Dombrowski would replace Matt Klentak, who stepped down this offseason after five years with the franchise.
The Philadelphia Phillies are in the advanced stages of talks to make Dave Dombrowski their next president of baseball operations, according to The Athletic's Jayson Stark.
Dombrowski would replace Matt Klentak, who stepped down this offseason after five years with the franchise.
The 64-year-old would bring decades of experience to the Phillies. He served as the general manager or president of baseball operations at the Expos, Marlins, Tigers and most recently the Red Sox. Most recently, Dombrowski served as the architect of the 2018 Red Sox team that won 108 regular season games and claimed the franchise's third World Series title in 20 years. He was fired less than a year later after clashes with ownership.
Dombrowski's arrival in Philadelphia stands in contract with a set of recent comments he made to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. He told Rosenthal that earlier this year he moved to Nashville and signed on to help the city try and acquire an MLB franchise.
“I’m staying in Nashville,” Dombrowski told The Athletic. “I gave the [Nashville group] a commitment when I moved here that as we continue to pursue a new team—expansion, relocation or if it goes nowhere—that I would stay here with them.”
However, according to Stark, Phillies managing partner John Middleton approached Dombrowski earlier this week and the two sides have been continuously spoken in the last few days.
In joining the Phillies, Dombrowski would be taking over a franchise that has not made the postseason since 2011. Over that span, the franchise has had five full-time managers, the most recent being Joe Girardi.