MONDAY MUSINGS

/ totallytigersblog

by Holly Horning

Today, it’s about quick hits – bits of news that catch my radar during the week as well as connecting the dots re ongoing stories.  Even the quirky.

So let’s get to it!  Here are the most interesting topics that hit my radar over the past week………..

The Houston Astros are surprisingly one of MLB’s worst team this year with a 8-19 and .296 record.  But if you look at all the drama that has surrounded this team over the past couple years, you’ll know it’s really more about the chaos within the organization than it is about the talent.

Especially noticeable when almost all their top players are under-performing this year.

After GM Jeff Luhnow was fired, owner Jim Crane actually took over some of the GM responsibilities until he hired James Click.  Click took his team to first place in both his years there as well as 2 World Series.  They won 1 and lost another.

Inexplicably, Crane fired Click and brought in Dana Brown.  Last year, they won their division title but lost the ALCS.  He is currently in charge of this year’s team.

Also puzzling was the firing of manager Dusty Baker who took his team to the playoffs all 3 years he was in charge.  Three division titles, 2 World Series, 1 championship.

Baker was given only 1- year contracts and fired after last year.  The Astros then hired a rookie manager in Joe Espada.

Crane traded experience and stability for inexperience and chaos.  He is the leading susupect responsible for the mess this team is in now.

Say what you will about the Tigers hanging onto personnel for far too long, but an owner who changes executives as often as he changes his mind – even when his team is winning – is just as bad. Maybe even worse.

Speaking of the Astros, things are so bad that there is already talk of them being sellers at the trade deadline.  Their first sacrificial lamb?

Justin Verlander.

Yes, again.

Ironically, JV had stability for years in Detroit but has now been thrown into ever-changing chaos since leaving.  He spent 2 full years in Houston, then missed a year.  He returned to the Astros for 1 last year (or so we thought) in 2022.

In 2023, he signed with the Mets on a 2-year deal with an option for a third.  But halfway through the year with the Mets tanking, he was traded back to the Astros.  Of course, this is after his Texas home had already been sold.

The vesting option for 2025 came with him but it is contingent upon him pitching 140 innings this year.  He was delayed in his starts this year due to injury.

Sources now say the Astros will be moving him again later this summer if they don’t completely turn things around.  Which means he could be on his third move in just 2 years.

And next year, he could be a free agent once again.  The 4th move in less than 3 years.

Wouldn’t you like to be his real estate agent?

Pitcher Alex Wood has the distinction of being the only active player to have pitched from all 30 mounds in MLB.  And he ranked them.

Comerica’s mound came in last.

He said “You don’t even have to get on it. You can just see it.”

But the real concern he has is with the inconsistency in mounds.  He wondered why MLB doesn’t have a standard or set of specs to guide teams.  He summarized his statements with the concern that all these differences cannot be good for keeping pitchers healthy.

“Lastly, the fact that not one game mound in all 30 ballparks is the same. They all have different dirt/different clay/different slopes/different mound heights. Some are hard. Some are soft. It has to have some type of impact on your throw when all the mounds are different right?”

Add this to the never-ending list of all those factors that result in pitchers getting hurt.

I’m just surprised that the Tigers haven’t yet addressed this given that Chris Fetter and Robin Lund are attentive and on top of things. But I understand that stadium changes take time as they did with the outfield walls. Maybe we’ll see something being done after the season is over.

But man, if I had all that money tied up in pitching, I would have moved on this when the walls were being revamped. A priority over putting up a new scoreboard.

Which one of these stories resonated the most with you?

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6 thoughts on “MONDAY MUSINGS”

  1. If I’m Fetter or Lund, I’m really not worried about Alex Wood’s opinion. If I’m getting negative feedback from my pitchers, absolutely I try to fix it. But if my pitchers aren’t complaining and opposing pitchers are, hey that’s just home field advantage.

    Liked by 6 people

  2. Holly’s reflection on Houston’s ownership has me thinking. I think the ideal owner is invested as a fan rather than a business owner, but does not insert himself into the day to day of running the team. She demands accountability however, like Sheila Ford Hamp, our most successful Detroit sports team owner who is also a true fan.

    Liked by 7 people

  3. The effect of Mike Elias leaving Houston has finally caught up to the Astros. Also as of last season we see Elias’ results in Baltimore.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. When it comes to mounds, the thought is the higher the mound the more advantage a pitcher has and the lower the mound the more advantage a hitter has. It is also believed that the flatter the mound the less torque on a pitcher’s elbow. Therefore, it is possible we are doing our pitchers a disservice and hurting their chances for success.

    Like

  5. If Justin Verlander gets traded to a contender before the end of the year, my prediction is the Cleveland Guardians.  They are hot, they are fighting off the Tigers, and the Royals with their success so far due to their hitting, while their pitching has become suspect. It would be interesting to see Verlander pitching within the division in Comerica Park in July—against the Tigers.

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  6. Have any of our pitchers complained to Harris about the mound at Comerica? Have Lund or Fetter complained about it? Have any of their agents complained about it?

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