Imrem: Just saying, but Dave Dombrowski is available

Dave Dombrowski, a son of Palos Heights in the Chicago suburbs, is a baseball free agent as of Tuesday.

You know, sort of like Theo Epstein was not long ago.

The Detroit Tigers released Dombrowski from his contract as president, CEO and general manager from his contract.

Unclear is whether Dombrowski, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch or both decided to go in a different direction.

There was a time when my reflex would have been to suggest that the White Sox bring Dombrowski home.

On the rare occasions when Tony La Russa was available, I thought the Sox should name him manager, club president or something else significant.

Similarly, when Jim Leyland was out of baseball, I thought the Sox should name him manager.

They were with the Sox in the 1980s - Dombrowski as an administrative assistant, La Russa as the manager and Leyland as a coach - young baseball men headed toward bigger and better things.

I knew them pretty well back then and have joked with each: "How did this happen? You became successful, famous and wealthy and I just got older."

Sad but true.

Anyway, I just assumed that some day one or all three would work on the South Side again.

Didn't happen with La Russa and Leyland. Each managed elsewhere with success but never back here.

Dombrowski worked in Montreal, Florida and Detroit, also successfully, but never back here.

How successful has Dombrowski been? Like everyone else in sports, his value can be debated from here to forever.

Undeniable, though, is that Dombrowski helped build a great farm system in Montreal, win a World Series in Miami and make Detroit a contender for a decade.

Still, at the top of Dombrowski's resume might be that he was considered a possibility to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner of baseball.

You can't be regarded much higher than that in the sport.

La Russa and Leyland remain good friends with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, which is considered both a reason one should have returned sometime and a reason neither did.

I have never been sure whether Dombrowski left on good terms or what his relationship is with Reinsdorf.

White Sox politics always have been fascinating: be a Reinsdorf favorite and you have a job for life; not be and you don't have a job, period.

So I'm no longer going to suggest now that the Sox figure out a way to hire back one of their former employees.

But Dave Dombrowski wouldn't be a bad idea, would he be?

Dombrowski, 59, is going to get an elite job somewhere if he wants to keep working.

The Sox might not have a place for Dombrowski as long as Kenny Williams is an executive vice president and Rick Hahn is general manager.

But talk last off-season was that Williams was going to Toronto to run the Blue Jays.

So, what if Williams does go to Canada this winter and the Sox do have a high-level opening for Dombrowski?

The 2005 World Series title notwithstanding, the Sox have been meandering around baseball looking for a way to become all they should be.

Despite a recent weeklong winning streak, the Sox are the ones who always seem to be in need of a new direction.

I'm done suggesting the Sox hire this guy or that guy, but they do need a new approach and fresh ideas.

Like, dare I say, the Cubs did when they hired Theo Epstein to remake them.

No, Dave Dombrowski wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

mimrem@dailyherald.com