Twelve months later, Dombrowski was out of Boston in a somewhat unceremonial fashion for a guy who has a deep baseball pedigree and a few rings on his fingers in favor of Chaim Bloom, the former Rays assistant GM who proceeded to tear things down – including trading perennial MVP candidate Mookie Betts — and now has Boston atop the AL East race with Memorial Day looming.
Meanwhile, Dombrowski’s Phillies team could be approaching a seasonal tipping point. They are near the top of the National League East despite the fact that almost every single indicator seems to be flashing warning signs as the season’s first major milestone holiday approaches.