Detroit Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski has been released from his contract, the team announced Tuesday. “Together we’ve enjoyed some success, but we’re still in aggressive pursuit of our ultimate goal: to bring a World Series title to Detroit and Michigan”.
Advertisement
The surprising move came less than a week after Dombrowski dealt away David Price and Yoenis Cespedes before the Major League Baseball trade deadline as Detroit finds itself outside the playoff picture at this point in the season for the first time in years. In June 1992, he joined the Florida Marlins as the assistant director of Latin American operations after a four-year stint as the director of athletics and head coach of the baseball team at St. Thomas (FL) University. It was announced that Al Avila will take over the 59-year-old executive’s duties. There has been speculation building for some time now as to whether Dombrowski’s contract would be renewed following its expiration after this year. Dombrowski was set to become a free agent at the end of the year and signs were pointing that Dombrowski was going to leave anyway. Avila has certainly played some role in the terrible trades that sent pitchers such as Doug Fister and Rick Porcello out of Detroit and brought in disappointments in Shane Greene and Alfredo Simon, among other moves.
The Tigers will stick the season out with Avila at the general manager position and could leave him at that position or pursue other options in the offseason. Last week’s trades helped Detroit add some much-needed young pitching to its system, but the Tigers still have long-term, expensive contracts owed to Verlander, Cabrera and designated hitter Victor Martinez.
After winning a World Series with the Marlins in 1997, Dombrowski oversaw the resurgence of the Tigers organization, which he took over in 2002. Hes worked extremely hard over the course of his career to afford himself this opportunity with the Detroit Tigers..
Advertisement
“I think I am uniquely qualified and I’m prepared to do this”, said Avila, who served under Dombrowski for 14 years.
