Kennedy (r) said ownership wanted to be honest with Dombrowski once it had made a final decisionGETTY IMAGES
The Red Sox front office has "broken its silence" on the recent firing of President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski, as President & CEO Sam Kennedy appeared on WEEI-FM to discuss the move, according to Steve Hewitt of the BOSTON HERALD. Kennedy, appearing on "Ordway, Merloni & Fauria" yesterday, said, "There is never a good time to do these things but in the interest of transparency and being direct we wanted to relay that news to him. The plan [was] to announce it on Monday and it obviously broke Sunday night, and we regret Alex Cora was put in a very difficult position as he has to do his pregame and postgame press conferences every game -- so that was unfortunate. What really was important to us was to make sure we were direct and honest with Dave once we had come to a final decision which had occurred over the weekend." Kennedy added that Owner John Henry and Chair Tom Werner would "address the decision 'in their own way and time.'" Kennedy said, "We spent the day yesterday focusing entirely on internal communication. John Henry, Tom Werner, myself, spent the day meeting with the players, everybody in the clubhouse, staff, the baseball operations department and our larger front office. ... It was a difficult 48 hours but we're moving forward." Kennedy added he would not "engage in specifics related to Dave other than to say the guy has done an incredible job here" (BOSTON HERALD, 9/11).
THE MORE YOU KNOW: USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale asks if the Red Sox told "Dombrowski himself why he was fired?" Dombrowski yesterday said the team told him "since there had been so many rumors, that it was better to stop the speculation." He said, "The speculation created internal anxiety for some people internally. The reason was that they were going in a different direction. Not much more than that." Nightengale writes the Red Sox now "look to have all of the stability of an out-of-town newspaper stand." It could "all be cleared up, nice and tidy, if the Red Sox ownership would simply talk" (USA TODAY, 9/11). In Boston, Chad Finn writes he does not understand the "why now" aspect. Finn: "Why did they do it just past midnight Sunday, when no one was paying attention? ... Are there pieces missing in the story of why this had to happen now?" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/11).
