Leyland on Tigers' job: 'I'll accept it'
By Tom Gage / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- "If there's a fit for both parties and I'm offered the position, I'll accept it."

After his interview with general manager Dave Dombrowski on Monday night, Jim Leyland had that to say about the Tigers' available managing job. It means, of course, that if there's a fit, the job is his.

All that remains is a formal offer -- and from what Dombrowski said earlier in the day, alternately glancing back at Alan Trammell's three years as manager and looking forward to what he hopes will be happier days, there's every indication the Tigers will make that offer today.

"I'm driven to move pretty quickly," said Dombrowski, who also interviewed Tigers coaches Bruce Fields and Juan Samuel after firing Trammell, "because I think in Leyland's case, there will be a lot of interest in him. I will say we're moving very fast."

Leyland, 60, was the manager and Dombrowski the general manager for the World Series-winning Florida Marlins in 1997. But Leyland hasn't managed since 1999 at Colorado.

"I'm talking with Dave, we'll go through the process and see where it takes us," he said after arriving in Detroit. "We'll talk about my situation and see how that plays out. I want to know a little bit about the club, the direction, the ownership."

The process requires teams with a managerial vacancy to be thorough. Nobody knows that better than the Tigers. They paid a hefty price for moving too fast in hiring Phil Garner six years ago -- specifically for not interviewing minority candidates.

If it's considered thorough to speak with Fields and Samuel, when the intention is to hire someone else, then the Tigers have done what the process requires.

But it was evident in the way Dombrowski spoke about Leyland, after saying all the right words about Trammell, that Leyland is his first choice.

"We're at a different phase now," Dombrowski said.

"We have a more veteran ballclub. Experience would be helpful at the major league level at this time. Someone who's been there would be a good place for us to start. There are certain managers who are better in certain situations.

"I know Jim Leyland very well. I've known him for more than 20 years. If he has the passion burning, and I believe he does, he's an outstanding manager -- one of the best in the game of baseball."

Experience matters in this case. Since Garner, the Tigers have gone the route of managers with no major league experience. After Luis Pujols as an interim manager, Dombrowski went for Trammell -- bowled over by his enthusiasm, his passion for the Tigers and his energy.

Those are qualities that Trammell retained throughout his three-year tenure as manager. What he couldn't figure out, however, was how to prevent the Tigers from falling apart this season -- which they did.

For not solving that problem, Trammell paid with his job. He was offered another job in the organization as special assistant to the general manager who fired him, but he isn't expected to accept.
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