Dave Dombrowski met with the press today and fielded questions for about an hour. Jaosn Beck, Tom Gage, and John Lowe had it covered. There is enough there to warrant about 6 posts worth of further explanation. But until that happens…

Miguel Cabrera

Dombrowski had a range of emotions about the situation, many were negative, but it wasn’t the first time he’s been in this situation in his 20 years as GM. It’s not surprising that he believes Cabrera will take the necessary steps. As for the question on whether he should have played Saturday night, that gets a little more gray. The response was:

“First of all, you have some legalities that are involved. You probably should know the rules when it comes to the Basic Agreement (the collective-bargaining agreement between the clubs and the players union).

“Secondly, we thought he was capable of going out there and playing.”

I admit to knowing nothing about the rules involved when a player has been drinking and is scheduled to play. I will say the answer was somewhat evasive in that they “thought” he was capable of playing. There was no comment on whether they thought they made the right decision.

Lloyd McClendon

Dombrowski said he was a “very good hitting coach” but he also made no commitment about the coaching staff remaining the same. I still think McClendon is gone. He could very well be a good hitting coach, but the players did not respond to him this year. Whether or not he knows what he’s doing becomes moot if it isn’t being translated to results.

Dombrowski also spoke of changing the team’s approach throughout the organization with regards to plate discipline (like increasing it). Toby Harrah is the minor league hitting coordinator so his job may be at stake as well, but when you’re talking about an organization wide change in philosophy that doesn’t bode well for the incumbent hitting coach. (I have a full McClendon post I’ve been working on for about 2 weeks so there is more coming).

The final likely dagger is probably that Dombrowski said he expects much of the offensive improvement next year to come from within, kind of like the expectation about pitching improvement going into 2009.

Free Agents

Dombrowski didn’t say much except to say he didn’t have a budget yet but that he can’t retain all the free agents. Beck astutely pointed out that Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn are in that pool thought so he didn’t really tip his hand too much about the fates of Placido Polanco, Brandon Lyon, Fernando Rodney, and Adam Everett.

He did say that the team would likely use a rotation at the designated hitter spot which makes sense. No need to pay extra for DH’s when you have a couple on the roster already.

Jim Leyland

Okay, he didn’t say anything about Jim Leyland. But for those who think he should be fired Dombrowski said that he thought this was about an 86 win team. The team won 86 games. So in Dombrowski’s view they didn’t really under perform so I wouldn’t expect Leyland’s demise anytime soon.

This is the DTW’s first foray into live web video. The show will kick off at 11 a.m. and you can watch it below. If you’d like to make comments you can head over to the ustream.tv page and join in the chat. I’ll be talking about the Tigers offseason, and the Jack Wilson rumors. Feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to tackle those as well.

I’ll try and archive this for later viewing after the show, and links I mention I will include in this post as well.

UPDATE: The archived version is now up below.

Recap

We touched on the Jack Wilson trade rumors, of which I have mixed emotions depending on who the Tigers give up. I pitched Josh Bard over Gerald Laird again. I expressed frustration over the relievers the Tigers are linked to. Mostly I’m worried that I don’t know what direction the Tigers are moving in, is it cost cutting or competing and how much impact will the Big 3 situation effect the payroll.

Thanks to all those who participated and spread the word. Thanks also to my co-host Jade the Beagle.

Links to stuff mentioned

• Bless You Boys
• Motown Sports
• Those who plugged it on Twitter @big_al_twfe, @livetweetlinks, @coryh64 (check out his Pirates blog), @piraterev, @blessyouboys, and @dougwernet.
• Dombrowski with NY Daily News
• Jack Wilson rumors
• Joe Beimel rumors

Jon Paul Morosi is covering the GM meetings from California and he caught up with Dave Dombrowski. Among the nuggets Dombrowski spoke about the 2010 closer situation and the payroll.

On a closer for the year-after-next, Dombrowski believes the candidate is in house. Given the college-reliever heavy draft this summer, that isn’t surprising. Among Ryan Perry, Cody Satterwhite, and others (Casey Fien, Joel Zumaya, Freddy Dolsi) I’d hope that’s a safe bet. It also makes it unlikely, as Morosi points out, that the Tigers are going to go after a top shelf free agent closer who will command multiple years.

