Tigers GM D Dombrowski: from WDFN-AM 2/21/08 pt 1

Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski: Not shocked if Inge remains a Tiger; didn't anticipate this payroll

FREE PRESS STAFF AND SERVICES • February 23, 2008

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski talked to WDFN-AM (1130) on Thursday.

You’re not going to make a trade bigger than the one you made for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis are you, that might be the biggest one of your career might it not?

Yes, I think so. Realistically it probably is when you start talking about eight players, first of all two star players presently, like Cabrera and Willis, and then potential stars particularly like Miller and Maybin. You don’t make too many deals like that in your career. So yes, I think it is probably the biggest trade I’ve ever made, and probably has a chance to remain that way for the rest of my career.

Is it hard for you to trade prospects like Miller and Maybin? It almost seems to me like sometimes organizations coddle these guys like there their babies, like their own children, wait till it develops and all that kind of stuff. How tough is it to get rid of those guys that you saw four or five years down the line as being stars of the team, then?

Well it is hard because you’re always looking towards getting star players for the future. When they’re your young players and you think they have star potential and you basically cultivate them since they’ve been drafted, and out of high school and college and in Miller and Maybin’s cases both differently, but it’s one in which it is hard, but I think that you have to make sure that in your position, that you never grow to close or draw to many stringed rules, because you always have to be flexible depending upon what takes place, and in this case we’re getting a player in Cabrera who is going to be 25 years-old so he’s a youngster that hopefully we sign, he’ll be with us for a long, long time and you don’t have to watch Miguel Cabrera play very much to know what type of ability he has, and then Willis’ case, you got a guy who has had a down year, but has also been a very good major league pitcher who’s also only 26 years-old. So you get a couple young guys that I think if you’re going to talk about trading Maybin and Miller you don’t trade them for guys that are going to be free agents at the end of the year, but if you’re going to have people that can help you win and help you down the road those are things you have to consider.

Realistically where does it leave your farm system is it fairly dry prospect wise?

Well, that’s a great question. It’s no where near as strong as what it was, because in the last two winter times we’ve traded 12 guys from our system for four players at the major league level that have all been all-stars in recent years, and not given up anyone from our big league club, but I think it’s a little better than people think it is. We have a star potentially in Porcello. He has a chance to be a blue-chip guy and I think he’ll move relatively quickly. We have some guys that aren’t as maybe highly regarded, but when you look at guys a la (Scott) Sizemore, Holliman, and Larish here in camp, and Wilkin Ramirez, and Joyce, and Clete Thomas, Danny Worth who was our second-round pick and then the draft we had last year. I think we have a little more talent than what people think we do. It may not be as highly regarded when you take away the Miller and Maybins. We need to replenish it. It’s something we need to focus on, but it’s not like you come to camp and the people you bring to camp you say none of these guys are going to play in the big leagues. There’s a lot of guy in this camp that will play in the big leagues, they might not all be stars, but they’ll play in the big leagues.

Play hindsight, when you see what the Mets gave up for Johan Santana and you look at what you guys gave up for Renteria, in my mind, the Mets didn’t give up that much more to get Johan Santana, than you gave up for Edgar Renteria. Do you ever sit back and say if I would’ve waited maybe I could’ve gotten Santana?

No, I don’t because I think a couple things, first of all, in that situation in the division. Secondly, we weren’t on his shortlist to sign. He had NewYorks and Boston to my knowledge. Shortstop was our biggest need. At the time we had to fill our shortstop position. So no, and I don’t know if we would’ve been able to sign him if we would’ve offered those guys, and it was one year, plus a little bit more, we might’ve had a chance to make that type of deal. Now he had a no trade so he could’ve vetoed it, but I don’t think in that spot we would’ve had the same success, and that’s for us the way it fit in. I don’t know if we would’ve had those finances to be able to sign him.

Speaking of trades I don’t think it’s necessarily an issue on the field here in spring training but everybody knows the Brandon Inge issue, and here he is, and going to work out at catcher. I know you guys would like to trade him. Theoretically, could this go on for a while? Could you go through the season with him still here? Do you definitely want to trade him before the end of spring training?

No, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was still with us, it wouldn’t surprise me, whatsoever. I would love to have him. I’m very mixed on this one because there’s a part of me that knows that we’re a better club with Brandon on it. I also know he’s a very expensive super utility guy, at this point. If he’s here, and all efforts have been made, his attitude will be fine. He’ll want to play a little bit more, but Brandon’s a quality team player, and people when they say, “Well he’s selfish”, I don’t buy that. He’s signed to play, he’s earned that right, at this point now. He’s also accepting if it’s a situation here that he has to get at-bats at a lot of different spots. He’ll fill that role well for us. I’ve seen him swing the bat only a couple days, well more than that, in the spring because he came with the catchers. He’s swinging the bat as well as I’ve ever seen him swing it early, and he’s made some adjustments. It’s apparent he worked on some film in the winter time. He’s made many more adjustments going up the middle, and the opposite way you can watch his BPs they’re different than they’ve been in the past. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen but if he plays like that it’s not going to shock me that someone’s knocking on our door, and saying we’d like to trade for him. So we’ll see what happens, but we’re not going to give him away by any means.


