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Q&A: Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski

May 4, 2010
Detroit Tigers General Manager, President and CEO Dave Dombrowski made his annual trip to Erie and took some time out to speak with the media before Tuesday's game against Binghamton.

Question: Last year when you came here in June, several players that are now on the major league roster were here, including: Alex Avila, Brennan Boesch and Scott Sizemore. What does that say for the organizations ability to develop talent?

Answer: It's good for the organization when you see young players come through the organization like that. They were the foundation of (Erie) along with some other good players last year like Ryan Strieby and Casper Wells. It was a good sign for the organization to see young players move throughout and graduate to the big leagues. There are also some players here this year that will do the same thing.

Q: Boesch has gotten off to a good start in Detroit (.300/.323/.567), what happens to him when Carlos Guillen returns from the disabled list?

A: I don't know that answer yet. We'll wait until Guillen gets healthy. He's started to do some things, but it's not like it's day-to-day yet. One thing in Brennan's case is that he will need to continue to play a lot, so we'll have to take a look at that when the time comes.

Q: Why was Wilkin Ramirez the odd man out in Toledo? Was he just the odd-man out due to the log jam of talent in the outfield?

A: That's a good situation to have. You can never have too many good players. When you look at all the guys we have, we just felt that it was important for Ramirez to play on a day-to-day basis, so that's what pushed him back here. It's good to be in a position where you have talent in the back-up levels. It's apparent that not all of them will be able to play at the big league level, but it puts us in a position where we have depth and the ability to make trades if the time comes.

Q: Is him being back in Double-A indicative that the organization feels that he has been leap-frogged by the other prospects?

A: Not necessarily. Last year it was the time for him to take a step-up and he had a good year. It's just a situation where we want him to play everyday and continue to develop.

Q: Was it a situation where you knew what he could do in Toledo and just wanted to see what the other guys could do?

A: You analyze everybody at the particular time and we thought that was the best move for us. Boesch, Wells, who had a great spring training for us, Strieby, who had a great spring training -- sometimes you just have to make a decision. It doesn't really matter what level they play because we've jumped guys from (Erie) before just as much as we do from Toledo.

Q: Are you here earlier this year because of Wilkin?

A: No, it's just a coincidence. I try to see each team when they are home and stay there during that time period. It just worked out that way.

Q: Has Cody Satterwhite made any progress?

A: He's rehabbing and making progress, but he's quiet awhile away from pitching again.

Q: Is he playing catch?

A: Yes, he's playing catch.

Q: What is Casey Crosby's situation?

A: He's playing catch as well. He's further along than Satterwhite at this point. We didn't think his situation was major, and it's not. We wanted him to rehab a little bit, and he's throwing. It will be soon he will get on the mound.

Q: Keeping with the theme, what is Turner's situation?

A: He'll make his next start.

Q: What prompted the move to third base for Audy Ciriaco, and what have you thought of his play there so far?

A: He's played some third base in spring training for us. He has the talent to play over there. He has a tremendous arm and soft hands. He can also play some shortstop. It's not that he can not play shortstop, but again we have some depth there at shortstop. I think he could play there if we need him. I'm not sure what position he'll end up playing for us at the big league level, but he can handle both for us.

Q: Last year you were extremely high on Cale Iorg, who has struggled at the plate through his first few years in the minors. Are you concerned about him and do you believe his ceiling is still as high?

A: We like Cale Iorg a whole lot. There's no question he struggled at the plate. We still like him a great deal. He's a great defensive player at shortstop with a great arm. He runs well, he has tools, has pop in his bat. He probably struggled more offensively than we expected, but we also like him a great deal.

Q: Do you think Jacob Turner can progress through the minor leagues as quickly as Rick Porcello?

A: Porcello was a unique case. Turner is a talented pitcher that can move very quickly. However, I don't want to insinuate that he is going to jump right to the big leagues. He's very composed, has a good feel on the mound. He's different from Porcello in that Porcello has a quality pitch in his sinker that he can get by with one pitch at the big league level. It's such an exceptional pitch that he can get by as he develops his other pitches.