Dombrowski also revealed that the 2009 payroll would not see “a significant difference” from 2008. With the team already committed to spending a little over $100 million on 11 players, that means the Tigers have about $25 million left to find a shortstop, a catcher, resign Justin Verlander, bolster the bullpen and rotation, and fill in the rest of the spots with league-minimum players under club control (like Matt Joyce).

At GM meetings, Dombrowski says Tigers have in-house closing candidates for 2010 | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Dave Dombrowski told Lynn Henning and the Detroit News that Jim Leyland will be managing the Tigers next year. Seeing as this wasn’t a sound bite, it’s tough to get a flavor for how ringing the endorsement was given this is the quote that Henning had:

“Yes, oh yeah,” Dombrowski said when asked if Leyland would absolutely return in 2009. “He’s under contract next year.”

No mention of his aptitude or qualifications, simply a statement that Leyland is under contract. Curious?

As for my take, I agree with Leyland in that he stunk this year. I’ve never been a fan of his in game management, but watching the 2006 team made me question my previously held belief that managers couldn’t really make that much of a difference. Maybe a capable leader could motivate professionals making millions of dollars to play better.

But then there was this year. A year when the team came out flat. When the team was making fundamental baserunning, fielding, and pitching mistakes. That’s all on Leyland’s watch. The good of 2006 and the bad of 2008.

Then there is the matter of the August-September swoons. I wasn’t worried the first 2 years, because a sample of two hardly marks a trend. But this year’s limp to the finish line is enough to make me concerned.

In short, I don’t know if I want him back.

Google Book Search has The 2008 Hardball Times Baseball Annual. If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you may remember that I contributed an article about Dave Dombrowski. Well that article happens to be one of the ones made available on Google. So if you were to cheap to buy the annual (I kid of course), you can read parts of it for free.

But before you click over there is one thing that I need to heavily emphasize. This was written in August and early September of 2007. This was prior to the remarkably active 2008 offseason. Suffice it to say, I probably would have written a few things differently.

The Hardball Times Baseball Annual – Google Book Search

Table of contents for The Cabrera-Willis Trade

1. Holy Freakin Crap
2. The Cabrera- Willis Trade – early returns
3. The 6 runs per game lineup
4. The New Tigers speak
5. Where should Cabrera play?
6. The Coda

Wrapping up some outstanding items from what very well could be one of the most significant trades in franchise history…

Replenishment

Peter Gammons astutely pointed out that the Tigers were able to make this trade because of Ilitch’s and Dombrowski’s refusal to adhere to the asinine draft slotting system. Not only did a willingness to pay above slot money directly allow for the acquisition of main trade chits Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, it also meant that a this type of aggressiveness meant that the Tigers cupboard – while depleted – isn’t bare.

Many of the Tigers new top prospects are the product of slot-buster signings in the most recent draft. Headlined by Rick Porcello, the group also includes Cale Iorg and Casey Crosby among others.

The question then becomes how long can this remain an advantage for the Tigers? Surely other organizations have taken notice of the Tigers strategy, and it’s not that different than what other big market clubs have done. While some teams will still religiously adhere to the slotting system, I have to believe that more teams adopt a more aggressive stance on acquiring top shelf talent early on.

Will the Tigers be able to reload quickly by just outspending on the draft? I don’t mean to minimize the work that David Chadd and his scouts do, because it is easy to make bad decisions with big piles of money. But when you’re willing to spend what it takes to get Maybins and Millers and Porcellos, it certainly improves your chances for success.

On the defensive

I just wanted to do a quick follow up on the value of Cabrera’s defense. It was a hot topic here on Friday and commentor Ryan S pointed out that PMR thought Cabrera was okay in 2006. I should have looked at more than one year of data, and in my haste I got a little sloppy. In terms of run value PMR had Cabrera at +5.2 runs in 2006 at the hot corner. Perhaps Cabrera isn’t awful, and simply underperformed in 2007 due to his weight gain, or the crappy Florida environment.

Taking it a little further I also looked at UZR numbers for Cabrera. In 2006 he rated -14 runs per 150 games. That happened to be the worst rating for third baseman who played at least 120 games. In 2007 UZR rated Cabrera as the worst third baseman in the National League at -28 runs while Brandon Inge ranked tops in the AL at +12.

As for his outfield prowess, he was merely below average in UZR splitting time between left and right field in 2004, but was -21 runs per 150 games while manning left in 2005.