You’re not going to get in a position where you’re at a point of weakness; you’re willing to go into the season with him and eager to?

Oh sure, there’s no question about that. There’s no doubt there was a time, oh back in December, I think we would’ve taken a couple prospects that are in the lower minors at that point, because I think it was the right thing to do. At this point it’s a situation we’ll have to analyze anything that comes across our desk as we would with any type of trade proposal, but it would not surprise me if he was with us, and we’ll see what happens.

The words success and finances came out of your mouth in different sentences it crossed my mind did you ever think 2003, 2004 even before the 119 losses that you would be in a position right now to have one of the best teams in baseball one of the highest payrolls in baseball Did you ever think that would happen because I know for a while things weren’t obviously not just win-loss record but it wasn’t very rosy with payroll and things like that?

Right, I would not have anticipated the payroll being in the situation that it is, and part of that is just how well we’ve drawn has been phenomenal, and the interest of our fans and just what’s taken place in that regard. So we’ve created a lot more revenue than I thought we would have created, so that’s really grown. I have to tip our cap to Duane McLean and the rest of our people in the business end of the operation. Of course Mr. I is the type of owner that will push the envelope. He’ll spend to make money, too, but I always have thought and hoped that we would always have one of the better teams. That was always my goal, but to be in a position to where our payroll would reach the point where it is, now I don’t think I would’ve fathomed it, because I didn’t think we could produce the revenue that we are at this point. We’re in a spot we’re going to put our individual game tickets on sale March 1st, I say this to people and they kind of chuckled, but when I was out on the caravan I told them, please if you want to get your seats, buy them quickly, don’t wait, because I was talking to our people the other day, and there’s some, after we get through our full season tickets and we’re over 25,000 now, and that’s going to grow a littler bit. I think we’re going to put more on sale pretty quickly here, maybe the beginning of next week. We’re in a spot with our group sales, we’re in a spot some games where we might have only a 2,000 seats available right now, we might have 1,000 for this game. So I really encourage people to go out there and buy them as quickly as they can, because there’s not that many available.

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Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski: Not shocked if Inge remains a Tiger; didn't anticipate this payroll

FREE PRESS STAFF AND SERVICES • February 23, 2008

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski talked to WDFN-AM (1130) on Thursday. Part 2

Is there a chance maybe it’s a bit of a long shot that every game is sold out? Is that possible?

Is there a chance? Yes, there is a chance.

Are you going to hold at least 500-1,000 tickets available each game for walk-up or is that too dangerous?

I would say I doubt it, and the reason is, is because as you get to this point, what took place last year, is that our walk-up was so small because people knew that so many tickets already had been sold, that we didn’t have many people walk up on a regular basis. I doubt that would happen, but that’d be something we’d have to sit back and strategize about.

We haven’t brought up the “B” word, the bullpen, if people are looking for something to fret about, about this stacked team it is the bullpen and the Joel Zumaya situation you’re in a tough spot because you sort of think he’ll be coming back at some point in the season but you don’t know he even said he doesn’t know if he’ll hit 100 mph or whatever how do you view your bullpen right now and would you be proactive on making a move earlier?

I understand why it’s going to get the focus of attention. We have a closer in Todd Jones that keeps everybody on the edge of their seat to start there. So I understand it, but he does the job, Todd does for us, so if he throws the way he has in the past I feel comfortable, and the way I look at it, we have a couple of lefthanders that we ideally like to have, in Byrdak and Seay, that did a good job for us last year. We have a little depth behind them, McBride and Rapada, so those are some spots. Rodney, he has to go out and pitch well again for us, that’s important, but what we have done is, I think, stack up a bunch of arms, that we have some good reports that sometimes people don’t know them that well, and you get them at the right time, or people mature at a certain point. The bullpen has a way of coming together like that when you don’t even expect it, because people don’t know those names and those types of names. People know Miner, people kind of look and say, Miner but people forget he had an ERA of 3.02 last year, and he did a good job for us, particular at the end of the year. Grilli has been primarily a long reliever and if you put him at that spot you know he’ll do a solid job, we move him I’m not sure, because whenever we’ve done that in the past, he hasn’t really responded, might he do it. Denny Bautista has a fantastic arm. He pitched very well at Triple AAA last year. He pitched great in winter ball. Francisco Cruceta, who will get here at some point, with his Visa problems. But he’s in a spot where at least he’s in shape. He pitched in the Caribbean series, he’s working out in our camp in the Dominican, so I know he’s in shape. Yorman Bazardo pitched very well for us last year, so we like Bazardo. We have a wild card like Matt Mantei here in camp, so I think you look at all those things and how they come together, because you’re only looking for an inning or two out of those guys in particular games, particularly if you can extend your starters a little bit. It will be the area that gets the most attention from us, there’s no doubt the most focus of our attention, but I’m not so sure the answers might not be here, and if they’re not then, we’ll have to look outside.

