Just removed from his role as Tigers general manager, veteran baseball executive Dave Dombrowski told the press today that he is looking for a new opportunity in baseball operations, with Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter links), Joel Sherman of the New York Post, and MLB.com’s Jason Beck all contributing notable quotes. Dombrowski made clear that the decision to terminate his contract, which was set to expire after the season anyway, was made unilaterally by ownership. And he added that there were no real efforts between the sides to reach a new agreement.
Upon the surprising news yesterday, many wondered whether Dombrowski had demanded a salary increase or asked to be let go to permit him to pursue another opportunity. Neither were the case, per his comments. “There were no [contract] talks, so there were no demands,” he explained.
Dombrowski added that he was not surprised by the move or its timing, though he neither asked for nor received an explanation from his former boss. “I knew this potential existed,” he said. “It was a very short conversation with Mr. Ilitch. I suspected in recent times that something has to happen.” He added: “It’s pretty simple. Mike Ilitch let me know yesterday they were going in a different leadership direction.” Dombrowski made clear that he was pleased that he’ll be succeeded by longtime assistant Al Avila, wishing him and the organization well.
As those quotes would suggest, and Dombrowski confirmed, there was no movement on his status before the trade deadline. With just hours to go before the deadline, of course, Dombrowski decided to sell key veterans David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, and Joakim Soria to add young pieces. “I didn’t make [the deals] with any expectations other than I felt it was the best thing for the organization,” he said. “My feeling in my heart was that we were not going to win a championship.” The biggest problem facing the Tigers roster, by the then-GM’s reckoning, was that the team was “a little short of starting pitching.”
Though his time with Detroit is over, that wasn’t Dombrowski’s first organization, and he indicated it probably won’t be his last. “I definitely want to stay in the game,” he said. “I want to be involved in day-to-day baseball operations. I am open to a lot of different possibilities.” He acknowledged that he’d already begun taking calls from new clubs, though he declined to name them. “I’ve had some nice conversations,” he said.
Mariners please throw the kitchen sink at this man.
Agreed! Mather and Lincoln gotta go. They can’t even fire Jack who should have been canned four years ago.
What happened? Why did it happen?
“Moneyball with money… the rest of the story…”
Moneyball? Not even close.
Miggy trade, Kinsler, Fielder, Miggy extension, Cespedes, Nathan, Infante and the Verlander extension aren’t ‘moneyball moves.’ None of them are undervalued or underrated, not now and not when they were brought in by Dombrowski
1. Miggy Trade: Extracted hidden value. 6 for 2 deal (with two “can’t miss prospects”) that was not matched by any other GM.
2. Kinsler for Fielder: Traded an “untradeable player” for equal value.
3. Miggy Extension: Owner decision (Money decision). Miggy is a tourist attraction worth more than his value on the field.
4. Cespedes for Porcello. Extracted hidden value and got Wilson who is now their closer.
5. Nathan: Fail. But universally praised at the time. Fister trade enabled this to happen.
6. Infante and Sanchez: Extracted hidden value that enabled a deep playoff run.
7. Verlander: Money Decision from Owner.
FIVE “Moneyball” (hidden value) moves. TWO “Money” moves.
And that is not even counting how they got JD Martinez, or Scherzer, or Austin Jackson, or Fister…. ALL major “hidden value” who improved their value AFTER they got to the Tigers.
Miggy, Cespedes, and Sanchez were not “hidden value” in moneyball terms.. They were well known producers when they were traded.. Miggy and Sanchez were with the Marlins and approaching contracts that Loria was not going to pay.. To compare them to true moneyball “hidden value” players like Hatteberg or Bradford is absurd. Before this season Cespedes’s OBP was around .300 which is far from what Beane’s moneyball sees as “hidden value”.. Fielder’s contract was deemed untradeable not the player.. The Rangers had a logjam up the middle with Kinsler, Andrus, Profar and Odor.. Kinsler had a pretty bad contract himself. The Tigers traded one really bad contract and money for just a bad contract.. At the same time they filled a hole they had at second.. Look at Fielder’s stats this year and tell me he is untradeable.. The Nathan signing was not “universally praised” at all.. Several people clearly stated that signing a 39 year old pitcher with an injury history to a 2 year guaranteed contract was foolish.. In fact, the only person I can remember praising it at all was Torii Hunter who didn’t stay with Detroit very long himself.. The final players that you touted as having raised their value after coming to Detroit were either rookies or had very short MLB careers before arriving.. They traded several prospects for Fister who was having a fine year with Seattle.. They gave up Granderson and Edwin Jackson for Scherzer and Austin Jackson in a 3 team trade.. So I don’t see how trading known MLB producers for prospects would be finding hidden value when every team in baseball does that.. Arizona firmly believed Scherzer’s shoulder was going to fail.. That is why he was traded.. Detroit rolled the dice on him and won..