Inge’ing away

But as I suspected even before I wrote the post, Inge won’t be playing third base for the Tigers. The high socks will be of a different color in 2007 as Inge has requested to be traded. I understand Inge’s desire to still be a starter, but I have to wonder if it’s in his best interest. He was mighty peeved when he got bumped from his starting catcher role in 2004, but that seemed to work out pretty good for him.

But given his 2007 offensive season, and his remaining contract, there doesn’t appear to be much of a market for Inge. Bless You Boys takes a look at several possible destinations.

Historical Context

Detroit Tiger Tales takes a look at Cabrera’s offense and puts in the context of Tigers history. If Cabrera can do for the Tigers what he has done for the Marlins, his OPS numbers will rank behind only Cobb, Greenberg, Heilman, and Crawford.

The Dombrowski factor

The praise for Dombrowski has been effusive to say the least, and deservedly so. As I’ve mentioned here before, I wrote a piece about Dombrowski for this year’s Hardball Times Annual (shipping now! get it in time for the holidays! please buy the book!). While I wrote the thing in September, it seems so dated given the flurry of activity this off season. But at least some of the main points of the article still hold true – so I got lucky that Dombrowski didn’t change his methodology.

I bring this up because Eric bought the book and read the article and had some comments on it worth checking out.

But mostly I bring up Dombrowski in this post so I can reference a certain article written by Rob Parker in February 2006. I’d link to the article, but it’s gone from the News site (I’m not implying anything – just that you have to pay to see it now), and the cached version in google has even been removed. So I thought it was worth the $3 to buy it from the archives for entertainment purposes. I won’t reproduce the whole thing to avoid any legal issues, but I will quote the beginning of the article:

The worst general manager in Detroit?

It’s not who you think.

Sure, Matt Millen, president of the Lions, has tried to grab the title. His 21-59 record in five seasons is horrendous.

But realistically, it’s got to be Dave Dombrowski of the Tigers.

Why?

At least Millen has an excuse. He had no experience when he was hired to lead the Lions.

Dombrowski has been at this gig for a while — initially with Montreal in 1988, then in Florida in 1993 and with Detroit in 2003.

And he still can’t get it right.

The Alex Rodriguez to Detroit rumors just won’t die. Going into the offseason I thought the Tigers chances would be similar to their playoff chances in September. Stuff had to fall their way, and it was a longshot, but that they were still in a better position than most teams. But since the end of the World Series, the rumors haven’t stopped.

I thought that the acquisition of Edgar Renteria would take care of that speculation. It didn’t even put a dent in it. Ken Rosenthal still thought it was a fit. Even if it meant bringing in the fences. Meanwhile Jayson Stark was saying that he saw Rodriguez ending up with the Mets or Tigers. Jon Heyman from SI.com lists the Tigers as one of 3 teams moving up in the A-Rod race.

So to squelch all this talk Dave Dombrowski flat out said:

“We don’t have any interest”

…

“We filled our spot when we acquired Renteria”

Still, that isn’t enough to dampen the A-Rod to Detroit enthusiasm. Buster Olney reports that other executives think that Boras could just negotiate directly with Mike Ilitch. But interestingly Jerry Crasnick spoke with 15 GM’s and none mentioned the Tigers as a potential destination for Rodriguez. Maybe the latter group of GM’s read the Business Week article about Ilitch from September when Ilitch said the Tigers weren’t ready to make the $30 million a year leap.

And 3 more A-Rod/Boras-y articles I couldn’t work into the above narrative:

• SportingNews.com – Appraising A-Rod
• The Sporting Scene: The Extortionist: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
• Battling Boras — The Hardball Times
• UPDATE: Found one more Choose Your Own Adventure – Congratulations you’re a Tiger

Tigers lose 2

It looked like the Tigers were grooming their next manager in Matt Walbeck. He had 3 successful seasons and asked for and was granted a promotion to Erie last year. Now he’s the Texas Rangers 3rd base coach. Maybe this is just some MLB seasoning for the 2010 season? No replacement has been named but Tom Brookens, the Whitecaps manager in 2007, will be considered.

The Tigers also lost scout Greg Smith who will be scouting director in Pittsburgh.

Dave Dombrowski, Jim Leyland, and Chuck Hernandez took in some instructional league action today. Everybody is in Lakeland this week for organizational meetings so they could have been discussing anything.

Maybe they were talking about the way that the ball explodes out of Rick Porcello’s hand, or maybe the kid’s follow through.

