Dave Dombrowski reunites with former Red Sox ace on Phillies
You’ve no doubt heard the saying, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
The aphorism is a pillar of Dave Dombrowski‘s career.
Over more than thirty years as a general manager and president of baseball operations, and more than 40 years in Major League Baseball, Dombrowski knows that the key to success is finding winners and keeping them close. He’s made a habit of bringing great players with him from franchise to franchise. Some are players he once drafted for a previous club, others are simply winners he signed or traded for before. The reasoning is simple and the results are clear: no GM has led more franchises to the World Series.
In 1988, at only 32 years old, Dombrowski became a GM for the first time. He was the Montreal Expos’ “Boy Wonder” GM who drafted Charles Johnson, Rondell White, and Cliff Floyd. By the time White and Floyd debuted with the Expos in 1993, Dombrowski had already moved on. He’d eventually reunite with both of them; as GM of the Florida Marlins, he acquired Floyd in 1997, and as GM of the Detroit Tigers, he signed White to a two-year deal ahead of the 2004 season.
Johnson opted not to sign with the Expos and go to college at the University of Miami, which would turn out to be fitting for how player and executive would reunite a few years later. By 1992, Dombrowski was GM of the Marlins, who were set to play their inaugural season in 1993. He drafted Johnson again, and this time, it stuck. In his debut season in 1995, Johnson joined Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and Sandy Alomar Jr. as the only catchers in MLB history to win a Gold Glove in their rookie seasons. He’d win four Gold Gloves between 1995-98.
In only their fifth season Marlins won the 1997 World Series.
Two years later, Dombrowski signed a young hitter named Miguel Cabrera. By Cabrera’s 2003 big-league debut, which would turn out to be the Marlins’ second championship season, Dombrowski was already long gone, up in Detroit, trying to turn the Tigers around. They’d reunite in December 2007, when Dombrowski acquired him and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins in exchange for several future stars. Thanks to a pair of 8-year extensions – both during Dombrowski’s tenure – Cabrera has been in Detroit ever since.
In recent years, Dombrowski’s portfolio of repeats has expanded to include David Price (Tigers, Red Sox), Rick Porcello (Tigers, Red Sox), Doug Fister (Tigers, Red Sox), JD Martinez (Tigers, Red Sox), Nick Castellanos (Tigers, Phillies), Corey Knebel (Tigers, Phillies), and now, Kimbrel.
Dave Dombrowski signs Craig Kimbrel to one-year deal with Phillies
Kimbrel is a risk, but the Phillies need bullpen help. Zach Eflin was solid after returning from the Injured List, but he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Phillies also just signed Matt Strahm, one of Boston’s only reliable arms in 2022.
In a bit of irony, Dombrowski’s own career was also shaped by the same methodology. When the Red Sox hired him in August 15, the job reunited him with his own former boss, John Henry. The principal owner of the Boston baseball club purchased the Marlins near the end of Dombrowski’s tenure.
