Dave Dombrowski

Dombrowski began his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1978, 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 1986 as the White Sox front-office boss.

Dombrowski joined the Montreal Expos front office as director of player development for the 1987 season under Bill Stoneman, and on July 5, 1988, 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 .500 or better seasons in 1988–90 but struggled on the field in 1991. Concurrently, the National League expanded to 14 teams, with two new franchises to begin play in 1993. One of those teams, the Florida Marlins, recruited Dombrowski to become its first general manager; he was appointed on September 19, 1991.

Dombrowski spent about a decade in Miami, working under owners H. Wayne Huizenga and John W. Henry. In 1996, he hired Jim Leyland to manage the team; they had previously worked together for the White Sox in the early 1980s, 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 1997 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 .500 winning percentage in each of Dombrowski's final four years with the franchise. In November 2001, Dombrowski left Florida to become the president of the Detroit Tigers.[4] Nevertheless, after Henry sold the club in early 2002, 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 2003 World Series.

Dombrowski watches a West Michigan Whitecaps game at Fifth Third Ballpark, 2010

For the 2002 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 2002, 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 1978 to 1983.[7]

In 2003, the Tigers lost an American League-record 119 games, one fewer loss than the modern MLB record set by the 1962 New York Mets. The manager was Alan Trammell, who was the 1984 World Series MVP. Three years later, the 2006 Tigers, led by manager Jim Leyland, won their first AL pennant since their championship season of 1984. Along the way, they won the AL wild card, defeated the favored New York Yankees in four games in the 2006 American League Division Series (ALDS), then swept the Oakland Athletics in the 2006 American League Championship Series (ALCS). In the 2006 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 catcher Iván Rodríguez, left-handed pitcher Kenny Rogers, and outfielder Magglio Ordóñez.

In 2012, the Tigers reached their second World Series under Dombrowski's tenure by defeating the Oakland Athletics in five games in the 2012 ALDS and sweeping the New York Yankees in the 2012 ALCS. The Tigers were then swept by the San Francisco Giants in four straight games, losing the 2012 World Series.

On August 4, 2015, 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 2011 to 2013, and two AL pennants, in 2006 and 2012.[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 1946 to 2005.

On August 18, 2015, 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, $217 million contract.

In Dombrowski's first full season with the team, the 2016 Red Sox won 93 regular-season games and the American League East division title, but were swept in the 2016 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 2017 season, Dombrowski acquired starting pitcher Chris Sale from the White Sox, in exchange for four prospects including Yoan Moncada.[16] The 2017 Red Sox won their division again, but lost the 2017 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 2018 Red Sox won their division for the third consecutive season; the team recorded 108 wins, the most in franchise history. The team went on to win the 2018 World Series, with a pitching staff led by players that Dombrowski had acquired—including Kimbrel, Price, and Sale—along with designated hitter J. D. Martinez, whom Dombrowski had acquired in February 2018.[19] It was Dombrowski's first championship since he was general manager of the Marlins in 1997, and he was later named Executive of the Year by Baseball America, the second time he won the award.[8]

Dombrowski was fired by the Red Sox early on September 9, 2019, just 10 months after winning the 2018 World Series, following a 10–5 loss to the New York Yankees, which dropped Boston's record for the season to 76–67.[20][21] During his time leading baseball operations, the Red Sox were fined for participating in electronic sign stealing against the Yankees in 2017, and improper use of video replay to decode signs during the 2018 season.[22][23] Following an MLB investigation into the 2018 allegations, findings released in February 2020 did not implicate Dombrowski in any wrongdoing.[24][25]

On December 11, 2020, Dombrowski was named the president of baseball operations of the Philadelphia Phillies.[26]

Team	Year	Regular Season				Postseason
		Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Result
MON	1988	41	40	.506	3rd in NL East	-
MON	1989	81	81	.500	4th in NL East	-
MON	1990	85	77	.525	3rd in NL East	-
MON	1991	64	81	.441	Left midseason	-
MON Total		271	279	.493
FLA	1993	64	98	.395	6th in NL East	-
FLA	1994	51	64	.443	5th in NL East	-
FLA	1995	67	76	.469	4th in NL East	-
FLA	1996	80	82	.494	3rd in NL East	-
FLA	1997	92	70	.568	2nd in NL East	Defeated Cleveland Indians in 1997 World Series.
FLA	1998	54	108	.333	5th in NL East	-
FLA	1999	64	98	.395	5th in NL East	-
FLA	2000	79	82	.491	3rd in NL East	-
FLA	2001	76	86	.469	4th in NL East	-
FLA Total		627	764	.451		1 playoff appearance, 1 pennant and 1 World Series title
DET	2002	55	100	.355	5th in AL Central	-
DET	2003	43	119	.265	5th in AL Central	-
DET	2004	72	90	.444	4th in AL Central	-
DET	2005	71	91	.438	4th in AL Central	-
DET	2006	95	67	.586	2nd in AL Central	Lost to St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 World Series.
DET	2007	88	74	.543	2nd in AL Central	-
DET	2008	74	88	.457	5th in AL Central	-
DET	2009	86	77	.528	2nd in AL Central	-
DET	2010	81	81	.500	3rd in AL Central	-
DET	2011	95	67	.586	1st in AL Central	Lost to Texas Rangers in 2011 ALCS.
DET	2012	88	74	.543	1st in AL Central	Lost to San Francisco Giants in 2012 World Series.
DET	2013	93	69	.574	1st in AL Central	Lost to Boston Red Sox in 2013 ALCS.
DET	2014	90	72	.556	1st in AL Central	Lost to Baltimore Orioles in 2014 ALDS.
DET	2015	51	54	.486	3rd in AL Central	Released on August 4
DET Total		1082	1123	.491		5 playoff appearances and 2 pennants
BOS	2015	26	18	.591	N/A	Hired on August 18
BOS	2016	93	69	.574	1st in AL East	Lost to Cleveland Indians in 2016 ALDS.
BOS	2017	93	69	.574	1st in AL East	Lost to Houston Astros in 2017 ALDS.
BOS	2018	108	54	.667	1st in AL East	Defeated Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 World Series.
BOS	2019	76	67	.531	3rd in AL East	Released on September 9
BOS Total		396	277	.588	[27]	3 playoff appearances, 1 pennant and 1 World Series title
PHI	2021
Total		2376	2443	.493		9 playoff appearances, 4 pennants and 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 2016 and reported to Dombrowski.