Perhaps they were discussing how much David Eckstein would be worth if he left the St. Louis Cardinals. Would 2 years and $14 or $15 million be too much for a player with declining skills?

It could be they were thinking bigger and deciding if it is worth dealing with everything besides the money it would take to get Alex Rodriguez signed. That negotiation certainly wouldn’t be a picnic (thanks MetsBlog.com!). Would you want to deal with this?

‘All these things have to be part of the deal or there’s not a deal,’ including an office at the stadium for his marketing person, a luxury box where he could host people, and after the game people come down to the clubhouse and get things signed. That he had become so big he can’t fly commercially, so he’s going to need charter airfare. That he wanted to meet with ownership and go through the scouting reports in the organization, since he’s making a long-term commitment, of who is coming up in the farm system to know there’s a bright future to play with around him. He wanted to have a tent in spring training to sell A-Rod apparel. He wanted to know what the team marketing plan was going to be around him as he joined the team. I think that’s about everything.

Or maybe they were just talking about Cameron Maybin’s 2 homer night in the Arizona Fall League.

Really, it could be anything.

Last week Dave Dombrowski indicated that the club would like to have Todd Jones back, but under the condition that he may be moved out of the closer’s role at some point during the season. Right now the ball is in Todd Jones court as he evaluates his options, and tries for a gig closer to his Alabama home. But is a set up role better for Jones than as the 9th inning man?

Not your typical closer

Jones doesn’t possess one trait that is common among closers, an ability to strike hitters out. In 2007 Todd Jones was dead last, by a considerable margin, among closers (or people who finished at least 35 games). His 4.84 was considerably behind David Weathers 5.56. What’s more is that there were 12 closers who’s K-rate was more than double that of Jones.

Still, Jones manages success because of other things he doesn’t do. His renaissance as a closer came in 2005 with the Florida Marlins when he simply stopped walking people. He only issued 25 free passes between 2005 and 2006 in over 130 innings. However in 2007 he struggled with his control, relatively speaking and issued 23 walks in 61.1 innings, and that put him in the bottom half of closers.

So with a bad strike out rate, and a not so good walk rate, he must have had sterling defense behind him right? Not so much. His batting average on balls in play was .299 which ranked in the bottom 3rd, or the top 3rd depending on your point of view, but it’s the bad 3rd regardless.

Look at these numbers, how did Jones manage to have blown save numbers comparable to Francisco Rodriguez and Bobby Jenks? He had 2 things working for him. The first is that he keeps the ball in the park. He only allowed only allowed 3 homers this year, and a slugging percentage of .371 meant that it would take several hits for Jones to blow a save.

Protecting the protector

Second, he was typically starting with the bases clean. He only inherited 7 runners all season (2 of which scored), only 6 other closers faced fewer. Only 4 times he was brought in to the middle of an inning. And of those 3 times there were already 2 outs and never did those runners on base represent the tying or winning runs. So while Jones was utilized to protect leads, he was protected in that role.

And that last point really gets to the crux of the Jones argument. Should he be the closer or a set up guy? I’ve been a supporter of Jones in the closer role for exactly this reason that due to a low strike out rate he works best in a situation where the next hit doesn’t spell doom. In 2006 Tigers fans watched Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney routinely come in and extinguish threats protecting narrow margins with runners on base. Truly facing those high leverage situations right? Wrong?

If you look at leverage index (LI is a measure of the crucial-ness of a situation), Todd Jones faced the highest leverage situations each of the last 2 years. If you’re like me your first inclination is to think “well duh, he pitched himself into those situations” but that’s not the case – entirely anyways.

Jones average LI when entering a game in 2007 was 1.76, essentially meaning that the typical situation was 1.76 times more crucial than a randomly selected situation. Joel Zumaya, coming into those tighter spots was 1.65. Given Zumaya’s and Rodney’s injuries this year, it’s worth looking at last year as well. Zumaya was actually a little lower last year at 1.58 while Jones was almost identical at 1.74.

The discrepancy has to do with the fact that the later in the game it is, the less time there is to recover. Coming into the top of the 8th with a 1 run lead has a 2.2 LI versus at 2.9 LI with the same lead at the beginning of the 9th. So even with runner-on situations in the 7th and 8th innings, there were enough times that Zumaya would come in starting an inning clean that he wasn’t really being maximally leveraged.

Should he still close?

