American baseball executive (born )
Baseball player
David Dombrowski (born July 27, ) is an American baseball executive who serves as the president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski also previously served as the general manager of the Montreal Expos, the general manager and president of the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers, and president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox. He has helped build four different franchises (Marlins, Tigers, Red Sox, Phillies) into pennant-winning teams, and he has won the World Series twice — with the Marlins in and the Red Sox in
Dombrowski began his career with the Chicago White Sox in , as an administrative assistant in their minor league organization.[1] He moved up the ladder to assistant general manager to Roland Hemond by his late 20s, but was purged during Ken Harrelson's one-year reign in as the White Sox front-office boss.
Dombrowski joined the Montreal Expos front office as director of player development for the season under Bill Stoneman, and on July 5, , he became, at age 31, Montreal's general manager—the youngest in MLB at the time.[2]
Dombrowski built up the Expos farm system during his term. He drafted, among others, Rondell White and Cliff Floyd. The team enjoyed or better seasons in –90 but struggled on the field in Concurrently, the National League expanded to 14 teams, with two new franchises to begin play in One of those teams, the Florida Marlins, recruited Dombrowski to become its first general manager; he was appointed on September 19,
Dombrowski spent about a decade in Miami, working under owners H. Wayne Huizenga and John W. Henry. In , he hired Jim Leyland to manage the team; they had previously worked together for the White Sox in the early s, with Dombrowski as assistant general manager and Leyland as third base coach.[3] Although Dombrowski built a sound minor league system, the Marlins achieved their first great success—the NL pennant and World Series title—with a team composed of many high-salaried players signed as free agents. The following year, Dombrowski presided over Huizenga's mandated fire sale of those veteran players, and the Marlins failed to reach a winning percentage in each of Dombrowski's final four years with the franchise. In November , Dombrowski left Florida to become the president of the Detroit Tigers.[4] Nevertheless, after Henry sold the club in early , the Marlins managed to rebuild behind a nucleus of young players, and the following season, with a roster consisting chiefly of players Dombrowski had acquired,[5] the team won the World Series.
For the season, his first with the Tigers after being hired by owner Mike Ilitch, Dombrowski was to serve as president and chief executive officer of the rebuilding Tigers. Incumbent general manager Randy Smith would continue in his role, reporting to Dombrowski. However, when Detroit lost its first six games in , Dombrowski quickly fired both Smith and manager Phil Garner.[6] Dombrowski assumed the general manager's role himself, becoming the first person to serve as both president and GM for the Tigers since Jim Campbell held both titles from to [7]
In , the Tigers lost a then American League-record games, one fewer than the modern MLB record at the time, set by the New York Mets. The manager was Alan Trammell, a popular ex-Tiger player who had been the World Series MVP. Three years later, the Tigers, led by manager Jim Leyland, won their first AL pennant since their championship season of Along the way, they won the AL wild card, defeated the favored New York Yankees in four games in the American League Division Series (ALDS), then swept the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). In the World Series, they were defeated in five games by the St. Louis Cardinals. Dombrowski was subsequently named Executive of the Year by Baseball America.[8]
In addition to bringing Leyland out of semi-retirement,[9] Dombrowski presided over the acquisition and development of a corps of hard-throwing young pitchers, and signed free agents such as catcherIván Rodríguez, left-handed pitcher Kenny Rogers, and outfielder Magglio Ordóñez.
In , the Tigers reached their second World Series under Dombrowski's tenure by defeating the Oakland Athletics in five games in the ALDS and sweeping the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Tigers were then swept by the San Francisco Giants in four straight games, losing the World Series.
On August 4, , Dombrowski was released by the Tigers, and was replaced by his former assistant general manager Al Avila.[10] In fourteen years with Tigers organization, Dombrowski led the Tigers to five playoff appearances, four consecutive American League Central division titles, four American League Championship Series appearances, including three consecutive ALCS appearances from to , and two AL pennants, in and [11] Prior to his hiring, the Tigers had missed the playoffs in fourteen consecutive seasons, and had just four playoff appearances in the 60 season stretch from to
On August 18, , Dombrowski was named the president of baseball operations of the Boston Red Sox.[12] At the announcement of his hiring, the Red Sox also announced that general manager Ben Cherington would step down. In September, Dombrowski filled Cherington's post with senior vice president Mike Hazen.[13] Dombrowski made his first significant trade for the Red Sox in November, when he acquired closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres for four prospects.[14] He also signed high-profile free agent pitcher David Price to a seven-year, $ million contract.
In Dombrowski's first full season with the team, the Red Sox won 93 regular-season games and the American League East division title, but were swept in the American League Division Series by the eventual AL champions, the Cleveland Indians. In mid-October, Hazen resigned from the Red Sox to take an expanded role as executive vice president and general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Dombrowski chose not to appoint a successor, assuming general manager responsibilities without the added title, and promoting other Red Sox executives to key supporting positions, including former MLB general managers Frank Wren and Allard Baird.[15]
Prior to the season, Dombrowski acquired starting pitcher Chris Sale from the White Sox, in exchange for four prospects including Yoan Moncada.[16] The Red Sox won their division again, but lost the American League Division Series to the eventual World Series champions, the Houston Astros. In October, Dombrowski fired John Farrell, who had served five years as Boston's manager.[17] Later that month, Dombrowski hired Alex Cora, then bench coach of the Astros, to be the next Red Sox manager.[18]
The Red Sox won their division for the third consecutive season; the team recorded wins, the most in franchise history. The team went on to win the World Series, with a pitching staff led by players that Dombrowski had acquired—including Kimbrel, Price, and Sale—along with designated hitterJ. D. Martinez, whom Dombrowski had acquired in February [19] It was Dombrowski's first championship since he was general manager of the Marlins in , and he was later named Executive of the Year by Baseball America, the second time he won the award.[8] In June , the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame awarded its Excellence in Sports Award to Dombrowski.
