I picked up an interesting fact from the most recent FanGraphs mailbag: Dave Dombrowski will be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year. He’s not retired yet, but he is going to turn 70, and the HoF’s
rules state that active executives of 70 years of age or older are eligible for election through the Contemporary Era committee, which meets to vote on managers, executives, and umpires in 2026. Dombrowski is one of the game’s most well-regarded executives, having brought hardware to four teams (the then-Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and one more that needs to introduction) as a general manager or higher. He brought World Series championships to the Sunshine State and Beantown, as well as pennants to Motown and our fair city. You can’t tell the story of 21st century baseball at the executive level without mentioning his name. Read a history of recent baseball, and he’s in there. Watch Hollywood’s adaptation of Moneyball, and he’s in there (well, only mentioned, and in the role of getting sweet-talked into paying for the A’s soda machine by Billy Beane, but still). He’s a titan of the baseball executive world. 2026 won’t be his only opportunity; should he not be elected next year, he’ll be eligible for consideration by future editions of the Contemporary Era committee. And by the time those future editions meet, he very well may have further accomplishments, painted in Phillies red and blue, added to his resumé. But for a moment, imagine it’s 2026, and you’re on the Contemporary Era committee.
So, today’s question is: Would you vote to induct Dave Dombrowski into the Hall of Fame?
