Dave Dombrowski has fierce desire to win title for Phillies owner

Dave Dombrowski has fierce desire to win title for Phillies owner.

Key points

• You think the Tigers turn into a power without Cabrera or the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series without Sale?
• The Phillies were in the World Series for the first time in 14 years in 2022, but lost to Houston.
• USA TODAY Sports' Bob Nightengale breaks down Arte Moreno's sale of the Los Angeles Angels to Stan Kroenke and what comes next for the franchise.
• Any complaints regarding the prospects employed by Dombrowski to acquire All-Star closer Jarren Duran from the Minnesota Twins?
• Expos owner Charles Bronfman was the one who offered Dombrowski the mandate to win now before selling the franchise, but it was Dombrowski who was ridiculed.

Dave Dombrowski has fierce desire to win title for Phillies owner. Bob Nightengale USA TODAY. Stan Kroenke buys Angels from Arte Moreno in massive MLB accord.

PHOENIX – Dave Dombrowski, sitting on the Philadelphia Phillies bench wearing a golf shirt, sports jacket, slacks and not a hair out of place, gazes throughout the field at the out-of-town scoreboard. It's that time of year.

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.

For context, the Tigers fell to the Boston Red Sox in six games, were swept out of the playoffs the after season and Dombrowski was fired the next. He turned a team that lost 119 games in 2003 into a World Series team three years afterwards 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 plenty of 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 since he gives us everything, and gives all the backing that you can possibly have from an owner to win.''.

Notably, 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.

For context, 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.

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 accord 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 remarked, 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 remarked. 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 since now they're looking for younger residents. Rob 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 regarding 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 offered Dombrowski the mandate to win now before selling the franchise, but it was Dombrowski who was ridiculed.

As if being on the cover of Baseball America for prospect rankings is somehow more thrilling than a championship parade, now, almost 40 years afterwards, there are still franchises who hoard their prospects in lieu of trying to win a World Series.

Go ahead, ask Seattle Mariners fans how they feel regarding their prized farm system, with a major-league team that has produced 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 commence 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 support 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 regarding the prospects employed by Dombrowski to acquire All-Star closer Jarren Duran from the Minnesota Twins? How regarding the prospects employed to grab three-time batting champion Arraez from the San Francisco Giants?

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 regarding how the prospects who were trade fare?

"We're here to win, right?'' Dombrowski notes. "That's what we're here for. When I began working for Roland Hemond, he was a highly aggressive trader. When you have a chance to win, you go for it.' You can never take it for granted since sometimes you think you're going to be really good, and that this will come along every year, and it doesn't happen.'', he basically would say, 'Hey.

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 notes. "Some guys, we chose not to trade. What's amazing is that individuals criticize our farm system, but we've had Crawford come up. We've had Painter come up. We've had McFarlane come up. We've always had prospects to create trades.

The reality is that I've never been in a spot where I couldn't create a trade as 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.

For context, the way Dombrowski and Preller view it, if you have a solid scouting and development staff, your prospect pipeline is going to keep flowing anyway, so why hide behind prospects just to assist your job security?

"I offer A.J. A lot of credit for going for it, '' Dombrowski states. "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 individuals 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.''.

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 individuals. Today, the Phillies have more than 30 employees in their analytics department alone.

In short, dave Dombrowski has fierce desire to win title for Phillies owner is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.