Dombrowski was fired by the Red Sox early on September 9, , just 10 months after winning the World Series, following a 10–5 loss to the New York Yankees, which dropped Boston's record for the season to 76–[20][21] During his time leading baseball operations, the Red Sox were fined for participating in electronic sign stealing against the Yankees in , and improper use of video replay to decode signs during the season.[22][23] Following an MLB investigation into the allegations, findings released in February did not implicate Dombrowski in any wrongdoing.[24][25]
On December 11, , Dombrowski was named the president of baseball operations of the Philadelphia Phillies.[26] After missing the playoffs in , the Phillies qualified for the postseason as a wild card team and secured the National League pennant, where they lost to the Houston Astros in six games in the World Series.[27] It was Dombrowski's first league title with Philadelphia and fifth overall of his executive career.
On November 22, , the Phillies signed Dombrowski to a contract extension that runs through the season.[28]
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Postseason | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Win&#;% | Finish | Result | ||
| MON | 41 | 40 | N/A‡ | Appointed on July 5 | ||
| MON | 81 | 81 | 4th in NL East | - | ||
| MON | 85 | 77 | 3rd in NL East | - | ||
| MON | 64 | 81 | 6th in NL East† | Hired by Florida Marlins on September 19 | ||
| MON Total | ||||||
| FLA | 64 | 98 | 6th in NL East | - | ||
| FLA | 51 | 64 | 5th in NL East | - | ||
| FLA | 67 | 76 | 4th in NL East | - | ||
| FLA | 80 | 82 | 3rd in NL East | - | ||
| FLA | 92 | 70 | 2nd in NL East | Defeated Cleveland Indians in World Series | ||
| FLA | 54 | 5th in NL East | - | |||
| FLA | 64 | 98 | 5th in NL East | - | ||
| FLA | 79 | 82 | 3rd in NL East | - | ||
| FLA | 76 | 86 | 4th in NL East | - | ||
| FLA Total | 1 Playoff Appearance, 1 Pennant, 1 World Series Title | |||||
| DET | 55 | 5th in AL Central | - | |||
| DET | 43 | 5th in AL Central | - | |||
| DET | 72 | 90 | 4th in AL Central | - | ||
| DET | 71 | 91 | 4th in AL Central | - | ||
| DET | 95 | 67 | 2nd in AL Central | Lost to St. Louis Cardinals in World Series | ||
| DET | 88 | 74 | 2nd in AL Central | - | ||
| DET | 74 | 88 | 5th in AL Central | - | ||
| DET | 86 | 77 | 2nd in AL Central | - | ||
| DET | 81 | 81 | 3rd in AL Central | - | ||
| DET | 95 | 67 | 1st in AL Central | Lost to Texas Rangers in ALCS | ||
| DET | 88 | 74 | 1st in AL Central | Lost to San Francisco Giants in World Series | ||
| DET | 93 | 69 | 1st in AL Central | Lost to Boston Red Sox in ALCS | ||
| DET | 90 | 72 | 1st in AL Central | Lost to Baltimore Orioles in ALDS | ||
| DET | 51 | 54 | 3rd in AL Central† | Released on August 4 | ||
| DET Total | 1, | 1, | 5 Playoff Appearances, 2 Pennants | |||
| BOS | 26 | 18 | N/A‡ | Hired on August 18 | ||
| BOS | 93 | 69 | 1st in AL East | Lost to Cleveland Indians in ALDS | ||
| BOS | 93 | 69 | 1st in AL East | Lost to Houston Astros in ALDS | ||
| BOS | 54 | 1st in AL East | Defeated Los Angeles Dodgers in World Series | |||
| BOS | 76 | 67 | 3rd in AL East† | Released on September 9 | ||
| BOS Total | 3 Playoff Appearances, 1 Pennant, 1 World Series Title | |||||
| PHI | 82 | 80 | 2nd in NL East | - | ||
| PHI | 87 | 75 | 3rd in NL East | Lost to Houston Astros in World Series | ||
| PHI | 90 | 72 | 2nd in NL East | Lost to Arizona Diamondbacks in NLCS | ||
| PHI | 95 | 67 | 1st in NL East | Lost to New York Mets in NLDS | ||
| PHI Total | &#; | 3 Playoff Appearances, 1 Pennant | ||||
| Total | 2, | 2, | 12 Playoff Appearances, 5 Pennants, 2 World Series Titles | |||
† Reflects team's record and position in standings at the time Dombrowski was dismissed.
‡ Reflects team's record from when Dombrowski was hired through end of season.
Dombrowski's title with Boston was president of baseball operations. Mike Hazen served as Boston's general manager during and reported to Dombrowski.
Dombrowski grew up in Palos Heights, Illinois, and graduated from Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois.[29][30]
Dombrowski briefly attended Cornell University, where he was a member of the Big Red football team. He later transferred to Western Michigan University, where he earned a degree in business administration in [1][31] Dombrowski would later be the recipient of Western Michigan University's Distinguished Alumni Award in [30][32] In , Dombrowski was honored with the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame Excellence in Sports Award, in Troy, Michigan.
Dombrowski is married to Karie Ross,[33] who worked as an ESPN reporter from to They met in while Dombrowski was serving as general manager of the Florida Marlins and Ross was a reporter at WTVJ in Miami.[34] The couple has two children,[33] Darbi and Landon.[35]