BOSTON -- By now, this all must be starting to look ominously familiar to Dave Dombrowski.
For years, he built competitive teams in Detroit, with potent offenses and ace-filled starting rotations. Each season, though, the Tigers' World Series aspirations fizzled in large part because of bullpens that through rotten luck or poor planning were inadequate. From 2011 to 2014, when Dombrowski's clubs won four division titles, his relievers ranked 26th in the majors in ERA (4.00), 25th in walks per nine innings (3.83), 24th in left-on-base percentage (72.9) and 24th in wins above replacement (9.0).
All of which brings us to this season, Dombrowski's first full year in charge of the Boston Red Sox's baseball operations.