Jones probably received to much grief from Tigers fans last season. He of course had his roller coaster moments, but he also turned in 24 1-2-3 9th innings this year. At the same time he’s probably pushing his luck as far as he can push it. Jones had a decent K-rate until last year (7.5 per 9 innings pitched), but he’s gone the last 2 years only fanning a batter every other inning. His margin for error has become exceedingly thin.

That said Jones can still provide value, but he has to be used similarly to how he has been the last 2 years. He shouldn’t be coming into jams, but there’s no reason he couldn’t be expected to eat the 7th or 8th innings, especially with a Zumaya like talent available to work out of jams.

At this point it becomes how much the Tigers want to pay for established bullpen depth. To get Jones, the Tigers will probably have to pay closer to closer money than set-up man money. Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland have shown a preference for the familiar and so a premium of a couple million for a one year deal probably won’t be an issue.

We’ve now heard from all the relevant players involved in the should we exercise Pudge’s option discussion. Mike Ilitch weighed in on Pudge last night:

“Pudge did a big thing for us, putting a face on the franchise,” Ilitch told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. “He’s made a lot of contributions.
“I don’t think it’ll be a tough call, but we’ll see.”

And Pudge’s agent Scott Boras made his statement yesterday as well:

“In this marketplace, if they no longer wanted Pudge, that would surprise me, knowing what Pudge has done for the organization and knowing the loyalty the Ilitch family has for their players,” Boras said.

Boras of course speaks agent, so make of it what you will. He also cited that since Pudge had made the club so much money that he thought it would lead to the “fulfillment of his contract” which of course will be fulfilled either through the buyout or the option. Nevermind that Pudge made a lot of money playing for the club, way more than anyone else was offering at the time and the Tigers essentially bailed out Boras and Pudge.

Dave Dombrowski of course chimed in on Monday with the media and in typical Dombrowski fashion didn’t indicate which way the club was leaning.

And the then final player in this drama, Pudge, spoke of his time in Detroit in the past tense. Of course he was asked to reflect on his time in Detroit, or essentially he was asked to reflect on the past, so I don’t see the use of the past tense as peculiar.

“It was a good roll here. It was very nice. Very good four years.”

So put the pieces together the way you want. I still think he’s coming back, either via the option or an extension.

Dave Dombrowski held court today in what was deemed an informal availability session and broached a number of topics.  Jason Beck was first to the web with the bullet points.  Definitely click through to Beck’s reporting, but I’ll weigh in on the bullets as well.

Pudge Rodriguez

No decision yet on Pudge and Dombrowski indicated the team might use their full allotment of time (10 days after the World Series) to make a decision. I just documented my thoughts on the situation and believe Pudge needs to be back next year. Whether that means picking up the option, or buying him out and inking him to a 2 year deal that pays him $7-8 million per – I’d be okay with both.

Todd Jones

Beck says:

They’ve expressed their interest in bringing Todd Jones back for next year, but while he would come back as a closer to start the year, they wouldn’t commit to keeping him there as the season went on.

I like the plan, and don’t want to see Jones blocking Zumaya. At the same time, if Jones is back, and can’t hold down the closer role that probably isn’t a good sign. Also, Jones is looking to see if Atlanta would be interested so he could be closer to home. I’ll be taking a deeper dive look at Jones coming up soon.

The rotation

Three spots are set and allocated to Verlander/Bonderman/Robertson. One spot will go to a veteran – like Kenny Rogers if he chooses to come back or another acquisition if he doesn’t- and the other spot will go to a kid to be determined. While trading Robertson would bring back some value, it also leaves a hole in the rotation and going into the season counting on more than one of Jurrjens/Miller/Bazardo to hold down a roster spot for a full year is a risky proposition. The thought of the three of them holding down one spot and then being available for injuries/tired arms is pretty appealing. Plus a one year deal for Rogers means the whole veteran presence without commiting to someone who might block a youngster when they are ready.

Left Field

Will look to get a left handed bat for the outfield that could be a starter, or a platoon partner for Marcus Thames. The ability to get a starter will probably be directly impacted on the cost of a shortstop, and whether or not they need to fill Kenny’s spot with a longer term contract that would consume more resources.

