FanPost

Thank you, Dave Dombrowski

In 2002, Dave Dombrowski took over running the Tigers, then 15 years since their last playoff appearance in 1987. The previous general manager, Randy Smith, left him some really lovely parting gifts.

Here are some Dombrowski quotes from a luncheon in 2002.

"I love Dean Palmer, he's a great guy. If you can trade him tomorrow, give me a call. That's $8.5 million on our budget next year.

Damion Easley. I love him, he's a great guy. Tremendous person. He has been hot, and he's still not hitting .200. That's $6.5 million for next year, bringing it up to $15 million.

Matt Anderson, who's a pretty good closer when he's healthy could you trade Matt Anderson tomorrow? I'd love to see you try. If you can, give me a call.

Danny Patterson, quality setup guy who probably won't pitch next year.

Bobby Higginson, who's a solid player, is going to make $11.85 million next year. You try to trade him. Put that down.

Steve Sparks, who's one of the most wonderful people you'll ever meet in this world, his ERA is over 6.00. He'll make $5.5 million next year. What are we up to now, about $37-38 million?

Craig Paquette. If you can trade him, call me tomorrow. He's making $2.75 million next year. So now we're at $40 million.

And I don't mean to disparage any of them because they're all big league ballplayers and they've earned whatever they receive. But it just tells you that it's not that easy just to snap your fingers and make some deals, because I can't trade one of those guys.''

According to this article, Dombrowski's reputation took a hit for those comments. I thought they were amazing as were his subsequent moves as GM.

2002 - Drafted Curtis Granderson (19.8 WAR) and Joel Zumaya (3.3 WAR). Claimed Craig Monroe off waivers. Traded Jeff Weaver for Jeremy Bonderman, Carlos Pena and Franklyn German.

2003 - Traded for Nate Robertson. Endured one of the worst inherited major league teams from top to bottom in history.

2004 - Signed Ivan Rodriguez (12.9 WAR), traded Ramon Santiago for future three-time All Star, Carlos Guillen (17 WAR) in an absolute heist. Drafted Justin Verlander (39.9 WAR, Rookie of the Year, six-time All-Star, 2011 Cy Young and MVP).

2005 - Signed Magglio Ordonez (11.5 WAR, two-time All-Star, 2007 MVP runner-up). Traded murderer Ugueth Urbina for Placido Polanco (18.1 WAR, All Star, two-tIme Gold Glove) in another trademark Dombrowski heist. Drafted Cameron Maybin and Burke Badenhop, who would later be packaged in the greatest heist of all time.

2006 - Hired Jim Leyland, who immediately grabbed the clubhouse by the balls.. Drafted Andrew Miller who also would be packaged in the great heist. Signed Kenny Rogers (3.3 WAR, All-Star, Gold Glove) to lead the young rotation with Justin Verlander winning Rookie of the Year. It was a magical year. Unfortunately, the young Tigers weren't up for the challenge and lost the 2006 World Series to the Cardinals in five games.

2007 - Tough year. Doled out pricey extensions to Nate Robertson and Carlos Guilen. Kenny Rogers got hurt. Traded for Gary Sheffield, who just simply didn't have it anymore. The Indians were just too good. Magical year for Maggs though. Drafted Rick Porcello (9.8 WAR) and Charlie Furbush who would later become a great trade chip.

2008 - The year of the greatest trade of all time and others which weren't so good. The bad first: traded Jair Jurrjens for Edgar Renteria and Omar Infante for Jacque Jones. Both whiffs. However, Dombrowski achieved the greatest heist of all time grabbing Miguel Cabrera (40+ WAR) and, unfortunately, Dontrelle Willis for Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin and some other scrubs. Unfortunately, the pitching collapsed and a re-tooling was in order.

2009 - Traded Matt Joyce for Edwin Jackson who would later be flipped in Dombrowski's second-best heist ever. Signed Brandon Lyon. The aging expensive Tigers caught up to them. Carlos Guilen ($10 million) played 81 games. Dontrelle Willis ($10 million) pitched seven starts. Jeremy Bonderman ($12.5 million) pitched one start. This ragtag group scrapped their way through the season in first most of the way, but the hot Minnesota Twins caught them on the last day and beat them in Game 163.

2010 - In probably the ballsiest moves of all time, Dombrowski traded fan-favorite Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson for Max Scherzer (20.9 WAR, two-time All-Star, 2013 Cy Young) Austin Jackson (19.9 WAR), Phil Coke (Glove Slam!) and Daniel Schlereth (meh). Signed Jose Valverde and Johnny Damon. Bonderman flamed out, Porcello struggled, Scherzer went to minors before he got it on track and they were never really in it. They did make a nice low key August trade heist for Jhonny Peralta (8.4 WAR) for nobody. Also drafted Drew Smyly.

