7:23pm: Avila received a five-year contract that runs through the end of the 2020 season, reports MLive.com’s Chris Iott.
3:10pm: The Tigers have announced significant changes to their front office structure, with Al Avila taking over for Dave Dombrowski as GM and executive VP of baseball operations. In a statement, announcing the move, owner Mike Ilitch issued the following statement: “I’ve decided to release Dave from his contract in order to afford him the time to pursue other career opportunities.”
The sudden and abrupt departure unexpectedly brings to close a historic and successful tenure for Dombrowski as the Tigers’ top baseball operations decision-maker. While there’s been some speculation that Dombrowski would depart after the season, the fact that he was allowed to oversee franchise-altering transactions such as the David Price and Yoenis Cespedes trades led many to believe that Dombrowski would remain with the Tigers.
The 59-year-old Dombrowski’s experience as a general manager dates back to 1988, when he became GM of the Expos at the age of 31. (Notably, he worked with Angels interim GM Bill Stoneman in Montreal.) He’s since served as general manager of the Marlins — including in 1997 when the team won the World Series — and the Tigers.
Dombrowski has served as the Tigers’ GM since 2002 and helped to revitalize an organization that finished no better than third place in the AL Central in each of the division’s first eight years of existence. (Three of those were under Dombrowski’s watch.) His 2006 blockbuster trade to acquire Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins in exchange for Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Burke Badenhop, Mike Rabelo, Frankie De La Cruz and Dallas Trahern looks, in hindsight, like one of the most lopsided swaps in recent history. Other notable transactions made under Dombrowski’s tenure include acquiring Max Scherzer and Austin Jackson in a three-team deal that sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees as well as acquiring Doug Fister from the Mariners in exchange for Francisco Martinez, Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush and Chance Ruffin.
Of course, Dombrowski isn’t without fault, either. His trade of Fister to the Nationals in exchange for Robbie Ray, Steve Lombardozzi and Ian Krol hasn’t panned out as hoped, and the Tigers have seen trade acquisitions Shane Greene and Alfredo Simon struggle quite a bit in the rotation this season.
Dombrowski is one of the game’s most well-respected executives and should have no difficulty finding a position elsewhere. The Angels are currently without a permanent general manager, for instance, following Jerry Dipoto’s resignation. The Blue Jays took a long look at Orioles GM Dan Duquette as a potential replacement for retiring president Paul Beeston this offseason, and one can envision Dombrowski sliding into that role as well. Brewers GM Doug Melvin is rumored to be rising to the role of president this offseason, which would create a GM opening. Other very preliminary speculation has connected Dombrowski to both Seattle and Boston.
As for Avila, his Detroit tenure also dates back to the 2002 season. The father of Tigers catcher Alex Avila, he’s also worked in the front office of the Pirates and the Marlins. With the Marlins, Avila was involved in the signing of Cabrera as well as several of the drafts that helped form the foundation of a 2003 World Series Championship (after Avila had departed). “I’m very excited for this opportunity, and honored and grateful to Mr. Ilitch for having the faith and trust in me to run the ballclub in our continuing pursuit of a World Series championship,” said Avila in the press release. “…We’re confident we can make a strong push to win this year, and that we have the foundation in place to win next year and for years to come.”
Avila’s emphasis on winning in 2015 — a sentiment he echoed at today’s press conference, via MLive.com’s James Schmehl (on Twitter) — is an interesting development and one that could at least indicate some of the reasoning behind the executive shakeup.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
WHAT!
He has to be taking a different job.
I think so too. Angels, Blue Jays, Red Sox come to mind. Maybe Phillies, too.
As GM or President?
Prez
GM for the Phils and Angels. The Jays and Sox can offer him a higher status, which might be a factor for him. Just speculating.
That would make him the first GM for two teams at the same time.
Didnt Red Sox president recently step down or get fired…?
Would make sense.
Cant see a lateral move in the middle of a season.
Come to the A’s.
Probably ownership was not happy with shipping out Price and giving up any hopes to compete this season.
I doubt ownership wasn’t fully aware of those trades beforehand.
Pretty sure those are ownership-involved moves, generally.
I’m freaking speechless. Holy crap.
Breaking news: Alex Avila signs 10 year / 180MM contract with Detroit. Doesn’t know where he is for 9 years of deal.
This should be the first test Mr.Avila Sr, does he resign his son?
Wow, really. Talk about akward… “Son, we’re gonna go a different direction…” He can always blame it on the job.
One site said he resigned and another site said they released him. Big difference.
Edit – According to Heyman, he resigned (now according to here, he was released)
Press release says he was released from his contract by ownership. Unclear as yet whether that means they did it at his request.
Press release made it sound like he was released to interview for a higher position
Craaaaaaazy. Here I thought it was going to be slow after the trade deadline. Really interesting to see which of the many jobs he goes to. He has a lot of options and will be in high demand.
Rumors R swirling saying he’s gonna go Toronto
I’ve heard that in Toronto too, how bad will this look if its true, mind you, Norris was a sweet prize
Unless Toronto makes the playoffs and/or wins the WS.
Moral of the story–if you’re ever in a lunch meeting, and you want to say “Jeez, this pizza is stinkin’ godawful”, make sure to take a minute and remember who you work for.
Yep…shouting, “Hot n Ready my a**!!”” Will get you canned in the Motor City in a heart beat
Time for John Henry to slide into the dms….
I bet we’re going to see Dombrowski end up overseeing baseball operations for either Toronto or Boston
Odd Timing
That is if he even wants to run another team. He may have aspirations of the league office or even retirement. Having said that if he does end up in Toronto it will open a whole can of worms about the Price trade. Many will speculate he knew of his new destination while making the trade.
Even if he did, he sure got a ton of talent for Price. No complaints on this end. Chances are some of the talent will not work out, and that Price will not re-sign.
Toronto or Philly?
My thought is Dave is leaving on his own terms, probably got offered a better job else where. Would not be surprised if that was the case, greener pastures somewhere else.
Rumor says disagreement about the Tigers getting rid of Ausmus.
Dombrowski made some great moves as GM, not to mention the deal for Price. Sometimes players reach their contract years and there is no guarantee that they will resign. The Tigers had no shot at beating the Royals for the AL Central, and they’d have to fight for a Wild Card spot. This is a team always built for the postseason. The rotation is always steady. Boyd, Norris, and Labourt are 3/5 of the 2017 rotation and the offense is typically the most balanced in the American League. I’ve noticed how their offense always shuts down during the playoffs; their starting staff was not as strong behind Scherzer//Price/Verlander. Often that’s because they are simply overmatched. This is a team that needs very little to make it to the World Series and to win it all. The Tigers are a streaky team with streaky players. When all the parts are clicking they are as dangerous as anyone. Castellanos is still only 23…
Good analysis. They have not had good luck in the playoffs. That is for sure.
Well that was unexpected. Either Boston or Toronto would be lucky to get him. I’d expect news on that before long.
The timing is strange. Just 2 days ago, Boston announced Larry Lucchino stepping down as Red Sox president.
70 year old Larry Lucchino. Did that come as a surprise?
Yes, actually. He’s not retiring, just leaving the team. And he’s been a fixture there for a long time. He was a big reason Theo left.
Predicted it a week ago. He’s been incapable of building a bullpen and it has killed them again and again.
What did you predict? That he would leave, or that Mr. I would can him? There is a difference.
Not sure if serious. Dombrowski has one of the best resumes and reputations of any GM in the league. There isn’t a single GM in baseball whose career is free of mistakes and misses.
Dombrowski was stellar in Montreal… I’ll attest,to that
He was stellar in Detroit too. I’ll attest to that.
It’s a sad day for Tigers fans.
Mariners here is your chance to hire your first good GM/President since Gilick.
Please fire Jack Z and throw the kitchen sink at Dombrowski! Please, please, please…
Ah heck why am I getting my hopes up that the M’s will do something that makes senses….
Seattle probably needs someone like Dombrowski more than any other team.
I hope Ausmus is next to go. Dombrowski has made a ton of great moves in his Tigers career but over the past few years it seems like it has been a mixed bag. It’s sad to see him go but I don’t think they’ll miss much of a beat under Avila.
There is so much hate around ausmus? Why? Sure he hasn’t managed the bullpen perfectly, but really what else has he done wrong? I’ve never understood the disdain for him.
