Lothrop Sports

316 days after the Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series title this century, Fenway Sports Group fired Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski. To quote Douglas Adams, “This made many people very angry and was widely regarded as a bad move.” Dombrowski is a popular figure in today’s celebrity-executive culture, and he helmed one of America’s most popular franchises. But he had apparently worn out his welcome, and was asked to leave the club after completing his fourth year as President of Baseball Operations.     Dombrowski spent parts of 5 seasons running the Red Sox, and in that time took them from the bottom of the American League East to 3 straight division titles, culminating in a World Series victory against the LA Dodgers last year. Dombrowski acquired a trio of All-Star pitchers, starters Chris Sale and David Price (participants in perhaps the greatest MLB commercial of all time), and closer Craig Kimbrel. Dombrowski also grabbed All-Star J.D Martinez, and...

    In 2018, nobody was worse at scoring points and moving the ball than the Arizona Cardinals. They surpassed Brownsian levels of offensive incompetence, scoring 14.1 points per game, even worse than Cleveland’s 14.6 PPG in 2017, when they won *checks phone* 0 games. They were last in nearly every imaginable category, from traditional stats such as yards (3,865, nearly 800 worse than 31st-ranked Buffalo) and first downs (239), to advanced categories like Offensive Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (41% below average). Their highest scoring output of last year was 28 points against their divisional rival, San Francisco. However, QB Josh Rosen and co. were actually outgained 220 yards to 447, and won only because their defense created 5 turnovers. The team sent out the rookie Rosen as a sacrificial lamb behind a porous offensive line, and even if the pocket didn't immediately collapse on him, the only receiver he could count on to create separation and not drop the ball...