All good things must come to an end. It stands to reason
that the same is true for dominant baseball teams.
Although they’ve won the AL Central title 4 years in a row,
the Detroit Tigers’ postseason hopes are all but dissipated after the team
shipped incumbent free agents David Price and Yoenis Cespedes out of town.
The return for both players was impressive enough - a package headlined by Daniel Norris from the Toronto Blue Jays for Price and top prospect Michael Fulmer from the New York Mets for Cespedes. However, it
sent out a clear signal: the Tigers are shooting for the future at the expense
of the present.
The second shot across the bow came yesterday, when
owner Mike Ilitch announced that he had released GM Dave Dombrowski from the
remainder of his contract which expired at the end of this season. Assistant GM Al Avila (father of Tigers catcher Alex) will assume the position for
the interim.
 |
| Courtesy Associated Press |
It isn’t very surprising that Dombrowski was let go. The
Tigers are in dire straits this year, as their bullpen has recorded a
cumulative -0.2 WAR (29th in baseball), their third base and DH situations are similarly untenable at -0.8 and -0.9 WAR (29th and last in the AL
respectively), and Justin Verlander has completed the devolution from dominant
ace to dumpster fire.
Admittedly, if I knew the gorgeous Kate Upton was waiting
for me at home, I’d probably give up a bunch of homers and get pulled early in
most of my starts as well. I'd start intentionally hitting every batter just to get ejected before the end of the first inning.
What does come as a shock isn’t the timing, but rather that
it happened at all. Dombrowski comes off this 14-year stint with a sterling
reputation, taking the Tigers from utter mediocrity (remember that 119-loss
team in 2003? Ramon Santiago is spinning in his grave) to World Series
favorites. Even though they will likely miss the playoffs this season, his
track record is proven.
He’s the man responsible for acquiring future Hall of Famer
Miguel Cabrera back in 2007, signing Cabrera to a deal that ensures he’ll be
repping the Olde English D until the Sun burns out, trading for Max Scherzer
and Doug Fister just before the string of consecutive division titles, and even
building for a future he won’t be part of by sending Price, Cespedes and Joakim
Soria (to the Pirates for shortstop prospect/part-time session saxophonist for smooth jazz records JaCoby Jones) for those sweet, sweet prospects.
 |
| Courtesy Carlos Osoria, Associated Press |
Not many people would have been able to trade the massive
contract of the equally gigantic Prince Fielder after his down year in 2013.
Not only did Dombrowski manage to deal Fielder, he got Ian Kinsler back in the
deal. Kinsler, by the by, has been an integral part of the team’s offense AND
defense since coming over, while Fielder is bouncing back from a lost 2014.
This move is obviously more reactive than proactive, symbolic of the team's poor performance rather than a result of it. Dombrowski can only
acquire the players; field manager Brad Ausmus and the players themselves are
responsible for drawing on their talents to win baseball games. There’s always
got to be a sacrificial lamb, though. In this case, Dombrowski is the goat.
Don’t cry for Dombrowski. He’s a smart man and a brilliant
baseball mind. He was also at the helm of the Marlins when they won their first
World Series back in 1997. If Davey boy can survive toiling under both Ilitch
AND notorious scumbag Jeffrey Loria, he can do just about anything. He will find
work again, and he will likely find it soon. There are already whispers of him
joining the Red Sox, Angels and/or Blue Jays.
As for the Tigers...yeesh. Does anybody have Dmitri Young's phone number??
No comments:
Post a Comment