2011 - Signed Victor Martinez (8.5 WAR) and Joaquin Benoit (4.8 WAR) Enjoyed breakout years from draft picks Alex Avila and Brennan Boesch. Completed a heist of trade getting Doug Fister (9.6 WAR) for the aforementioned Charlie Furbush + others. Grabbed Delmon Young in a waiver deadline deal who hit eight home runs down the stretch. Found "Amazing" Al Alburquerque on a minor league free agent deal. Finally made it back to the playoffs, only to be eliminated by Nelson Cruz and The Texas Rangers.

2012 - (Over)Reacting to Victor Martinez's injury, signed Prince Fielder (6.2 WAR) to a ridiculous contract. Cabrera loves him and has a huge year, winning the Triple Crown. Nice year by 2008 draft pick Andy Dirks, and 2010 draft pick Drew Smyly. Dombrowski fleeces the Marlins again getting Anibal Sanchez (11.2 WAR) and Omar Infante (3.1 WAR) for the then highly-touted Jacob Turner and Rob Brantly. They made it to the World Series and got swept by the San Francisco Giants. Amazingly, this was on the offense, not the bullpen which was more or less solid with the occasional Valverde blow up.

2013 - The best Tigers team of the Dombrowski/Leyland era. A full season of the rotation featuring Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister and Rick Porcello electrifies. Scherzer wins the Cy Young. Sanchez wins the ERA title. Smyly and Benoit form a solid 8th/9th inning duo. Former nemesis, Torii Hunter (2.5 WAR) comes in and provides leadership. However, Miguel gets injured, Peralta gets suspended, and Prince bellyflops. Dombrowski makes a shrewd trade getting Jose Iglesias for Avisail Garcia in light of the Peralta suspension. The starting pitching is masterful in an epic series against Oakland the in the first two games of the ALCS. Then David Ortiz steps in with two outs in the eighth inning with a four-run lead and the bases loaded..and well, you know the rest. Heartbreak. The series wasn't over, but it kinda was. Boston goes on to win it all. Leyland retires. Window closing.

2014 - Enter,Brad Ausmus. The Doug Fister trade sends the fanbase into an uproar. The reality was someone had to go. The rotation was getting expensive, Smyly was ready to join it and the Tigers wanted to try to sign Scherzer long term. Unfortunately, the return for Fister (Ray, Krol, Lombardozzi) was underwhelming according to most analysts. Not to be outdone, Dombrowksi trades Prince Fielder's Prince-Fielder-sized contract to Texas for Ian Kinsler (9.5 WAR). The Tigers sign public enemy number one, Joe Nathan and public enemy number two Joba Chamberlain. The Tigers also sign a minor league free agent named J.D. Martinez (8.3 WAR). The Tigers jump out to a 27-12 start then stumble. Justin Verlander has a terrible year. Cabrera is hobbled..again. Victor is hitting like a man possessed or playing for a contract. At the trade deadline, they add perceived savior Joakim Soria for two top prospects and flip a declining Austin Jackson, Drew Smyly and 18 year old Wily Adames for David freaking Price. They hold on to the division on the last day of year, fighting off the surging Royals, but don't have anything left as they get swept out of the playoffs by the Orioles. Strangely, Soria never finds a role despite Chamberlain's second half collapse and Joe Nathan's year-long struggle.

2015 - The Verlander/Cabrera extensions kick in. $56 million between the two of them. Remember Dombrowski's press conference from the beginning of this piece? It all comes around. Well, not a really a fair comparison, but anyway. The Tigers dole out $60 million to crickety knees Victor Martinez. They trade Rick Porcello for Yoenis Cespedes. Needing to patch holes in the rotation they trade the primary piece in the ill-fated Doug Fister deal, Robbie Ray, for Shane Greene. Ray goes on to have a solid year in Arizona and Greene, well, he did start 3-0! The Tigers also deal away the rest of their infield depth by trading Devon Travis for Anthony Gose and Eugenio Suarez with Jonathan Crawford for Alfredo Simon. Travis is the leading candidate for ROY and Suarez has been solid for the Reds. Goes and Simon are what they are which is replacement level. Gose may still have upside though. Trade isn't a loss..yet. The team labors along to the trade deadline. They are buried by KC, but a handful of games out of the wildcard. Wisely, Dombrowksi trades David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria for much-needed prospects including highly touted Daniel Norris and Michael Fulmer.

Finally, the era of Dombrowksi has come to an end. Four Division Titles, Two World Series Appearances. MVP winners, Cy Young winners, Rookies of the Year, top-five attendance, top-five payroll. Golden Wra of Tigers baseball, but no championships. Apparently, Mike Illtch has seen enough. Dombrowski's track record at the trade deadline is unquestionable. However, the draft has come up empty and while the MLB draft is a crapshoot, the void of prospects in the high minors is discouraging. Yes, we traded several over the years, but when you look back most of them didn't work out for the other teams anyway.

Either way, the man deserves a standing ovation for his +130 WAR trade track record and taking that steaming turd of a team he inherited in 2002 and turning into a consistent winner/free agent destination. Hopefully, Al Avila can keep the good times going with better results in the draft and player development.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.