Dave Dombrowski

Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski watches during practice in preparation for Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles in Detroit on Oct. 4.

(AP Photo)

DETROIT -- Max Scherzer isn't coming back to Detroit. It's news that certainly didn't come as a shock to Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski.

A day after Scherzer reportedly reached an agreement with the Nationals on a seven-year deal that will pay him a combined $210 million, Dombrowski acknowledged Monday that the Tigers did not completely rule out the idea of re-signing Scherzer, but said they were fully prepared to march on without him.

Dombrowski acknowledged he had several conversations with Scherzer's agent, Scott Boras, this offseason but said none of their conversations evolved beyond the preliminary stages.

"We had conversations (about Scherzer), but we didn't get into negotiations," Dombrowski told MLive.com on Monday. "Scott called us a couple times to say that Max would be interested in coming back to Detroit, but that was the extent of it."

Dombrowski never minced words when discussing the team's stance on re-signing Scherzer this winter, stating several times that they were not in active pursuit.

In years past, Dombrowski has typically identified whether the club does not have any intention of pursuing a Tiger entering free agency. He did it with Torii Hunter earlier this offseason and he made similar comments about the team not pursuing Jhonny Peralta as a free agent last offseason.

In Scherzer's case, however, Dombrowski never publicly said the team would let him walk, leading to widespread speculation that the Tigers may attempt to bring him back despite having already committed $175-plus million in payroll in 2015.

"We never 100 percent closed the door (on Scherzer)," Dombrowski said Monday. "But we're very happy with the rotation we have."

There was speculation among baseball analysts that Boras might give Detroit an opportunity to answer another team's final offer out of respect to Tigers owner Mike Ilitch. Dombrowski declined comment when asked if he was afforded a chance to match an offer.

"I wouldn't get into specifics of my conversations with Scott," he said.

As it stands today, the Tigers will enter the season with a starting rotation that features David Price, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Shane Greene and Alfredo Simon. It's a rotation that Dombrowski plans to keep intact.

"When we acquired David Price, we did so knowing that we would have a difficult time signing Max, so we knew we'd have a legitimate No. 1," Dombrowski said. "We also think Justin Verlander will bounce back and we really like Alfredo Simon."

Simon's experience as a reliever seemingly gives the Tigers the flexibility to address their rotation and potentially add a starting pitcher, but Dombrowski spoke glowingly about Simon and dismissed the idea of shifting him to the bullpen.

"He won 15 games last year," Dombrowski said. "He doesn't have long-standing history as a starting pitcher, but we got him with the idea that he'd fill a spot in our rotation."

Despite recent talk that the Tigers may have interest in pursuing free-agent right-hander James Shields, Dombrowski spoke at length about his level of satisfaction with the team's current crop of starting pitchers and made it clear that he has no intention of addressing the rotation before opening day.

Asked if he was willing to comment or debunk the rumors about the possibility of signing Shields, Dombrowski replied: "I just did, didn't I?"

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