Boston Red Sox play by play man Don Orsillo just announced that the team has hired Dave Dombrowski as its new President of Baseball Operations effective immediately. Orsillo also announced that GM Ben Cherington had declined to stay on board and will leave the team at season’s end.

It was only two weeks ago that Dombrowski abruptly left the Detroit Tigers where he had served as President & GM since 2002 only days following Lucchino’s announced departure (as it turns out Sam Kennedy has been named the new President of Red Sox, but is not directly involved in on-field decisions). It was immediately speculated that he could join the Red Sox as he had previously worked for principal owner John Henry when he owned the Florida (now Miami) Marlins. So I’m not surprised Dombrowski got the job, but I am surprised it is happening now.

The way it’s being made to sound is that Cherington was invited to remain as GM, but this might be spin. I’m sure Dombrowski would rather have one of his guys as GM. Cherington did preside over the team when they won the World Series in 2013, but there were three last place finishes in four years. Even if the offer was on the up and up I suspect Cherington would have been on a short lease and could have had his authority considerably diminished. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cherington is sprung up by his old boss Theo Epstein with the Chicago Cubs. 

So where does Red Sox manager John Farrell go from here? Of course, Farrell just announced he had lymphoma and would miss the rest of the season. Bench coach Torey Lovullo was named interim manager. Assuming Farrell responds well to treatment will Dombrowski bring him back? Under the circumstances, it would cruel if Farrell wasn’t brought back. But then again baseball can be a cruel business. 

If Dombrowski opts not to bring back Farrell I wonder if he make a phone call to Jim Leyland and convince him to come out of retirement.

Even if Farrell is still managing the Red Sox in 2016 the team will sure look a lot different come spring training.