The Tigers have not made any recent progress on an extension for president and GM Dave Dombrowski, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports writes. Dombrowski’s contract expires after the season. Morosi notes that it’s unclear whether the situation reflects a desire for change on owner Mike Ilitch’s part, or whether he plans to offer Dombrowski a new deal at some point. It is, of course, clearly possible that it’s the latter — Dombrowski and the Tigers did not agree to his last extension until August 2011, just months before his previous deal was set to expire.
If Dombrowski were to leave Detroit, an established executive of his caliber would surely attract interest elsewhere, and Morosi suggests that the Angels GM job or Blue Jays president position might be good fits. The Tigers won the AL Central four straight times from 2011 through 2014, and Dombrowski has proven to be adept in the trade market in particular, landing key current and former players like Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer, Carlos Guillen, Anibal Sanchez, Yoenis Cespedes and others in deals that have turned out quite well for the Tigers. Dombrowski also led the Tigers to the World Series in 2006 and won a championship as GM of the 1997 Marlins. The Tigers are, however, currently in the midst of an underwhelming 44-41 season.
Nothing personal with Detroit, I am from Lakeland (where Detroit has ST) and still has ST, has a A ball team still, but can you really go out and give him an extension for past accomplishments when the organization is in this kind of shape?
The minor leagues are barren for the most part from trades to win when they did. They still are not spending a whole lot in the amateur area. I haven’t seen any flashy, top kids with either the GCL/Lakeland A ball clubs of late. Just think maybe It’s time to bring in someone to rebuild the system before this becomes Philadelphia part two and there are comparisons to Amaro here in another couple of years.
I think Dombrowski’s got marching orders and he’s done well with them. Mike Ilitch didn’t hire him to build from within, he hired him to spend money at the major league level and challenge for a WS every year, which he has done. I do agree that the Phillies’ present is the Tigers’ future, but that strikes me as the result of ownership decisions more than anything Dombrowski decided to do. They might choose to bring in someone else to execute the rebuild, but Dombrowski will have no trouble finding another job if that’s what he wants.
I agree with hiring Dombrowski to buy Ilitch a crown, or try to, but the time is over for that now and the organization now needs to go in another direction and think needs someone else to try that.. Someone who knows how to draft and scout talent, then set up a really good organizational ladder of scouts and support and I don’t think he’s the guy.
It is time for the Detroit Tigers to move on from Dave Dombrowski. Yes, under his reign baseball in Detroit is relevant again, and yes he has made some great trades, but we here in Tiger Nation are hurtling toward our 31st year without a championship and Mr. Dombrowski bears a great responsibility for 14 of those years.
It’s time for a new forward thinking management team to retool the 40 man roster for another extended run. There is no reason for a complete tear down and five
years of irrelevant baseball. A new GM should lead the charge.
I’m a Tigers fan, but it might be time for Dombrowski to go while his stock is high. Some of his moves have been fantastic (Porcello for Cespedes, trading for Soria, signing JD Martinez) but he tends to make moves prematurely. Trading two years of Fister for nothing before the season start only to need to trade Smyly and AJax for 2 years of Price (higher salary) at midseason is very wasteful. Giving Verlander an extension coming off a career year two years before he hits free agency was also completely unnecesary. If they had just waited it out until the end of 2014, they would have been able to choose between resigning Scherzer or Verlander for the money they committed to him. Instead they are stuck with an inferior player for more money than ultimately what Scherzer accepted from the Nationals. Finally, the Kinsler for Fielder trade is looking worse and worse with Devon Travis and Prince Fielder both having significantly better seasons than Kinsler, Gose, and VMart.
I think when it comes down to it, you’re going to have one or two bad trades or signings. The majority of Dombrowski’s trades have overwhelmingly worked in Detroit’s favor. I hope people haven’t forgotten.
