June 8, 2005, Placido Polanco
For those counting at home, this is the second time that Dombrowski won a trade with the Phillies. With Chase Utley emerging at second base, the Phillies didn’t have room for Polanco in the infield.
They’d ship him to the Tigers in return for Ramon Martinez (not that one) and Ugueth Urbina. Martinez would post a .692 OPS in his one season with the Phillies. Urbina would be arrested and charged with an attempted murder that offseason.
Polanco went on to become the premier defensive second baseman in baseball. He won 2 Gold Glove awards during his time with the Tigers. He handled himself well at the plate on top of it, posting a 103 OPS+ while hitting .313.
December 4, 2007, Miguel Cabrera
In one of the best trades in baseball history, Dombrowski brought one of the best players of the past 2 decades to the Tigers.
Hitting .320 with 34 homers the year before, Cabrera was already an established star in baseball. As such, he cost a lot. The deal was 6 for 2: Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Frankie De La Cruz, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, and Mike Rabelo.
Non of those names helped the Florida Marlins, although Maybin and Miller would go on to have lengthy career, finding mild sucess.
Cabrera transcended stardom in Detroit. In 2012, Cabrera would win the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. In 2012 and 2013, he’d win back-to-back AL MVPs. From 2009-2014, Cabrera posted a WAR over 5 each of those seasons.
Cabrera will be a member of the Hall of Fame eventually and he’ll go in as a Tiger thanks to Dave Dombrowski.
December 8, 2009, Max Scherzer
Two years later, Dombrowski acquired one of best pitchers of the last decade to pair with the best hitter.
As part of a 3-team trade, Dombrowski traded Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees and Edwin Jackson to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers received Phil Coke and Austin Jackson from the New York Yankees and Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from the Arizona Diamondbacks. In addition, the New York Yankees sent Ian Kennedy to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Three teams, seven players, this trade was huge.
The Tigers had to part with their star center fielder Curtis Granderson in the deal. In his 3 prior seasons with the Tigers, the Grandy Man was doing his best Andruw Jones impression, looking like a 5-tool talent. He posted a 120 OPS+ while averaging 25 homers and 19 steals. If Dombrowski didn’t get value back for him, he should’ve been canned.
He got more than value. He got Max freakin’ Scherzer. Now, this was still 25-year-old Mad Max. No All-Star appearances, No Cy Youngs, just potential. At the end of his run with the Tigers, Scherzer would have 62.2 postseason innings pitched, 1082 Strikeouts as a Tiger, and a bright shiny 2013 AL Cy Young award.
Also in the trade, the Tigers got Austin Jackson, replacing Curtis Granderson. While Grandy put up monster power numbers with the Yankees, Jackson had 3 straight seasons with a WAR over 4.6. He was just above average with the bat with a 105 OPS+, but added in great defense.
July 23, 2011 Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez
The Tigers got some great help from the Miami Marlins around the 2012 trade deadline and gave up what came to be nothing.
The Tigers traded away Rob Brantly (-1.3 career WAR), Brian Flynn (0.9 career WAR), and Jacob Turner (-2.6 career WAR). That’s a -3 career WAR for those counting at home.
In return, the Tigers received veterans Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez. In 2013, both would have career seasons. Infante would hit .318 with a 115 OPS+. For the only time in his career, Sanchez won an ERA title and finished 4th in Cy Young voting.
Nov 15, 2015 Craig Kimbrel
Before the 2015 season, the San Diego Padres decided to try to become competitive. They traded for Craig Kimbrel and, after a disappointing season, shipped him up to Boston.
In return, the Padres received Logan Allen, Carlos Asuaje, Javy Guerra and Manuel Margot. Logan Allen had a solid season with a 3.38 ERA with the Indians in 2020 and Manuel Margot could still have a solid career ahead of him with the Rays.
No matter what the future has for those players, the Red Sox got the best closer of the 2010’s. In 3 years with Boston, Kimbrel had a 2.44 ERA, recorded 108 saves, and went to 3 All-Star Games. Oh, and he got a pretty 2018 World Series ring.
Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire
