UPDATE: The Tigers have released Dombrowski from his current contract with the team so he can "pursue other career opportunities," owner Mike Ilitch announced (via Jason Beck of MLB.com).
So it looks like Dombrowski will not remain with Detroit after all.
Al Avila, Dombrowki's longtime assistant, will now become the GM and VP of Baseball Operations.
Here's the full statement from the Tigers.
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It's not too common a selling team is labeled a "winner" when the non-waiver trade deadline passes, but the Detroit Tigers certainly achieved that status after dealing David Price, Yoenis Cespedes and Joakim Soria. And it's all thanks to general manager Dave Dombrowski.
This offseason is flooded with premiere free agents, but Dombrowski - a front office executive - will be atop the rumors discussion because he's in his final season under contract with the Tigers. Despite his impending free agent status, he received approval from the team's ownership to make a number of drastic moves before the trade deadline to help the Tigers beyond 2015.
"Could the fact that he was entrusted with dealing off David Price, Joakim Soria, and Yoenis Cespedes mean he's likely to sign an extension soon?" Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe posited. "Dombrowski would have some appeal in Los Angeles, where the Angels are looking for a president/GM."
However, it doesn't seem as if Detroit will let it reach a point where the longtime executive is weighing offers from other clubs.
Dombrowski spoke with reporters last week and may have alluded to possibly remaining with the Tigers after the season.
"I think it makes us a much stronger organization going into next year," he said about the trades he executed last week, via Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press.
He acquired five starting pitching prospects in those three trades with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates, but he indicated the rotation still needs more work.
"Our starting pitching will be addressed in the wintertime ... I assure you that our goal going into next year will be to try to win a world championship."
So does that mean he's coming back? If he's receiving rave reviews from pundits for his last-minute work before the trade deadline then it's likely ownership is pleased with the way thing are going, even though they officially waved the white flag this year in trading three of their stars.
"The impressive part of the trades with the Blue Jays and the Mets is that Dombrowski didn't put either David Price or Yoenis Cespedes on the market until Wednesday," ESPN Insider Jim Bowden writes. "After he found out he didn't have the farm system to get the pitching he needed, he went the other way. Daniel Norris and Michael Fullmer are can't-miss rotation starters, while Matt Boyd, Jairo Labourt and Luis Cessa all have good arms. Taking advantage of the Pirates' minor league depth at shortstop to grab JaCoby Jones was also a shrewd move."
Dombrowski has been with the Tigers' organization since 2002 and built the current team that has won four straight AL Central titles. Detroit appeared in the World Series twice under his tenure, but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals (2006) and San Francisco Giants (2010). The success Detroit has had this decade is perhaps the best in franchise history - the team has never made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons before their stretch between 2011 and 2014, and the last time they captured at least three straight division titles was - wait for it - during the 1907, 1908 and 1909 seasons. Dombrowski also ended the franchise's 18-year playoff drought and their 23-year division title-less streak.
Tigers' owner Mike Ilitch, 86, is not getting any younger and it's clear he's starved for a World Series title.
At this point, it's clear Dombrowski gives the Tigers the best chance of accomplishing that feat.
