Major League Baseball’s current commissioner Bud Selig is scheduled to step down from the league’s top office a year from now and according to Lynn Henning of the Detroit News there’s growing speculation that Tigers president and GM Dave Dombrowski could be a candidate for the job.
Henning writes that although there is no clear favorite to replace Selig, he (Henning) highlights Dombrowski’s 33 years in baseball and his experience being a general manager in both the American and National Leagues. Henning also goes on to say that Dombrowski has a CEO aura — “a regal style,” says Jim Bowden, formerly a general manager with the Reds and Nationals — that with his broad executive experience, could assist in making him a serious contender.
“It’s not one of those things I spend much time thinking about,” Dombrowski said Friday, when asked if he might be interested in the commissioner’s job. “I’m in a situation where I’m very happy where I am and with what I do, and I’m pleased with all of that.
“I have never really thought about it,” Dombrowski said of his potential candidacy. “When I’ve been in any job I’ve had, I haven’t thought about other jobs. That’s just how I work.”
Furthermore, given the city’s financial struggles the past several years, ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian believes that Dombrowski would be a good candidate as well for the position…
“I think he would be an excellent candidate to be commissioner,” said Tim Kurkjian, the longtime ESPN baseball analyst. “He is really smart, he has been around for a long time, he has done virtually every job in baseball, meaning he knows how the game works from the inside, and he also knows how the game works on the field, not only because of having assembled teams, but because he’s done the contracts and has worked with owners as well as with players.
“I’m not sure there’s a more qualified guy to run the game than him.”
In the end, Dombrowski says he’s happy in Detroit but you would have to suspect that if that job comes calling, Dombrowski will certainly listen.
Ref: Detroit News, ESPN, Getty (image)
