re: DAT 6/21: Houston (Fiers) @ Oakland (Manaea) 9:05 CT

quote:

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On one of those back fields in Lakeland, Fla., in the spring of 2013, Houston’s pro scouts noticed a tall, skinny teenage righthander in the Detroit system. Four months later, as the trade deadline neared, Dave Dombrowski, then the Tigers’ president, was looking to add a reliever for the stretch run. He called Luhnow and asked for veteran Jose Veras. Luhnow remembered the kid from the back fields of Lakeland and asked Dombrowski about David Paulino in return. “I don’t know,” Dombrowski said. “I’ll have to check with my people. I’ll call you back.” A bit later, Dombrowski called back Luhnow. “I’m sorry. You’re not going to like what I have to tell you,” Dombrowski said. “What’s that?” “He’s having Tommy John surgery.” “I know,” Luhnow said matter-of-factly. His scouts already had the intelligence on Paulino’s elbow. “That doesn’t matter to us.”

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