It’s been a week since the 2016 Red Sox season came to an abrupt end. It didn’t take long for them to shift into offseason mode with the announcement over the weekend that General Manager Mike Hazen is heading to the desert to run baseball operations for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hazen’s departure isn’t shocking. While he held the general manager title in Boston, it was President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski who had final say on how the team built its roster. Now, Hazen will get to make those calls for the Diamondbacks while Dombrowski searches for a replacement in Boston.

“I’ll start talking to people internally first about replacing Mike and replacing his responsibilities,” Dombrowski said Monday. “We’ll see if we have to go outside the organization or not.”

There is an outside belief that Dombrowski is somewhat old school in his approach to scouting and development, and that Hazen had a strong background in the game’s new-age analytics. The thought was that the two brought different approaches to running a baseball front office, giving the Red Sox the best of both worlds.

Of course, nothing is ever that cut and dried. It would be wrong to suggest that Dombrowski pays no attention to analytics, and equally mistaken to say Hazen doesn’t pay attention to traditional scouting.

Dombrowski is in a very different place than a year ago. Last fall he went into the offseason looking to add a top of the line starting pitcher, a back of the bullpen reliever and outfield depth. He quickly addressed those needs by acquiring David Price, Craig Kimbrel and Chris Young. In fact, he had made all of his big moves before the annual winter meetings began.

Now he has a team that won the American League East with 93 victories but stumbled in the postseason.

While the sting of being swept by the Indians still lingers, it is a fact the Sox will bring back the bulk of a roster that succeeded in bringing playoff baseball back to Fenway Park – if only for one game.

“Last year as a club we were trying to make strides to win a division and a world championship,” said Dombrowski.

“A lot of our young players have continued to grow. We’re in a different spot … coming off winning 93 games like we did. Now we work off that and try to get better. Hopefully we keep getting better and doing the things to get you better.”

Once a new GM is named, Dombrowski will have to decide if he will test the free-agent waters to try to replace retired designated hitter David Ortiz. Early indications are that Ortiz’s replacement may come from within the organization. Pablo Sandoval still has three years remaining on his contract, so it’s likely that some rotation of Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez and Travis Shaw will go through the DH and corner infield positions.

The Sox must also decide if they will pick up the option on Clay Buchholz’s contract. They can keep him for another season at $13.5 million. That’s a lot of money for a pitcher who had another inconsistent year, but there are very few pitching options on the market this winter. And if midseason acquisition Drew Pomeranz winds up better suited as a reliever – his role in the postseason – the Red Sox will need to add a starter.

Dombrowski made it clear Monday he will answer questions about the roster another day. For now, he will focus his energy on finding a GM to help him guide the team into the future.

Hazen helped the Red Sox return to the postseason. That was a good step forward.

It’s clear that simply making the playoffs isn’t enough. The 2017 Red Sox need to be built to win in October.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.