PHOENIX - Dave Dombrowski, sitting on the Philadelphia Phillies bench wearing a golf shirt, sports jacket, slacks and not a hair out of place, gazes across the field at the out-of-town scoreboard.
It’s that time of year.
Another division race.
Another October awaiting.
Dombrowski, 70, is the only baseball executive to lead four different teams to the World Series with 10 playoff berths, nine division titles, five pennants and two World Series championships.
His career will culminate one day in Cooperstown with induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but before he’s done -with another contract extension awaiting him this winter - there’s this fierce desire raging inside of him.
Dombrowski doesn’t want to leave the game without winning it all, at least one more time, for the city of Philadelphia.
He’s still haunted by the memories of 2013 when the Detroit Tigers were the best team in baseball, on their way to the World Series, only for David Ortiz’s stunning grand slam at Fenway Park that flipped the American League Championship Series upside down.
The Tigers fell to the Boston Red Sox in six games, were swept out of the playoffs the following season and Dombrowski was fired the next. He turned a team that lost 119 games in 2003 into a World Series team three years later that became a power, winning four consecutive AL Central titles, but not that coveted World Series title for beloved owner Mike Ilitch.
Now, even after winning the World Series in 2018 with the Red Sox, Dombrowski is consumed, almost obsessed, by his desire to win for Phillies owner John Middleton, never again wanting to experience that same frustration and pain of failing to win a title while Ilitch was alive.
“It would mean everything,’’ Dombrowski tells USA TODAY Sports. “Just everything. You don't find a better owner, a more supportive owner than John Middleton. And the city of Philadelphia, they're so supportive of our team. We've been in playoffs four straight years, and hopefully this year is five, but it's different when you win the whole thing.
“That’s one of the things I really kick myself is that we never won the world championship in Detroit. We had so many good teams. We were in the World Series a couple of times. We won the division a bunch of times. But we just never won the whole thing.
“I just hope that we can bring John the pleasure of a World Series championship because he gives us everything, and gives all the support that you can possibly have from an owner to win.’’
The Phillies will definitely be in the postseason for a fifth consecutive season either as a division winner or a wild-card entrant. It will mark only the second time in franchise history they’ve reached the postseason five years in a row.
Yet, this is Philadelphia. Anything less than a World Series championship will be a failure. Once again.
The Phillies were in the World Series for the first time in 14 years in 2022, but lost to Houston. They looked like they were headed back the next year, only to be blindsided by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLCS, blowing a 3 games-to-2 lead at home. They have never recovered.
Now, here they are, the hottest team in baseball since August, with perhaps their best chance to win that coveted title, armed with perhaps the deepest and most talented starting rotation in the National League, an All-Star closer and a lineup featuring a future Hall of Famer, the game’s premier power-hitter and a three-time batting champion.
Dombrowski sat down with USA TODAY Sports this past week and discussed an array of wide-ranging topics from his reputation of mortgaging the future for the present, the Bryce Harper "elite" comments, the firing of manager Rob Thomson, the bold trade for Luis Arraez, and his future.
One last rodeo
Dombrowski will receive a contract extension no matter how the Phillies fare in the postseason, with Middleton once even offering him a lifetime contract before setting on a deal that expires after 2027. Yet, the days of wanting to start a franchise in Nashville where he has a home, or even becoming the next baseball commissioner, are over.
“There may be a day where John might not like me,’’ Dombrowski said, laughing. “But this will be my last full-time job. I love it here. I want to just keep going.’’
Considering Manfred is retiring in 2029, why not be the heir apparent?
“There was a point in time when my name was one of the names out there," Dombrowski said. “At that point, I would think you’d have to at least be interested right? You’re leading all Major League Baseball and have a chance to do something you love.
“It would have been a tremendous opportunity. Those days have passed me by now because now they're looking for younger people. Rob [Manfred] has done a good job for the game, and I’ve been happy where I’ve been, so it’s worked out fine.’’
The farm system ridicule
While Dombrowski has been one of the most successful executives in baseball history, he still receives heavy criticism for his handling of the farm system, with the belief that he couldn't care less about an organization’s future as long as his major-league club is winning now.
Dombrowski has heard it ever since he traded a young prospect named Randy Johnson to the Seattle Mariners for veteran starter Mark Langston in May 1989, only for the Expos to miss the playoffs while Johnson went onto become one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in baseball history. Expos owner Charles Bronfman was the one who gave Dombrowski the mandate to win now before selling the franchise, but it was Dombrowski who was ridiculed.
Now, nearly 40 years later, there are still franchises who hoard their prospects in lieu of trying to win a World Series, as if being on the cover of Baseball America for prospect rankings is somehow more thrilling than a championship parade.
Go ahead, ask Seattle Mariners fans how they feel about their prized farm system, with a major-league team that has made the postseason just twice in the last 25 years and are one of the game’s greatest disappointments this year. Ask Baltimore Orioles fans how their star-studded collection of prospects is working out? When does the Pittsburgh Pirates’ playoff run begin after all of those years of collecting prospects?
