BALTIMORE -- Sitting down in the visitors' dugout with rain pouring down just a few feet away, Dave Dombrowski had that "been there, done that" vibe about him. As of Tuesday, he would be a week out from another non-waiver trade deadline with a team that was 40 games over .500. Perhaps it was the Red Sox' record or maybe it was the fact that Dombrowski had been living through these such things for almost 30 years.
Every year is different. And then again, for Dombrowski, it really isn't.
He sees the reports of various Red Sox scouts at various ballparks, suggesting they are zeroing in on a specific target.
"Our guys are out there. It's always misleading because people think every time you have somebody at a ballpark they think you're looking specifically at somebody and that isn't necessarily the case. Sometimes you're just doing their normal coverage," he said. "But I understand how that goes."
The dots will be connected when Dombrowski is in the same town as a general manager (such as Baltimore's Dan Duquette) who might have a player of some interest to the Red Sox (such as Zach Britton), with the assumption the two decision-makers will meet up face-to-face.
"Not usually," he said when asked about executing such a get-together. "I talk to GMs when I see them, whether it's trading or non-trading deadline. Now it's like the Winter Meetings, you hardly meet anybody face-to-face. They call or text. I guess you can do anything but it's not common." (He went on to also note that in this day and age eyes and ears are everywhere, making such meetings especially precarious.)
And Dombrowski has certainly heard the critics who routinely suggest the Red Sox simply don't have enough in the minor leagues to get the necessary deals done.
"I think our system is probably a little better than people think it is," he said. "Unfortunately you have some guys who are hurt this year who are coming back. But I get asked about a lot of guys. Sometimes too, I've been in this spot before, where the general public recognizes more guys the closer they get to the big leagues. Other clubs are scouting guys who are in A ball and we actually have quite a few talented guys."
But throughout the conversation with WEEI.com prior to Monday night's game, Dombrowski did offer hints at how this deadline might be a bit different.
Why? Because this team is a bit different.
The first tell from Dombrowski is that he won't identify what he is pursuing heading into July 31. That is a change from prior years when the president of baseball operations would offer specific positions the Red Sox were targeting. So why the clandestine approach this time around? The guess is that because Dombrowski isn't convinced another change is absolutely needed.
For him, this is a situation that reeks of his 1997 Marlins team (26 games over .500 at the end of July) and the 2006 Tigers club (35 games above .500 heading into the deadline). Those teams claimed utilityman Craig Counsell, an older Darren Daulton and good guy Sean Casey as their difference-making trade targets. They were Steve Pearce before Steve Pearce became Steve Pearce.
For this Red Sox team, Dombrowski seems to be prioritizing not upsetting the apple cart.
"We have a good club. And we also have some guys on the disabled list who we are still planning on getting back, so you're trying to mesh all of that together. We got Steve Pearce too," he said. "People forget when already do something that's not at the deadline. I understand how that goes. It's a situation where you have a good club and what you do is stay abreast of all that's going on and analyze each situation.
"There is something to be said for chemistry on clubs, too. People don't talk about that on the outside but sometimes the reason you win is not only the players you have but how they all fit together as a team. Sometimes you have to be aware of that. Sometimes if you put nine All-Star positional players out there you may not always win. We won a world championship in Florida and we picked up a guy like Craig Counsell who wasn't an All-Star, but we had enough All-Stars. He was the right guy for that team. Darren Daulton, who was in the back end of his career, was the right guy for that team. Sometimes you have to be cognizant that you have the right guys who fit in."
Evidently, it has become a priority for Dombrowski to find the right personality when identifying some sort of helpful skill-set.
"It's very important," he definitively said. "Just like there are other guys right now that I've looked at and I'm not interested because of the things I know."
So, for now, Dombrowski will play this out. Upon the team's return to Boston, he will gather with some of his trusted group of evaluators (Allard Baird, Frank Wren, Eddie Bane Steve Peck), all of whom have been out and about around the leagues. They will see where their team is at, what is still available and act accordingly.
But as the Red Sox' boss sat at the end of his team's bench, it sure didn't feel like a wild week was in the works. Then again, as Dombrowski has learned, you never say never.
"This is something you have the pulse of for an extended period," he said. "So you have players that you identify, clubs you identify. You try and identify every club, where they are. Some clubs, you don't know what they're going to do at this point. So between myself and other people in the organization, you try and keep a pulse of who is available and who is not available. You talk to various clubs at various times. We talked to a lot of clubs today. You try and keep abreast of everything that is taking place so you don't get caught by surprise."
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