Dombrowski addresses Ramirez, Buchholz, GM search and more

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NEW YORK -- After spending most of the last week at Fenway Park getting to know staffers, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski joined the Red Sox on the second half of their two-city road trip and met with the media and addressed a number of topics.

Among the topics:

The move of Hanley Ramirez to first base

"We're going to play it by ear,'' he said, "because I think it's more important that he feels comfortable playing first base. We've seen some guys who are good athletes, good players, have a hard time with the transition. We've seen other guys do it fluidly. I'm not worried about catching ground balls, because he'll be able to catch ground balls over there eventually. He's been an infielder and his arm strength is good enough to play over there. It's more a matter of the foot work aspect. That takes time.

"We're really looking forward to 2016. So to me, it seems logical - there's three good young outfielders. You'd like them all to play; they're all outstanding defensive outfielders. Well, of course, the only way you can do it if you take Hanley out of left. Where does he play? Well, really, the logical thing is, there's one spot next year that's not spoken for -- and that's first base.

"It just seemed to make sense. Nobody disagreed with it, that I talked to. Hanley was fine with it. Not that you have to rush it, but it gives us some time to get him out there because I wouldn't want to say, 'Let's wait to spring training and see if he can do it.' Well, what happens if you can't do it? You really need to know that now.''

The outfield alignment with Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Rusney Castillo

"They're all good outfielders, '' he said. "Mookie's played center field very well. Jackie Bradley Jr's an outstanding center fielder. But I told (the staff) that they know Fenway Park better than I know Fenway Park. What's the best alignment to play 82 games? You've got the Green Monster. Some people tell me that right field is the toughest right field in baseball. There are difficulties playing center field.

"They have good arms. They're all athletic. It's more of a thought process right now, but I don't have the answers right now. I think what we would ideally like to do is, if we could come out of 2015 saying, 'This is the ideal setup, how we would go,' that would be great.''

The future of manager John Farrell.

"I'm impressed with John,'' Dombrowski said. "I like John. But I think, for now, he needs to take care of his health.''

The future of Clay Buchholz and the chances of the team picking up his $13 million option

"There's just not enough time to build him up to get ready in a game,'' he said of the pitcher's return for 2015. ''You don't want to rush him and hurt him. But I think it's a simple equation - if you think he's healthy -and I'm not the one capable of making that decision; it's the doctors' decision - picking up his option is a simple thing because he's a good big league pitcher. The option's a good option. But it's more a matter of health perspectives; to me, that's one of those easy decisions because he's a quality big league pitcher when he's out on the mound.''

The scope of the rebuilding task he faces

"It's always hard to win, so you don't want to be cocky,'' he said. "But I also do think that there's a lot of good things here. There's a lot of good players. We're in last place, but what are we, 12-13 games out of first place? That's not that many games and there's a lot of good young players, there's still some good veteran talent, a lot of good players in the minor league system. That leaves you open to trades. We have good wherewithal with owners who want to win.

"When I went to Detroit (in 2002), you knew that was a long-term proposition before you would win. I don't feel that way here. Now, I'm not putting any time frame on it, but...you have a chance to be good in a relatively short time frame.''

The likelihood of a waiver deal before Monday's deadline

"Anticipate? No. Could they happen? Yes,'' he said. "There's a couple of guys that have called me. But I have to say 'not likely.' But you never can tell.''

The search for a new general manager to assist Dombrowski

"I"m not anywhere right now,'' said Dombrowski, "because other than compile names of people I would know or somebody has recommended, I haven't done anything on it because I think it's more important to know everybody's responsibilities and get the proper group together.

"The end of the season would be a logical time frame. But I don't think it's imperative. But I would move towards that. But you also know that there other GM openings that are going to be available, who's interested in what jobs..if it came about by then, it would be great. But again, I don't want to rush it.''

Getting a look at the team's minor league affiliates

"I would love to, but I don't see how I'm going to be able to do it,'' he said. "I just don't think that the timing works very well. I've been reading reports on a daily basis and talking to people. But I have to get to know the individuals (in Boston), know the operations here, get to know the people, so I don't think I'm going to able to accomplish that at this point.''

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