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Dave Dombrowski
With all the finger-pointing going on, the big finger from up above pointed directly at Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowksi.
A team statement Tuesday afternoon says the Tigers release Dombrowksi and replace him with Assistant General Manager Al Avila, the father of Tigers catcher Alex Avilla. The move comes after a crazy stretch in July where Dombrowski waved a white flag and decided to reboot rather than go for broke.
Dombrowski "had been making around $3 million per year, among the highest-paid club executives in MLB," tweets Jon Morosi of Fox Sports.
Avila will assume all responsibilities related to baseball operations of the club and he will report directly to Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch, the media handout says.
"I would like to thank Dave Dombrowski for his 14 years of service," it quotes Ilitch as saying. "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."
Twitter reactions
- Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News: "Timing of Dombrowski ouster is really curious. Ownership didn't agree with the reboot? Or they thought he wanted to leave, so let him go?"
- Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press: "A couple of potential landing spots I've heard mentioned for Dave Dombrowski: Angels and Red Sox."
- Jon Morosi, Fox Sports: "Ilitch did right by Dombrowski here: Contract up in October, return was becoming less likely, now he can pursue other jobs."
- Jeff Moss, Detroit Sports Rag blogger: "Not shocked it occurred. Been predicting this for months."
- Bob Nightengale, USA Today: "One executive: Dave Dombrowski's departure from Tigers was a mutual parting of the ways between he and owner Mike Ilitch. No hard feelings."
- Matt Dery, Detroit Sports 105.1: "I'm also hearing that Brad Ausmus remains extremely safe and will be back next year. This shouldn't affect his status."
- Tom Gage, Detroit News (ret.): "If DD was fired for performance, you'd think Avila would have been dumped, too. As Avila just said on FSD, 'I've been involved in everything.' "
- Scott Miller, Bleacher Report/Turner Sports: "I know Tigers fans are frustrated, but I hope they realize how good they have had it with Dombrowski."
- Alyson Footer, MLB.com: "Dave Dombrowski is one of the most respected execs in baseball. He'll be pursued by many. It'll be interesting to see where he lands."
- Dan Harland, WZZM (Grand Rapids): "4 division titles, 2 AL pennants for Tigers that hadn't sniffed success in 20 yrs. Dombrowski deserves respect."
Full team statement
The Detroit Tigers today announced that Assistant General Manager Al Avila has been promoted to the role of executive vice president of baseball operations and general manager. Avila will assume all responsibilities related to baseball operations of the club and he will report directly to Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch. Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Duane McLean, will continue to oversee all aspects of the team's business operations and will also report directly to the team owner.
"I would like to thank Dave Dombrowski for his 14 years of service," said Ilitch. "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."
"I'm very excited for this opportunity, and honored and grateful to Mr. Ilitch for having the faith and trust in me to run the ballclub in our continuing pursuit of a World Series championship," said Avila. "After 24 years in professional baseball and 14 with the Detroit Tigers, I believe I'm uniquely qualified to be successful in this role in leading this organization. We're confident we can make a strong push to win this year, and that we have the foundation in place to win next year and for years to come."
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