Dave Dombrowski

Chicago White Sox

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

Montreal Expos

Dombrowski joined the Montreal Expos front office as director of player development for the 1987 season under Bill Stoneman, and on July 5, 1988, he became, at age 31, Montreal's general manager—the youngest in MLB at the time.

Dombrowski built up the Expos farm system during his term. He drafted, among others, Rondell White and Cliff Floyd. The team enjoyed .500 or better seasons in 1988–90 but struggled on the field in 1991. Concurrently, the National League expanded to 14 teams, with two new franchises to begin play in 1993. One of those teams, the Florida Marlins, recruited Dombrowski to become its first general manager; he was appointed on September 19, 1991.

Florida Marlins

Dombrowski spent more than a decade in Miami, working under owners H. Wayne Huizenga and John W. Henry. Although he built a sound minor league system, the Marlins, with Jim Leyland as their manager, achieved their first great success—the 1997 NL pennant and world championship—with a team composed of many high-salaried players signed as free agents. The following year, Dombrowski presided over Huizenga's mandated fire 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. Nevertheless, after Henry sold the club in early 2002, the Marlins managed to rebuild behind a nucleus of young players, and in 2003, with a roster consisting chiefly of players Dombrowski had acquired, won the World Series.

Dombrowski hired Jim Leyland as manager of the Marlins in 1996. The two had previously worked together with the Chicago White Sox in the early 1980s - Dombrowski as assistant general manager and Leyland as third base coach.

Detroit Tigers

For the 2002 season, his first with the Tigers after being hired by owner Mike Ilitch, Dombrowski was to serve as president and chief executive officer of the rebuilding Tigers. Incumbent general manager Randy 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 manager Phil Garner. Dombrowski assumed the general manager's role himself, becoming the first person to serve as both president and GM for the Tigers since Jim Campbell held both titles from 1978 to 1983.

In 2003, the Tigers lost an American League-record 119 games, one fewer loss than the modern MLB record set by the 1962 New York Mets. The manager was Alan Trammell, who was 1984 World Series MVP. Three years later, the 2006 Tigers, led by manager Jim Leyland, won their first AL pennant since their championship season of 1984. Along the way, they won the AL wild card, defeated the favored New York Yankees in four games in the division series, then swept the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series. In the 2006 World Series, they were defeated in five games by the St. Louis Cardinals.

In addition to bringing Leyland out of semi-retirement, Dombrowski presided over the acquisition and development of a corps of hard-throwing young pitchers, and signed free agents such as catcher Iván Rodríguez, left-handed pitcher Kenny Rogers, and outfielder Magglio Ordóñez.

In 2012, the Tigers reached their second World Series under Dombrowski's tenure by sweeping the New York Yankees in 4 straight games. The Tigers were then swept by the San Francisco Giants in 4 straight games, losing the World Series.

On August 4, 2015, Dombrowski was released by the Tigers, and was replaced by his former assistant general manager Al Avila. In fourteen years with Tigers organization, Dombrowski led the Tigers to five playoff appearances, four consecutive American League Central division titles, four American League Championship Series appearances, including three consecutive ALCS appearances from 2011 to 2013, and two AL pennants, in 2006 and 2012. 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.

Boston Red Sox

On August 18, 2015, Dombrowski was named the president of baseball operations of the Boston Red Sox. At the announcement of his hiring, the Red Sox also announced that general manager Ben Cherington would step down. In September 2016, Dombrowski filled Cherington's post with senior vice president Mike Hazen.

Dombrowski made his first significant trade for the Red Sox on Nov. 13, when he acquired closer Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres for four prospects. He also signed high-profile free agent pitcher David Price to a seven-year, $217 million contract.

In Dombrowski's first season with the Red Sox, Boston won 93 regular-season games and the 2016 American League East Division title. But the Red Sox were swept in the 2016 American League Division Series by the eventual league champion Cleveland Indians.

In mid-October, Hazen resigned from the Red Sox to take an expanded role as executive vice president and general manager of the Arizona 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 managers Frank Wren and Allard Baird.

Personal life

Dombrowski grew up in Palos Heights, Illinois, and graduated from Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

Dombrowski briefly attended Cornell University, where he was a member of the Big Red football team. He later transferred to Western Michigan University, where he earned a degree in business administration in 1979. Dombrowski would later be the recipient of Western Michigan University's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998.

He is married to Karie Dombrowski (née Ross), who worked as an ESPN reporter from 1988 to 1990. They met in 1992 while he was serving as general manager of the Florida Marlins and Karie was a reporter at WTVJ in Miami. The two were married in 1995 in Oklahoma City. They have two children, Landon and Darbi, and reside in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.