So is Dombrowski supposed to be ridiculed for actually having the gall to trade away prospects for proven major-league players who can help them win a World Series?
Is anyone in Philly still irate that Dombrowski traded prospects to acquire starter Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins, and then signed him to a five-year, $135 million extension in spring to keep him from reaching free agency this winter? Any complaints about the prospects used by Dombrowski to acquire All-Star closer Jarren Duran from the Minnesota Twins? How about the prospects used to grab three-time batting champion Arraez from the San Francisco Giants?
Anyone? Anyone?
Dombrowski remembers the same angst when he acquired Miguel Cabrera from the Miami Marlins when he was in Detroit, and Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox when he was in Boston. You think the Tigers turn into a power without Cabrera or the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series without Sale?
If the Phillies win the World Series, you think anyone in Philadelphia will really care about how the prospects who were trade fare?
“We’re here to win, right?’’ Dombrowski says. “That’s what we’re here for. When I started working for Roland Hemond, he was a very aggressive trader. He basically would say, 'Hey, when you have a chance to win, you go for it.’ You can never take it for granted because sometimes you think you're going to be really good, and that this will come along every year, and it doesn't happen.’’
Certainly, there are prospects that Dombrowski won’t trade. He refused to listen to offers for Justin Verlander when he was with the Tigers. Yet, without having prospects to trade, the Phillies wouldn’t have Luzardo, Duran or Brandon Marsh on their team, either
“We could have traded for anybody at the deadline if we had given up more prospects,’’ Dombrowski says. “Some guys, we chose not to trade. What’s amazing is that people criticize our farm system, but we’ve had [Justin] Crawford come up. We’ve had [Andrew] Painter come up. We’ve had [Alex] McFarlane come up. We’ve always had prospects to make trades.
“The reality is that I've never been in a spot where I couldn't make a trade because of prospects.’’
It’s a blueprint that A.J. Preller of the San Diego Padres has diligently followed, taking it to even a higher level. Preller traded four of their best prospects away for All-Star outfielder Juan Soto. And his top prospect again for All-Star closer Mason Miller. And they traded prospects to acquire Robbie Ray and Casey Mize at this year’s deadline, too.
The way Dombrowski and Preller view it, if you have a strong scouting and development staff, your prospect pipeline is going to keep flowing anyway, so why hide behind prospects just to help your job security?
“I give A.J. a lot of credit for going for it,’’ Dombrowski says. “I really admire what he’s done. We all want to win, right? We want to win the whole thing. And sometimes you have to do things that are hard, but look at the run they’ve had year after year. He trades guys away, but then he always seems to have guys the next year that other people want. He doesn’t run out of prospects.’’
What may be seen as a prized prospect by others may be viewed only as a future journeyman by those who know him best. Remember when the baseball world thought that Dombrowski grossly overpaid when he traded prized infielder Yoan Moncada, pitchers Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz and outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe to the White Sox for Sale. While those players never came close to being stars, Sale is pitching his way to Cooperstown.
“I think all of us over-evaluate our top prospects,’’ Dombrowski says, “but I read reports and how guys are top 20 or top 50 prospects, and a lot of those rankings just aren’t accurate. So, you have to take them all with a grain of salt.’’
Still elite
It’s not just the way prospects are viewed today, but the entire job has changed since Dombrowski burst onto the scene learning under Hemond with the Chicago White Sox. He became the youngest GM in baseball with the Montreal Expos at the age of 31, and had a front office that consisted of five or six people. Today, the Phillies have more than 30 employees in their analytics department alone.
“I think it's more challenging now because there's so much more information that we have,’’ Dombrowski says, “and we've become so much bigger as an organization. I mean, I was one of the first assistant general managers. Nobody even had an assistant.’’
Dombrowski started before Google was invented, let alone the internet. There were no cell phones. You could engage in trade conversations or private talks with players without being splashed from coast to coast. Newspapers were your sole source of information.
These days, everything is up for public consumption. When Dombrowski spoke in his year-end press conference last season, he was asked about Bryce Harper, and merely said, “He didn’t have an elite season like he’s had in the past. I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good.’’
The next thing you knew, unfounded Harper trade rumors began circulating, Harper was wearing posting pictures of himself wearing workout shirts reading “not elite’’ and everyone was questioning why Dombrowski was so critical of Harper.
“I mean, one of the things that ends up happening, and it's just life in general, there's so much social media,’’ Dombrowski said. “So much. So anytime you say anything, it just is all over the place. Before you might say something that didn't go anywhere, or a very small type of thing. Now, everything gets brought to people's attention, and more people comment on it.
“It’s the same with life, how things have just changed in general.’’
The managerial change
What doesn’t change and never will, Dombrowski says, is his passion for the job. He still loves the job like he did when he was barely out of college. He still has the same enthusiasm and energy. He’s the only top baseball executive who regularly travels with the team, making virtually every trip, and routinely interacts with the players on the road.
