DETROIT — In Part 2 of his email interview with the Boston Herald, Red Sox principal owner John Henry addressed several ongoing controversies (an investigation into the Drew Pomeranz trade) and persistent problems (failure to develop prime big league pitching talent) the club is facing. He also expressed his overall contentment with how Dave Dombrowski has fit in with the ballclub.

READ THE Q&A: Part 2 of Herald's John Henry interview

Some highlights:

• Henry became the first to acknowledge publicly that Major League Baseball is looking into the July 14 trade the Red Sox made with the San Diego Padres for Pomeranz in exchange for top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza. An earlier ESPN report cited anonymous sources who said MLB was investigating that trade and another the Padres made with the Marlins because of concerns from both teams that San Diego had not passed along all relevant medical information.

Henry confirmed there is an ongoing inquiry.

“This is being investigated by MLB, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment,” Henry said.

• Henry said it appears to him the Red Sox “were singled out” for violating international signing rules last year, but he also admitted the team was “guilty of a practice that is against the rules. Therefore, you have to take responsibility and cooperate as much as possible. And we did. The result was a very severe penalty despite our cooperation.” As a penalty, the Red Sox cannot sign any international amateurs in 2016-17 and could not retain 2015 signees.

• Henry said he is “very concerned” with the club’s failure to groom a single front-line starter since Jon Lester.

“It’s been a problem,” Henry said. “But some of the result of this has been acquiring so much young hitting talent. Nevertheless, we have had a string of failures among starting pitchers, and we are working hard to remedy this.”

• Henry mused that “one could say we have won our share” of championships since 2004 as he addressed what the club’s back-up goal is in case another championship is not in the cards. It used to be the wild card, but the new playoff format has shifted the goal so that “these days the goal every year is to win the division.

“It’s hard to control a short series in baseball — harder than any other series in sports. Being the best team in your division — a tough division over 162 games — is quite an accomplishment these days. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

• Henry expressed pleasure in how seamlessly Dombrowski has inserted himself into a baseball operations crew that has remained largely intact since he took the reins from Ben Cherington a year ago.

“He had some of the best mentors in the game of baseball,” Henry said of Dombrowski. “And now he has to be one of the best mentors today.”

Henry heaped praise on general manager Mike Hazen as well.

“Mike Hazen has really stepped up and we’ve all been impressed with him in the role as general manager,” Henry said. “I think most big clubs now realize that the traditional GM role was just too large and demanding. I’ve noticed neither Dave nor Mike have a lot of free time.”

• And in answering a question about what former president Larry Lucchino has been up to these days, Henry made a revelation about Fenway Park.

“(Lucchino’s) contributions over the past 14 years are seen every day by fans in the ballpark as well as in our trophy room. (Well, we don’t have a trophy room, but you know what I mean.)”