record setters for victories in a regular season. Boston was back on the sport’s version of Broadway, reaching its ninth AL Championship series in 32 years and fifth in its last 15 by vanquishing rival New York in four ALDS games.

“These are the type of teams that players want to be on – that I want to be on,” said second baseman Ian Kinsler, a midseason acquisition via trade from the Angels. “It’s a lot of fun to play with these guys.”

Chris Sale, brought in from the White Sox in exchange for a host of prospects ahead of last season, atoned for his previous playoff struggles by winning Game 1 as a starting pitcher and working a 1-2-3 eighth inning out of the bullpen in Game 4. J.D. Martinez, the top free agent hitter signed during this offseason, cracked a three-run homer that put the Red Sox on track to winning Game 1. Nathan Eovaldi, a trade deadline pickup from Tampa Bay in July, had swung the series back in Boston’s favor thanks to a masterful performance on the mound in Game 3.

“They’re never easy,” said Dombrowski, who won a ring as the general manager of the Marlins in 1997 and reached two more World Series with the Tigers in 2006 and 2012. “It’s a lot of people in the organization who have contributed in the places I’ve been.”

It was a measure of validation for both Henry and Dombrowski, and in Cora they’ve found a presence in the dugout who can match their boldness. Sale would have been the likely Game 5 starter on Thursday if necessary, but the Red Sox ultimately decided to go for broke with a three-run lead and six outs remaining. Not even a shaky ninth from Craig Kimbrel – another key piece brought in via trade by Dombrowski – could stop Boston from silencing the Yankees and the nearly 50,000 fans on hand.

“We knew this year would be a good year to shoot for – next year as well,” Henry said. “It’s tough to manage your payroll these days, and (Dombrowski) did a tremendous job. When you look at the late-season acquisitions he made without spending much money at all, he just did a terrific job.”

The Red Sox are over the final luxury tax threshold of $237 million this season, costing the club 10 spots in the upcoming 2019 entry draft. That would be a small price to pay if the likes of Kinsler, Eovaldi and Steve Pearce make the difference against the Astros and either the Brewers or Dodgers out of the National League. Game 1 of the ALCS against Houston is set for Saturday night at Fenway Park.

“When you sign up for this gig and you become a baseball player and you go to spring training, this is what we play for,” Sale said. “We want to play until the very end, we want to hold that trophy and get a really cool ring sometime next year. That’s what we all work for. Everything we work for is for these moments right here.”