Dave Dombrowski

Dave Dombrowski
Dombrowski in 2011
Born	(1956-07-27) July 27, 1956 (age 60) Chicago, Illinois
Alma mater	Western Michigan University
Occupation	President of Baseball Operations
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Karie Dombrowski
Children	Darbi, Landon

David Dombrowski (born July 27, 1956) is a professional baseball executive and is currently serving as the President of Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski has previously served as the general manager of the Montreal Expos, and the general manager and president of the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers.

Dombrowski began his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1978, as an administrative assistant in their minor league organization. He moved up the ladder to assistant general manager to Roland Hemond by his late 20s, but was purged during Ken Harrelson's one-year reign in 1986 as the White Sox front-office boss.

Dombrowski joined the Montreal Expos front office as director of player development for the 1987 season under Bill Stoneman, and on July 5, 1988, he became, at age 31, Montreal's general manager—the youngest in MLB at the time.

Dombrowski built up the Expos farm system during his term. He drafted, among others, Rondell White and Cliff Floyd. The team enjoyed .500 or better seasons in 1988–90 but struggled on the field in 1991. Concurrently, the National League expanded to 14 teams, with two new franchises to begin play in 1993. One of those teams, the Florida Marlins, recruited Dombrowski to become its first general manager; he was appointed on September 19, 1991.

Dombrowski spent more than a decade in Miami, working under owners H. Wayne Huizenga and John W. Henry. Although he built a sound minor league system, the Marlins, with Jim Leyland as their manager, achieved their first great success—the 1997 NL pennant and world championship—with a team composed of many high-salaried players signed as free agents. The following year, Dombrowski presided over Huizenga's mandated fire sale of those veteran players, and the Marlins failed to reach a .500 winning percentage in each of Dombrowski's final four years with the franchise. In November 2001, Dombrowski left Florida to become the president of the Detroit Tigers. Nevertheless, after Henry sold the club in early 2002, the Marlins managed to rebuild behind a nucleus of young players, and in 2003, with a roster consisting chiefly of players Dombrowski had acquired, won the World Series.