DETROIT (AP) — Tigers owner Mike Ilitch says manager Jim Leyland and general manager Dave Dombrowski will return next season. Ilitch told reporters the news last Friday. The owner says he's "staying with Dave" and "staying with our manager." Despite the disappointing second half so far, Ilitch says he believes the foundation is in place for the team to become a consistent playoff contender beginning next season.
This may not be popular but I gotta say it. I don't mind returning Dave Dombrowski cause in my mind the guy has brought Detroit baseball back from the brink of extinction. He just needs to be careful because too many mistakes recently have left this team really hurting and incapable of winning games. He better rectify the Bonderman, Robertson, Willis, Renteria, & Sheffield disasters if he wants to keep the Detroit faithful on his side during the inevitable contract extension he will be getting from Ilitch.
Leyland on the other hand should've been rolled up nice and tight like one of his Marlboros and sent outta town the second Buck Showalter showed back up on the market as a managerial option. In a few short weeks he's turned the Orioles into a respectable club when I wouldn't have washed Brennan Boesch's jock with them earlier in the season. Leyland is an absolutely great manager when things are going well and the team is gelling, like in '06 but if I have to watch him pull Phil Coke one more time in favor of Robbie Weinhardt I'm gonna throw my TV out the fuckin window. Phil will sit down the first two guys and because a left handed batter is coming to the plate, Jim will bring in a guy who does nothing but blow games. I get what your manager playbook tells you, but there are plenty of guys who go with their gut and win games. Terry Francona, Ozzie Guillen, and Mike Sciosia are a few I can name right now off the top of my head. We need someone who might take a chance and not always do what is expected. Otherwise we can be expected to miss out on the playoffs year in and year out.
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