Jurrjens and Sheffield

Jurrjens will be spending the offseason with Gary Sheffield and working with Sheff’s trainer so that Jurrjens gains strength. I can only wonder how this came about. Did the club initiate it? Did Jurrjens initiate it? Was it Sheffield’s idea? For some reason this just strikes me as a fascinating conversation and a very interesting dynamic. A veteran slugging outfielder near the end of his career teaming up with a 21 year old rookie pitcher from Curacao to build strength. Good times.

Beck’s Blog: No extension for Leyland … yet

Tigers President/CEO/General Manager David Dombrowski was kind enough to do an interview with DTW. The discussion touched on trends from the off-season, player development, and a look forward to the 2005 season. The theme throughout is that if the Tigers are going to have success, the improvement will have to come from within the organization.

Despite the Tigers and other AL Central teams trying to acquire free agents this offseason, once again most of those players migrated to the coasts. New York and Boston can offer players more money and the chance to play for a winning team. The west coast can offer players a great place to live, and in some cases a truck load of money (LA, Seattle, and somehow Arizona). The Central can offer a colder climate and much less money. Dombrowski recognizes this, “For the clubs [in the Central division] from a financial perspective it’s hard to compete for players with the upper echelon clubs because the dollars just aren’t there. You have to practice some fiscal responsibility. To be successful you’ll have to have successful farm systems. Minnesota has had success with their farm system. Cleveland is starting to have success as well. There may be occasional situations when people come to your city, but you have to develop players.”

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they have had difficulty producing talent from the farm system for more than a decade. While Tigers fans might not see money being invested in marquee free agents this year, there is an investment going towards improving the Tigers’ talent base. The Tigers hired David Chadd from Boston to become their new scouting director, and James Orr as Assistant Scouting Director. They have also increased their presence in Latin America. The Tigers have tried to “be more aggressive in signing players,” said Dombrowski who mentioned prospect Wilken Ramirez as an example. The Tigers also have improved facilities to work with in the Dominican Republic. They are now leasing Luis Rijo’s baseball facility which is a “much nicer place to bring players to and train them,” according to Dombrowski.

For Tigers fans that are tired of watching losing baseball, the investment in the minors may be of little consolation. To that end the Tigers did pursue free agents this year, but they didn’t get in all out bidding wars and avoided contracts that may be regrettable (i.e. Juan Gonzalez who was offered an 8 year contract by the Tigers is looking to sign a minor league deal now). The Tigers are in a “very solid position going forward,” Dombrowski said. The Tigers only have 3 players under contract beyond this season (Guillen, Percival, Rodriguez). What’s more, is that the Tigers young core of Infante, Bonderman, Maroth, Robertson, Ledezma, and others will still be at least 2 years away from free agency.

When asked if he felt additional pressure to build off the momentum of last season’s improvement, and capitalize on the increased revenue with the All Star game Dombrowski replied, “No, I don?t feel any additional pressure. I don’t think this year makes it different than any other year. You always want to put the best team out there. We’ve had some good things happen. What will continue the interest in the club is the club’s continued improvement.” Dombrowski believes that the club will continue to improve through the improvement of the young players. The thinking is that if the veterans can make their core contributions (performances typical of their career), the resulting improvement will come from the continued growth of the young players.

Two players who are looking to join that young core, Chris Spurling and Fernando Rodney, both underwent arm surgeries. Dombrowski said that both are progressing well. Spurling was throwing during the instructional league and Rodney is right on track. Alex Sanchez who missed the second half of the year with a hamstring injury is fully recovered.

As for Dombrowski’s takes on the off-season:
On the length and price of contracts and how if insuring contracts is still an issue:
“The insurability hasn’t changed. It is still out there. It may be that more clubs are willing to take the risk.”

On why more clubs haven’t worked out contracts similar to Pudge’s that have an out clause for specific injuries:
“Without getting into all of the details, it was a rather unique situation in Pudge’s case. A lot of things would have to fall into place.”

On the surge in big, long term contracts:
“Every year the off-season seems to take its own direction. You’re never sure what to anticipate. The industry had a healthy year last year. Also, a lot of contracts came off the books this year. It surprised me to the extent that the dollars and length went up.”

I’d like to thank Mr. Dombrowski for taking the time to talk with me. As someone who has watched this team closely for a long time, it is great to see members of the organization take such an interest in their fans. Keep in mind that this is a “fan site.” While I try to post news and insightful commentary (big emphasis on “try”) I’m by no means a journalist. Mr. Dombrowski had no obligation to spend time talking to me, and I wouldn’t have been the least bit offended if he declined my request.