Our team is too talented to be in the hands of a rookie manager learning on the job. And our window for contending probably won’t be open for much longer. (assuming we make some good signings in the off-season that make us a contender again)
Dunno if being a rookie has anything to do with it since things seem to be going fine for the Cards and Matheny.
If the Red Sox have any common sense left…
Sad about this. Best GM Tigers have ever had!
Avila is of Cuban decent and is bilingual. He is also very smart too. Hoping for the best.
I like DD. But if you think he’s the best GM that the Tigers ever had, then I have to believe that you’ve been following them for 25 years and never read up on their history.
Who was better? 4 1st place finishes in the last 4 years. When have they topped that? Who was better?
So what happens when Alex is a FA after this year. They gonna get in an old father-son shouting match over how much he gives Alex?
Alex will have to take a pay cut, whether he stays or goes elsewhere. Can’t think of a team that would give him the starting job. If Mr. I’s son takes over and cuts payroll, I don’t see how they can keep Alex when they have Holiday waiting at AAA. McCann is the Tigers starting C.
Was Dave fired? If so, he is not too blame for the Tigers struggles!
If you learned anything from the late George Steinnbrenner, one can’t simply buy championships. Dombrowski did his best to form a pennant winning team, but IT DIDN’T WORK OUT! The Tigers can’t compete with the Royals this year. They wasted money on the lifetime contracts to Cabrera and Verlander, and they’ve desecrated their farm team by giving away so many prospects and draft picks to free agents.
Paragraph 2 did not exactly go with paragraph 1.
To paragraph 2 I’d add 4 years of ignoring the bullpen. Bringing back Joba Chamberlain was only a half-step better then signing Ronald Belisario.
Thanks, but I wasn’t really criticizing Dombrowski with Paragraph 2. I was criticizing the Mike Ilich’s philosophy of win at all costs. Selling Price and Cespedes was in the best interest of the fanchises future, but it seems Ilich didn’t want to hear that.
Finally, someone took the fall for the Fister trade!
Don’t look now but Robbie Ray has out pitched Fister this year, makes $11M less and won’t be a free agent until 2021. Fister can walk this year. A lot of people owe Dombrowski an apology for that trade. It was a great one for Detroit.
It was ok. Fister was amazing when healthy last year. They also traded away robbie ray therefore whatever he does moving forward is irrelevant to the fister trade. The reason he was panned for if was just because most people felt he could have got more value for fister. 2 years at 18 mil for a guy coming off 3 straight years of at least 3 war is a bargain.
Fister’s FIP was HIGHER than Justin Verlander’s last year. He was VERY lucky!
Some pitchers out perform their fips habitually. It’s not the end all be all. He doesnt strike guys out so fip hates him. You have to look at the whole picture.
He also made a great trade for fister in the first place. Everyone always seems to forget this and just focuses on the negative
To the Red Sox
I would pay stupid amounts of money to bring him in with the Brewers.
I am a bit surprised. However, it was nice of Mike Ilitch to let him out early.
I am curious about the job that he now wants, if any.
The only thing he didn’t accomplish was having a sound bullpen.
Other than that, he was excellent.
Maybe hired Manfred too early as MLB Commissioner. He was whispered for that job. I suppose he could also take on a presidency in either Toronto or Boston.
Maybe Kenny Williams will take the Toronto job as rumored in the past, and Dombrowski will take over as Pres of the White Sox who I believe he started out with way back in the day. He was a Roland Hemond protege
One of the best GMs the Tigers have ever had. All tigers fans should be extremely grateful for all the success he has provided them.
Took a team that was historically bad at the time and turned them into a world series team and contenders every season. Did it all in a tough market and while managing an active owner.
Sad day in Detroit Tigers history. While it would have been nice to see the team win a WS, ultimately, it is a business. Would the Tigers have sold any more tickets, gotten more advertising, increased TV ratings or become more relevant to the fans? I doubt it would have been by much. Dave put a product on the field that was entertaining, and had star power. He provided, with Mr. I’s assistance, reinforcements every trade deadline, to inspire confidence to the fan base. Thank you, DD, for providing hope to a fan base that had none previously.
Outside of a ring…I’m not sure what else could have been done in Detroit. Time to get the system going…they did get a couple nice arms in Norris and Fulmer