Just four days after the Detroit Tigers decided to be sellers at the trade deadline, the team has released general manager Dave Dombrowski from his duties. Dombrowski was also the team's president and CEO. Al Avila will take over as the general manager.

Dombrowski's release comes as no surprise to anyone. 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.

Owner Mike Ilitch released a statement saying, "I would like to thank Dave Dombrowski for his 14 years of service. 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. I've decided to release Dave from his contract in order to afford him the time to pursue other career opportunities. I feel this is the right time for the Tigers to move forward under new leadership." 

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the break up was a mutual agreement. Dombrowski had been with the team since 2002 and had turned a team around that had lost 119 games in 2003, to a team that went to two World Series' in six years. The Tigers also have four-straight American League Central championships. 

The 59-year-old will be the one of the prized free agents this season. The Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angles, and Boston Red Sox will be suitors for Dombrowski's services this winter. Some executives think that he will go to the Blue Jays where he can either be the general manager or president along side Alex Anthopoulos. Dombrowski has won one World Series in 1997 with the Florida Marlins, now Miami Marlins, and then acquired most of the players for the Marlins to win the 2003 World Series.

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. The team sits with a record of 51-54 and Avila says the team could make a strong push and make the playoffs. You would have to wonder if the move comes after the team was a seller during the deadline, even though their philosophy has been win now.

Still, Dombrowski has been one of the best in the business. He has pulled off some great trades including acquiring Miguel Cabrera, Anibal Sanchez, and even the trade for Max Scherzer. At one point, he was even considered to be a candidate for the Commissioners job. He could easily be one of, if not the highest paid executive in the game after this winter.

VAVEL Logo
About the author