If the answers aren’t here going back to how much you have in the farm system you need to make a trade but it’s also a crapshoot with Eric Gagne last year and that didn’t work out?

That’s the thing, last year our reports on Gagne, and you don’t say that at the time, weren’t as good as the name is, and I think that’s where you have to be careful, when you fix bullpens. There have been some guys out there this winter that our reports just are not as good as their names are.

What about some of the other utility guys Ryan Raburn people fell in love with last year do you see him making the club or is there someone I know you got Freddy Guzman from Texas is he somebody that has a chance?

Our positional players are a tough battle because if we’re healthy and if you say Vance (Wilson) comes back, and is ready by Opening Day, which at this point we’re hopeful that he will be, but nobody knows. We’re hopeful he’ll start playing March 20th, but if you look at eight guys out here, day in and day out and Thames and Jones in left, that’s nine and ten, Vance Wilson is 11, Inge is 12, there’s only one spot available. You got Rabunn, you’ve got Santiago, you got Guzman, you got Hessman, so one of them can make the club, that’s it. So some of those people are going to be in a spot where they’re out of options, so you have to clear waivers with them, Raburn has an option left. We’ll play it out. There’s just not a lot of spots in the position players.

One thing on the staring pitching are you worried about Kenny Rogers at all what he has?

I’m not worried about Kenny Rogers anymore this year than I would be with any pitcher who’s 43 years of age, because in Kenny’s case I’m convinced. In just watching him throw at this point, he’s healthy, he feels fine, you can see it in his face. His command is very good; he’s throwing free and easy. I have to admit the one thing I have talked about with other general managers, at points; I’ve never had pitchers that are 43, 44 years-old, other than a knuckleballer like Charlie Hough. I don’t when they’re just not effective anymore. Now if they’re hard throwers I think it worries you more so, but Kenny is a guy who gets buy with guile and knowhow, and he’s got enough stuff, by all means, but I think he’s healthy, and if he’s healthy I think he can go out there and pitch, just like you do Jamie Moyer, for example. I think he’ll go out there and pitch well for us.

What about Bonderman he was so good last year up until a certain point and he didn’t want to tell anybody he was hurt do you think that was his problem or do you think that it’s something that’s going to linger through his career where he’s going to be inconsistent?

No, I don’t I think the thing with Bondo, again which sometimes it’s hard to put a feel on, he’s only 25, and that experience he needs to take a step, and he cant take a step to be better, but it’s not if he’s 30 and he continues to spin his wheels. He was healthy the first half, I think that’s more of an indicator of how he’ll pitch, he’s got the above average fastball, with good command, he’s got the outstanding slider, and the improving change, and I think his second half problems last year had to do with his arm bothering him. I wish he would’ve said something, and he learns that if he speaks up more about, that we can help him more quickly than have it continuing to linger, and then be a problem that shuts him down.

You know what the expectations are for this team no ones hiding from no ones running it you guys put together the team that have the expectations how do you go and view it when everybody else is viewing it as I wont even say World Series or bust playoffs or bust for a lot of people I imagine management feel the same way even if you don’t want to put pressure on your team you fell you put together a playoff team I imagine?

We have a playoff-caliber club, there’s no question we have that ability. The reason it never fazes me, and again people sometimes don’t believe this that’s all taken care of on the field, you can make all the prediction you want, they determine it on the field. We have a very talented group of individuals. We have some true professionals on the team they really are focused towards what we have to do. They can have fun together, but they know to take care of business. Jim Leyland is outstanding at getting people to focus on what they need to focus. He and his staff do an outstanding job. Those types of people are very important. I talk to people about Scotty Bowman and he seemed to be that type of individual and it so happens that Jim and Scotty Bowman are very close friends, they know each other well. They have that same type of approach; they can handle good players with veteran clubs. They have different personalities in handling them, they know what it takes to get a club ready, and so I think that you just take care of business, and you never know what takes place. I have confidence that this team will be a good club if we stay relatively healthy; because I think it will stay focused, and we’ll be in a position where well play well.