Wow, zero of those are moneyball moves. The only Moneyball moves they made are mentioned in a footnote… the Granderson deal and the Fister deal, both moves where they got underrated talent by dealing hype. The rest:
1,3 I’ll grant leeway on Miggy because people DID think it was an overpay by DD but they made him a franchise cornerstone.
2 Swapping bad contracts is not a moneyball move, moneyball teams don’t give those contracts. The entire philosophy is built on letting a guy walk rather than risk ever over-paying him.
4 This was no hidden value, both were established major leaguers with significant salaries. The fact that Cespedes had a career contract year and Porcello tanked doesn’t mean they got hidden value. We got lucky it wasn’t our guy that choked.
5. Opposite of a moneyball move. Signing a pricey, aging vet to a too-long contract is a Yankees move, NOT moneyball.
6. Signing two vets approaching FA is, again, the opposite of moneyball. Moneyball is being the team shipping those guys out.
7. Probably was an owner decision, but DD wasn’t going to ship him out of town like he did Fister either.
I think you’re referencing the media’s reference of the Red Sox
Oh good to hear teams have called already :)
He will have his choice of jobs. And he can wait to get the right one.
He has ties with the Marlins and the Angels, could be something there. Hes built a franchise around a great pitcher (Fernandez/Verlander) and a great position player (Miggy/Stanton) before.
Could be a fit in Philadelphia too. Big payroll, lots of flexibility with a ton of money off the books next year, and even more the year after.
Boston and Philly make sense.
You think MacPhail and DD could coexist?
DD coexisted with Loria for a good decade, so i think they could work something out.
DD never worked for Loria. And I have doubts he would be comfortable working under MacPhail. DD is used to running the baseball side.
Agreed.. Seattle makes the most sense by far.. Unless the owners in Arizona or San Diego come to their senses and clean out their respective front offices.. Although Preller might have learned from his mistakes and could deserve another year to try to fix the chaos he created..
The irony with the Padres and the general feeling that Preller really screwed up is the MLBTR poll a few months ago regarding who had the best off-season…the Padres by over 44%…. 44.52% to be exact. At times I wish I could go exactly who the 44% were and compare their comments then to now.
Boston does not make any sense. DD wants control. He cannot coexist with 7 other cooks in their kitchen.
Honestly, I wonder if this goes back to the whole Prince Fielder signing?
DD wasn’t in the loop originally and Scott Boras went to and directly dealt with Mike Ilitch and DD had enough.
Then again….
This I am certain of someone will hire Dave Dombrowski again.
That would make sense if DD quit on his own. He was basically shown the door by ownership.
Not sure..many big ticket free agents bypass the GM. This seems to be about an elderly owner in and a rock and a hard place. Gone are the seasons that the Tigers can be solid but waltz through the AL Central for a ticket for the series sprint.
DD was fired. It was the Owners decision to end this. Not his.
Oh, how I hope this man ends up in Seattle.
So, basically it was a power play by ownership to get rid of him? Holy crap, this is getting even more strange…
hope fmr boss john henry was one of those calls
The way it was worded in the press release, it seemed like Ilitch was releasing him so that he may get better opportunity. Kind of like a thanks for staying when you didn’t need to, so that you can help me win a championship, but we have Al Avila, and it’s time for you to move on and get a better job. Dave Dombrowski can get pretty much any job he wants. I so wish he would end up back here (in Miami), but nobody would ever do that to themselves on purpose…I like the idea of Boston. He has obviously worked for Jon Henry previously, but this time, Henry doesn’t claim to not have any money, like he did when he owned the Marlins
Now we find out how much was DD, and how much was Avila.
Please let the next headline read “Rockies hire Dave Dombrowski as Team President.” They haven’t had a president since Keli McGregor died a few years back and we need someone to stop the Monforts from meddling. McGregor did a good job of that, hopefully Dombrowski would as well.
No doubt
Somehow, I don’t think the Red Sox have a clear vision of what’s what. Henry’s comment that Cherington, with all his bad moves, “will be there for a long time” may not have been the smartest thing to say.
The old support speech….that’s also usually followed by the ax
Dombrowskis wikipedia page states he was “purged from the White Sox organization during the one year reign of Hawk Harrelson”.
Get em Hawk!!!
Angels hopefully will use Stoneman’s former experience with him to lure him to Anaheim. Any guy who can swing a trade for a guy like Miguel Cabrera is OK by me. Didn’t seem to fail too much, besides the Fister trade.
He wasn’t the only one to screw up a Fister trade.. Seattle coughed him up in a similar trade.. I remember the first half Fister was having before Detroit got him and I was hoping Cashman would bring him to the Yankees.. Instead they faced him in the playoffs..
You’re probably getting Bud Black…whoever is the GM has to work with Scioscia