Have not forgotten. I give him full credit for the Tigers’ continued success. His trade for Miggy has got to be one of the best trades in the past two decades, as only now are Maybin and Miller (last year) finally breaking out. Meanwhile Miggy has been a perennial MVP candidate all this time. And his trade of soon-to-be-free agents Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson for 5 seasons of Max Scherzer and Austin Jackson was another franchise shaping deal. Again, I just think he gets carried away in some deals. The offseason before 2014 he made a series of bad moves. Instead of offering Peralta and Infante arbitration, he let them both walk and they both signed multi-year deals with AAVs close to the QO of 13.1 per season. And he traded Prince Fielder for a clearly declining player in Kinsler and really didn’t wind up saving that much money doing that. Now we are paying him to be an AL-Star on a AL rival while we don’t have a shred of LH power in the lineup and spent the money we did save on his contract on an aging VMart. Granted VMart was coming off a career year last year. Long-term though, I still think we would have been better off with Fielder.
How quickly you forget Fielder missed all of 2014. Last season it looked like a brilliant trade. Not to mention Miggy is better suited for 1B and Prince was a butcher!
Kinsler declining? He’s still a more valuable player than Fielder with a 2.7 WAR Vs a 2.1
Last season Kinsler has a 5.7, so Fielder has a lot of making up to do…
I think he was put over a barrel trading Fielder. Just two teams trying to alter clubhouse chemistry… He also sent out Avisail Garcia as well
All a GM can do is put his team in a position to win it all. So many other elements come in to play to have the WS Championship trophy in your offices. Dombrowski has done a good job. Plus, we don’t know what orders the GM has been given regarding salaries (Fielder trade) or who to sign to begin win. I’m not sure it was anyone but Arte Moreno who wanted Pujols and Hamlton and gave them those absurd contracts. IMO, Dombrowski has done a good job in DET. But we don’t know the relationship between Ilitch and Dombrowski.
I believe the choice to stay is up to DD.. Ownership has shown a loyalty to people that have been past performers.. However, comments about the Tigers eventual transformation into Phillies territory is probably accurate.. Toronto is on the cusp of having several very successful seasons.. A president with the abilities of DD to make trades like he has done in the past (Scherzer, Cabrera, Sanchez etc.) is all that they are lacking.. AA in Toronto has been a solid GM but putting those two together will make a front office that will rival any in baseball.. Detroit is almost out of trade chips and they have a high payroll with several stars on the decline.. It will probably be in his best interest to abandon ship while his stock his high.. If he is going to stay I would like to see him make a few trades to help replenish the farm.. Perhaps, Kinsler to the Yankees for Refsnyder Lindgren and Sanchez.. Price to a contender for a top prospect or two.. He can hold off the fall to the basement by becoming a seller at the deadline.. Problem is Ilitch wants that ring badly..
As I noted yesterday on another article, the rebuilding the Royals and Twins have done are going to dictate how the Tigers and Sox look at the near future (the Indians continue in circles, fixing 2 things then watching 3 others break). The Royals and Twins are deep in quality young, cheap players, many of whom are going to get much better in the next few years. The Tigers and Sox are not going to keep pace with them by signing 2 or 3 expensive, old, free agents each over the next few years, as their older players continue to deteriorate. Both teams have to think about taking a step back. Not saying DD cannot do the job, but he may not want to go back to square one or two, The suggestions of the Angels GM and the Jays President positions are good ones.
I most certainly hope that he stays with us in Detroit. He’s clearly been one of the top executives in all of baseball, and it’d be a huge loss if he left.
If you think about it, there’s probably not a GM in baseball that has made better trades in the past 10 years. Don’t forget one of the best trades in history, the Miguel Cabrera deal. Also, the granderson trade worked perfectly for Detroit as well. Also we basically got animal Sanchez and Omar infante for nothing. The Jose Iglesias trade was a great one, and the prince for kindler trade worked pretty well for Detroit last year.