“If I didn’t have the same excitement and passion for it, I can’t imagine doing it,’’ he said. “I don’t know how you could do the job properly. To me, it's just as exciting as ever. You're in a pennant race and on the edge of your seat every single day.’’
Yet, four months ago when the Phillies last faced Atlanta in late April, it looked like their only race would be one to the tee box in October. They were 9-19 and already 10½ games out of first place when they lost their series to Atlanta and flew back to Philadelphia.
A day later, Dombrowski summoned his key front office employees, asked their opinions and decided to fire manager Rob Thomson. He reached out to Alex Cora, his manager from Boston who had just been dismissed, but he was rebuffed. He then turned to Don Mattingly, the Phillies’ bench coach and son of GM Preston Mattingly, who agreed to take over the rest of the season.
The Phillies took off, winning 16 of their next 20 games, and the season was saved.
“We have played much better since the change, much better,’’ Dombrowski said. “We just weren’t playing good at all. I think the world of Rob, but we needed to do something. Once we get past this year and things get settled down, hopefully he can be part of the organization again.’’
While it could have been uncomfortable with the Mattinglys becoming the first father-son to be GM and manager of the same club, and certainly the first manager to spank a GM growing up, it has been a seamless transition.
“The first thing is,’’ Dombrowski says, “it’s Don Mattingly, you know what I mean. Don and Preston are such quality people. I think it might be awkward if Preston was running everything, but I'm the one deciding what ends up happening. So, I think that takes away a lot of that other stuff.
“Preston will still criticize his dad, so that's not a problem. And Don listens to him when it comes to that stuff. But you can't criticize very much. I mean, since he's been here, what are we, [27] games above .500?’’
The trade
The only time the Phillies struggled since Mattingly came aboard was in July when they lost 15 of 24 games, with their postseason hopes drifting away.
Dombrowski scoured the landscape for a right-handed hitting outfielder, but no one available moved the needle, so he did the unimaginable.
He focused not only on a left-handed bat, but an infielder.
He pursued three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, who had publicly said he didn’t want to be traded anywhere that didn’t allow him to continue playing second base.
“We were looking at other alternatives for us, but we just felt that he might be the one move that would give our offense the best chances of getting better," Dombrowski said. “We needed to hit left-hand pitching better, so you’re thinking a right-handed hitter, but Arraez hits over .300 against both."
So Dombrowski reached out to Harper, asked him if he’d be willing to move from first base to right field, which he readily agreed, setting the wheels in motion. They completely rearranged the infield furniture with Bryson Stott moving from second base to third base and third baseman Alec Bohm moving from third base to first base, and opening second base for Arraez.
The trade drew widespread skepticism, shuffling three players to new positions with two months left in the season. It would be one of the most daring trades in Dombrowski’s career.
The Phillies took off, going 21-7 in August, their most second-most victories in a month in franchise history, not only scoring the second-most runs of any team in baseball, but also becoming much better defensively.
“He gives us the ability to score in different fashions than we normally do,’’ Dombrowski says. “Since he's joined us, you see a club that has been much more disciplined at the plate, much more willing to take walks, and he lengthens our lineup a lot.’’
But none of it would have been made possible without everyone buying into the experiment.
“You have to have a club that is open-minded and cooperative,’’ Dombrowski says, “and that started really with Bryce Harper saying that he'd go to the outfield. That really made a difference. If he said he didn't want to go to the outfield, well, I don't think we could have made a trade.
“And we knew that once Bryce was willing to move, the others would follow.’’
A Hollywood ending?
There will be a time, of course, when Dombrowski will shut it down. He’s been doing this gig for nearly 40 years, becoming the youngest GM in history in 1988 for the Expos. The only current GM who has even done it 25 years is Brian Cashman of the Yankees, who came along a decade later in 1998.
Yet, Dombrowski is healthy, still in great shape and hasn’t lost a bit of enthusiasm.
“I love what I'm doing,’’ he said. “Knock on wood, I'm healthy. I still have energy for it. I have a great ownership with John. A great front office. I love the city of Philadelphia. So, basically, I’ll just take it as it goes.’’
And, perhaps, Dombrowski hopes, at least one more magical October ride will come his way.
Wouldn’t it be something, Dombrowski was asked, if his life comes full circle in October?
What if the Phillies are not only playing in the World Series, but they’re facing the Chicago White Sox, the same team that gave him his start as an administrative assistant in 1978?
Dombrowski, who worked under new owner Jerry Reinsdorf with rookie manager Tony La Russa, would be reunited with Reinsdorf, 90, baseball’s longest-tenured owner and La Russa, 81, who went onto become a Hall of Fame manager and now a White Sox special adviser.
Hello Hollywood, it’s South Philly.
“I’ll take Phillies against anybody,’’ Dombrowski says, laughing. “That’s all I’m asking. Phillies against anybody. I’m not picky.’’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dave Dombrowski has fierce desire to win title for Phillies owner
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