Dave Dombrowski
Dombrowski in 2015
Philadelphia Phillies
General Manager /President of Baseball Operations
Born: (1956-07-27)July 27, 1956 (age 69) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Teams
As general manager Montreal Expos (1988–1991) Florida Marlins (1993–2001) Detroit Tigers (2002–2015) As president of baseball operations Boston Red Sox (2015–2019) Philadelphia Phillies (2021–present)
Career highlights and awards
2×World Series champion (1997,2018) 1990UPI Executive of the Year 2×Baseball America Executive of the Year (2006, 2018) 2011 co-Sporting News Executive of the Year (withDoug Melvin)

David Dombrowski (born July 27, 1956) is an American baseball executive who serves as thepresident of baseball operations for thePhiladelphia Phillies ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski also previously served as thegeneral manager of theMontreal Expos, the general manager and president of theFlorida Marlins andDetroit Tigers, and president of baseball operations for theBoston Red Sox. He has helped build four different franchises (Marlins, Tigers, Red Sox, Phillies) into pennant-winning teams, and he has won theWorld Series twice — with the Marlins in1997 and the Red Sox in2018.

Dombrowski began his career with theChicago White Sox in 1978, as an administrative assistant in their minor league organization.^[1] He moved up the ladder to assistant general manager toRoland Hemond by his late 20s, but was purged duringKen Harrelson's one-year reign in 1986 as the White Sox front-office boss.

Dombrowski joined theMontreal Expos front office as director of player development for the 1987 season underBill 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 Exposfarm system during his term. He drafted, among others,Rondell White andCliff Floyd. The team enjoyed .500 or better seasons in 1988–90 but struggled on the field in 1991. Concurrently, theNational League expanded to 14 teams, with two new franchises to begin play in 1993. One of those teams, theFlorida Marlins, recruited Dombrowski to become its first general manager; he was appointed on September 19, 1991.

Dombrowski spent about a decade inMiami, working under ownersH. Wayne Huizenga andJohn W. Henry. In 1996, he hiredJim 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 asthird base coach.^[3] Although Dombrowski built a sound minor league system, the Marlins achieved their first great success—the NL pennant and1997 World Series title—with a team composed of many high-salaried players signed as free agents. The following year, Dombrowski presided over Huizenga's mandatedfire 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 the2003 World Series.

For the 2002 season, his first with the Tigers after being hired by ownerMike Ilitch, Dombrowski was to serve as president and chief executive officer of the rebuilding Tigers. Incumbent general managerRandy 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 managerPhil Garner.^[6] Dombrowski assumed the general manager's role himself, becoming the first person to serve as both president and GM for the Tigers sinceJim Campbell held both titles from 1978 to 1983.^[7]

In 2003, the Tigers lost a thenAmerican League-record 119 games, one fewer than the modern MLB record at the time, set by the1962 New York Mets. The manager wasAlan Trammell, a popular ex-Tiger player who had been the1984 World Series MVP. Three years later, the2006 Tigers, led by managerJim Leyland, won their first AL pennant since theirchampionship season of 1984. Along the way, they won the ALwild card, defeated the favored New York Yankees in four games in the2006 American League Division Series (ALDS), then swept theOakland Athletics in the2006 American League Championship Series (ALCS). In the2006 World Series, they were defeated in five games by theSt. Louis Cardinals. Dombrowski was subsequently named Executive of the Year byBaseball 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 youngpitchers, and signedfree agents such ascatcherIván Rodríguez, left-handed pitcherKenny Rogers, and outfielderMagglio Ordóñez.

In 2012, the Tigers reached their second World Series under Dombrowski's tenure by defeating the Oakland Athletics in five games in the2012 ALDS and sweeping the New York Yankees in the2012 ALCS. The Tigers were then swept by the San Francisco Giants in four straight games, losing the2012 World Series.

On August 4, 2015, Dombrowski was released by the Tigers, and was replaced by his former assistant general managerAl Avila.^[10] In fourteen years with Tigers organization, Dombrowski led the Tigers to five playoff appearances, four consecutiveAmerican League Central division titles, fourAmerican League Championship Series appearances, including threeconsecutive ALCS appearances from 2011 to 2013, and twoAL pennants, in2006 and2012.^[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 theBoston Red Sox.^[12] At the announcement of his hiring, the Red Sox also announced that general managerBen Cherington would step down. In September, Dombrowski filled Cherington's post with senior vice presidentMike Hazen.^[13] Dombrowski made his first significant trade for the Red Sox in November, when he acquired closerCraig Kimbrel from theSan Diego Padres for four prospects.^[14] He also signed high-profile free agent pitcherDavid Price to a seven-year, $217 million contract.

In Dombrowski's first full season with the team, the2016 Red Sox won 93 regular-season games and theAmerican League East division title, but were swept in the2016 American League Division Series by the eventual AL champions, theCleveland Indians. In mid-October, Hazen resigned from the Red Sox to take an expanded role as executive vice president and general manager of theArizona 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 managersFrank Wren andAllard Baird.^[15]

Prior to the 2017 season, Dombrowski acquired starting pitcherChris Sale from the White Sox, in exchange for four prospects includingYoan Moncada.^[16] The2017 Red Sox won their division again, but lost the2017 American League Division Series to the eventual World Series champions, theHouston Astros. In October, Dombrowski firedJohn Farrell, who had served five years as Boston's manager.^[17] Later that month, Dombrowski hiredAlex Cora, then bench coach of the Astros, to be the next Red Sox manager.^[18]

The2018 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 the2018 World Series, with a pitching staff led by players that Dombrowski had acquired—including Kimbrel, Price, and Sale—along withdesignated hitterJ. 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 byBaseball America, the second time he won the award.^[8] In June 2019, theNational 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, 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 thePhiladelphia Phillies.^[26] After missing the playoffs in 2021, the2022 Phillies qualified for the postseason as a wild card team and secured the National League pennant, where they lost to theHouston Astros in six games in theWorld Series.^[27] It was Dombrowski's first league title with Philadelphia and fifth overall of his executive career.

On November 22, 2022, the Phillies signed Dombrowski to a contract extension that runs through the 2027 season.^[28]

† 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.

Dombrowski grew up inPalos Heights, Illinois, and graduated fromHarold L. Richards High School inOak Lawn, Illinois.^[29][30]

Dombrowski briefly attendedCornell University, where he was a member of theBig Red football team. He later transferred toWestern Michigan University, where he earned a degree inbusiness administration in 1979.^[1][31] Dombrowski would later be the recipient of Western Michigan University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998.^[30][32] In 2018, Dombrowski was honored with theNational Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame Excellence in Sports Award, in Troy, Michigan.

Dombrowski is married toKarie Ross,^[33] who worked as anESPN reporter from 1988 to 1990. They met in 1992 while Dombrowski was serving as general manager of the Florida Marlins and Ross was a reporter atWTVJ in Miami.^[34] The couple has two children,^[33] Darbi and Landon.^[35]

• Buchignani, Walter (July 17, 1988)."Introducing... Dave Dombrowski".The Gazette.Montreal. p. 2. RetrievedMay 29, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
• Ebling, Jack (2018).Tales from the Detroit Tigers Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Tigers Stories Ever Told. Richard Kincaide (Contributor). Sports Publishing.ISBN 978-1613218808.

• Career profile atBaseball America viaWayback Machine

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