Iggy will be a fixture for years. They’re a totally different team when he plays. The 2 Martinez signings in FA were exceptional, and the Scherzer trade was even better. He’s not been given credit for Castellanos and McCann out of the farm system. But currently he’s got a roster with one terrific guy in the bullpen that’s closing, and one starting pitcher. Meanwhile he’s got Verlander on the books for something like $130-plus-M. If he loses Price in free agency – and Price may not want to stay with the team seeing the short-term future – then there is major rebuilding that needs to be done with that pitching staff. And if he signs Price and Cespedes, then the Tigers face a monster payroll while having major holes needing to be filled.
Tigers are at a crossroads to be sure. And sorry to say, but at this point I’m not terribly impressed with the manager. He may grow into the job over the next few years, but right now he looks like Robbie Ventura to me – a guy that would have been better having some previous managerial and coaching experience before taking over a major league team.
True, he usually comes out ahead in deals. He just needs to work on not getting ahead of himself and giving extensions to players prematurely or unnecessarily. Cabrera (2nd extension) and Verlander (extension) gave the club no discount on free agency years whatsoever, so why spend the money before necessary? If he had waited on giving them extensions until they hit free agency, he would have definitely either signed Verlander cheaper, or possibly let him walk and given the Verlander contract to Scherzer instead, who had a way better 2014. Same with Miggy. Miggy is hurt for 6 weeks this season, his numbers will be suppressed by the end of this year and he’s not getting any younger. At the very most, they could have gotten him at the same contract they gave him last year.
On the flip side, Mike Rizzo, another one of IMO the better GMs in baseball, lets his players reach free agency and keeps his long-term flexibility open in case he wants to add a big free agent like Jayson Werth or Max Scherzer or his homegrown players decline. He has Ian Desmond, Doug Fister, and Jordan Zimmerman hitting free agency at the end of this season. All 3 are having down years and can probably be gotten at a cheaper price than a pre-2015 extension would have cost him. He offers them QOs and if worse comes to worse and they leave, he collects the draft picks. (Fun Fact: How he got Jordan Zimmerman was thru collecting the draft pick when Soriano left for the Cubs) Just an example
Right, the Cabrera and Scherzer trades were spectacular, but still not a single championship. The hallmark of Dombrowski’s teams have been expensive superstars with massive contracts surrounded by just above replacement level players, terrible bullpens and absolutely no organizational depth. Very unbalanced teams.
A few years back then Cleveland closer Chris Perez made the observation that the Tigers were just “a collection of stars”. Everyone in Tiger Nation wet themselves in righteous indignation. How right Mr. Perez was.
Excellent points all around! It’s a NYY system that they have abandoned the last years, because with the last CBA? it’s unworkable! Costs have gone up, and every team HAS to have a few cheaper players on it’s roster now to balance out the overly expensive contracts it seems, or at least the more expensive players.
Dombrowski will have to adjust to the new system if he stays, or a NEW GM brought in and either way, it’s going to require an overhaul of the way Detroit has gone about running it’s minor leagues IMO.. I could give 2c in just what see in Lakeland… 3 men grounds crews rolling out tarps during thunderstorms and recruiting ladies from concession stands to help.. Lack of coaching in lower minors, which have seen with own eyes over the years… Things that need to change.
The Tigers plan on shopping at Tiffany’s with a pocketbook of prospects from K Mart.
Tonight’s loss could be a blessing in disguise if the Tigers realized they are pretenders to the crown and not contenders. Sellers, people, sellers!
1. Tigers have had 4 straight division titles. No other team has had a string that long. DD deserves credit for building and then completely changing his team on the fly when winning. Winning in the playoffs is largely luck and out of the GMs hands. Getting teams to the playoffs is NOT.
2. Since 2013 Spring Training (their last ALCS appearance), EVERY position player has changed (Miggy moved to 1st and Avila is essentially in a platoon). That is just over 2 years ago.
3. They have a new core that includes JD, Iglesias (both all stars) and McCann.
It would be crazy to let DD go.