Dave Dombrowski has told the Boston Red Sox coaching staff that playing time and roster spots will not be determined by contracts.

That means that Pablo Sandoval won't be handed the starting third base job over Travis Shaw simply because he carries a $95 million contract and that Rusney Castillo isn't a lock to make the club just because he is locked up for the next five years at $56.5 million.

"I think I've traditionally taken that approach," Dombrowski told WEEI.com. "It's funny, Jim Leyland would always say, 'A player's big contract would guarantee them one thing, that they had a bigger check to bring home every two weeks. It doesn't guarantee them anything else other than that.' Normally, you hope there is a correlation between the two.

"I thought it was important, because I'm new here, that that was my philosophy, and our philosophy as an organization, that I had a chance to visit with [principal owner] John Henry and [chairman] Tom Werner and know they supported that. I thought it was important to do that. I think for good organizations, and clubs that are trying to win, you need to play the best guys to win."