FORT MYERS, Fla. — Only two teams in baseball history have followed a World Series championship by finishing in last place in each of the next two seasons.
The Florida Marlins, winners in 1997, were quickly dismantled by owner Wayne Huizenga and plummeted through the standings. The same fate befell the Red Sox, who followed up their unexpected championship in 2013 by settling into last place in the American League East.
Unlike the willfully rebuilding Marlins, the Red Sox were trying to win but mismanaged their success with a series of personnel mistakes. Not since 1925-30, when the Sox finished in last place six years in a row, has the organization been at the bottom of its division or league in consecutive years.
What happens next will further entwine the Red Sox and Marlins. In 1997, the general manager charged with tearing down the Marlins was Dave Dombrowski. Huizenga then sold the team to a commodities adviser from nearby Boca Raton named John Henry.
Henry went on to purchase the Red Sox in 2002, and last summer he hired Dombrowski to run his team. This time, Dombrowski was a buyer, signing prized lefthander David Price for seven years and $217 million and trading four prospects for All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel. He also signed valuable reserve outfielder Chris Young and traded for impressive young relief pitcher Carson Smith.
As spring training opens this week, the Red Sox almost certainly won’t be the first team to finish in last three years in a row after winning the World Series.
Price and Kimbrel anchor a pitching staff that should be significantly improved after two terrible seasons. Young stars Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts lead an offense capable of scoring 800 or more runs.
Eduardo Rodriguez, Blake Swihart, Christian Vazquez, and Jackie Bradley Jr. are other young players who could become cornerstones.
“They’ve already started to establish themselves at the big league level, and in some cases established themselves,’’ Dombrowski said. “They don’t have a long history that some guys will have. But I think if you can have those players grow up together, and be together as your core for a long time, I think it’s very unusual and it’s a positive.’’
Dustin Pedroia, who is signed for six more years, has vowed to prove he remains one of the better second basemen in the game. There’s also the incentive of knowing team legend David Ortiz will retire come the end of the season.
Henry, who also owns the Globe, said last month it would be a “big disaster’’ if the Red Sox did not qualify for the postseason in Ortiz’s final season.
The oddsmakers and those who traffic in statistical projections agree. The Red Sox are picked to be one of the top teams in the American League, if not the pennant winners.
“I’m excited about this season and really looking forward to the start of spring training,’’ manager John Farrell said. “In the four years that I’ve been here, I would think this team is the most balanced.
“When you look at it on paper and consider the strength of this pitching staff, you look at the potential this offense has — and that’s not based on projection, this is a team that finished in the top five in runs scored in all the major leagues last season — when someone asks about this team, I think it’s a talented one, very balanced and eager to make up for the last two years.’’
For Farrell, such success is crucial.
The Sox were stumbling along at 50-64 last season when it was revealed the manager had non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt lymphoma. Farrell was given medical leave for the remainder of the season and a difficult course of chemotherapy put the disease in remission.
The Red Sox finished 28-20 under bench coach Torey Lovullo, playing with a sense of purpose missing previously. Part of that was due to changes in personnel and the added impact of young players.
The Sox also benefited greatly by righthanders Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly pitching well in the final weeks after what had been disappointing seasons.
Lovullo would have been an attractive candidate for teams seeking a manager. But on the final day of the season he accepted Dombrowski’s offer to remain as bench coach and forgo other opportunities for a year.
Farrell is signed through 2017. But Lovullo gives ownership a tested and already respected replacement should the team underperform in the first half of the season.
The Red Sox also have expensive concerns at first and third base. Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval were free agent busts in 2015, both having what were arguably the worst seasons of their careers.
Ramirez missed 57 games and had a .717 OPS. The Red Sox tried him in left field and Ramirez was athletically unable to play the position. Ramirez will shift to first base this season, another position he has never played.
Sandoval missed 36 games and continued a steady career decline by hitting .245 with a .658 OPS. Sandoval’s on-base and slugging percentages have dropped in each of the last four years. He also played poorly at third base, showing little range.
Ramirez will be paid $22 million this season and is under contract through at least 2018. Sandoval receives $17 million this season and is signed until 2019.
Dombrowski ordered both players to return in better condition and dispatched staff members to monitor their progress throughout the winter.
“We’re all confident that both guys can return to the levels they performed at before,’’ Farrell said. “They’re key to us. They anchor the corner spots in the infield and they’re middle-of-the-order bats.’’
But Farrell also realizes the Red Sox aren’t in a position to wait.
“If they falter we feel we have guys who can step in,’’ he said. “The driving force is to win the division.’’
Will the same be true of Ortiz? Now 40, Ortiz is coming off another strong season and will report to camp in outstanding condition, according to those who have seen him in recent days. But a prolonged slump will be difficult to handle for all concerned, particularly Farrell.
Price should solve the team’s biggest issue going back to the ill-conceived trade of Jon Lester in 2015 — the lack of a No. 1 starter.
He was 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA for the Tigers and Blue Jays last season. The Sox are 14 games under .500 since trading Lester and Price is charged with reversing that.
“I’m comfortable with being here and the expectations,’’ said Price, who reported to spring training last week to get a head start. “We have a lot we want to accomplish.’’
Said Farrell: “The attention he draws takes away some focus from the other [starters] and maybe allows them to go out and perform to their capabilities.’’
Farrell was an early arrival at spring training, standing off to the side as players threw in the bullpen or took batting practice. More than anyone, he understands the need for the team to get off to a good start.
Spring training is not necessarily revelatory of a team’s success come the start of the season. But for the Red Sox, a contending team with many questions, it certainly will be intriguing.
Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.
