Detroit Tigers Owner Mike Ilitch Votes Yes On Dombrowski And Leyland

Earlier Today following the introduction of Mike Modano to the Red Wings, Mike Ilitch confirmed that both Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland will be back in 2011.

This might come as a disappointment to some but, at least in Dombrowski’s case I support the decision.

Without a doubt Dave Dombrowski has made his share of blunder, but do I need to remind you where this team was before he was brought on as Team President?

In case you have forgotten the Tigers, led by General Manager Randy Smith, were pitiful. 

On any given night you couldn’t find more than a few thousand fans at Comerica Park.

It seemed like the only moves Smith was willing to make were to either trade with the San Diego Padres or do something involving Catcher Brad Ausmus.

As the major league team struggled, the farm system was in even worse condition.

Part of this was bad luck as many pitchers that were drafted in the early rounds suffered major injuries.

Still injuries could not be blamed for all the failed draft picks. Some were simply players that did not develop.

The Tigers bottomed out one year into Dombrowski’s tenure, 2003; as they went on to lose 119 games. The fact that three years later they were in the World Series speaks volumes of the job Dombrowski did.

Many expected 2010 to be a year of transition, but expectations were raised by the early success the team had.

The collapse after the all star break has been brought on by a combination of injuries and the struggles of Brennan Bosch. This is what has led many fans to ask for someone’s head to roll.

The mistakes Dombrowski has made with the Tigers were that he overvalued his own players, and at times traded for a name player that was no longer the star he was.

This has led to some ridiculous contracts that have handcuffed the Tigers. As has been frequently mentioned, many of those contracts will expire this year.

I think Dombrowski has learned from those mistakes.

The fact that he didn’t throw ridiculous money at Placido Polanco is proof of that.

I know Polanco is once again batting over 300 but he has missed some games this year due to injury.

Could the Tigers have used,Polanco this year, of course but let’s see how his body is holding up in the last year of the three year contract Philadelphia signed him to.

Jim Leyland on the other hand has botched many things this year. While I am sill inclined to say he deserves another year, I believe he needs to make some changes, especially in how he handles his pitching staff.

There a couple of things that have stood out to me lately as questionable moves by Leyland.

Why he repeatedly pulls Phil Coke after only one inning but insists on leaving Jose Valverde for two is something I just don’t understand.

It was working really well when he was doing the opposite early in the year so I really don’t know why he has gone to this setup.

The other thing, and I have written about this before, is his handling of Brennan Bosch and his insistence on leaving him in the fifth spot in the batting order when it was obvious that he was having trouble handling it.

The repercussions of this could be long lasting and really affect Bosch’s career.

At the end of the day only one vote matters and that is the vote cast by Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch.

Today Mr.Ilitch voted yes on Dombrowski and Leyland and fans of the Tigers are going to have to hope he made the right call.