What if Dave Dombrowski went to the Angels?

Before Dave Dombrowski became the President of Baseball Operations of the Philadelphia Phillies, rumors were swirling about what his future might hold. We all know that he joined a project to try and bring an MLB expansion team to Nashville but there can always be an itch for running a baseball team.

What team scratched that itch? The Phillies eventually did of course but there were other possibilities. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times back in 2020, the industry expectation was that Arte Moreno was going to pursue Dombrowski to run their baseball operations.

Moreno is a lot of things and certainly isn’t the kind of owner any executive with as much respect as Dombrowski would willingly sign up to work for. However, let’s say for one moment that Moreno would’ve swallowed his pride and did whatever it took to land Dombrowski. Promises and actions to put more funding into the farm system, into player payroll, Dombrowski’s own bank account, or whatever else could’ve landed him in Anaheim.

What if Dave Dombrowski took that job? Would Mike Trout have a ring? Is Shohei Ohtani still an Angel? What happens to the Phillies in this scenario? Who do they hire? Does John Middleton still go over the luxury tax?

Is Kyle Schwarber a Boston Red Sox? There are endless ways to think about this. Have fun!