BUST A MOVE

/ totallytigersblog

By:  Holly Horning

Back in August 2015, Al Avila became General Manager and was rewarded with a 5-year contract. Tiger ownership said that the 5 years was necessary as that was the amount of time needed in order for Avila to get the Tigers back into playing competitive baseball.

And yet, with more than a year to go and no evidence of a rebuild even taking place, Chris Ilitch extended Al’s contract for a super secret number of years. A first in MLB while also being a contradictory statement of support. Not revealing a single shred of the contract details shows that the owner is either embarrassed to own his action or that it was done to facilitate an imminent sale of the team.  Only one of these options makes sense.

Nonetheless, Avila goes into his 5th off-season where the vision and planning of how to construct the team is done. It is the most important part of any GM’s job.

Al has been in the crosshairs of fans throughout this time period as they point to this trade or that trade as having failed. But is it right to cherry pick a handful of trades?

Shouldn’t we be looking at his entire resume of trades and signings? Wouldn’t that be a more accurate assessment?

I hope you’re saying “yes” because I did all the legwork for you. I have that complete list of Al’s work since he took over.

The majority of his significant moves took place between 2015 – 2017. After that, most of the Tigers’ transactions involved releasing players and signing those plucked off the waiver wire. An astounding number of older journeymen were signed to minor league contracts with the hope that the Tigers might get lucky and fill a hole in the Detroit roster. That project did not turn out well at all.

Excluding the minor league contracts and waiver wire grabs, I’ve listed all the moves Al has made since he took over from Dave Dombrowski. The vast majority of the prospects gained are currently sitting in A and AA ball, with just a handful of players having a short taste of MLB so far.

Take a look and judge for yourself. We already know the outcomes of some of these moves. But what about the others? What are the chances that some of them will actually evolve into smart moves?

PLAYERS ACQUIRED

Mike Fiers

Josh Harrison (IL most of year)

Mikie Mahtook

Jordy Mercer (IL most of year)

Matt Moore (IL most of year)

Mike Pelfrey (released)

Tyson Ross (IL most of year)

Francisco Rodriguez (released)

Justin Upton

Jordan Zimmermann

PLAYERS TRADED

NICK CASTELLANOS (and cash) for Paul Richan and Alex Lange

MIKE FIERS for Nolan Blackwood and Logan Shore

SHANE GREENE for Joey Wentz and Travis Demeritte

IAN KINSLER for Wilkel Hernandez (now unprotected) and Troy Montgomery

CAMERON MAYBIN for Victor Alcantara (released)

J.D. MARTINEZ for Dawel Lugo, Sergio Alcantara and Jose King

JUSTIN UPTON for RHP Grayson Long (retired after 4 games) and Elvin Rodriguez (now unprotected)

JUSTIN VERLANDER and player and $16 million for Franklin Perez (pitched 9 games in 2 years), Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers

JUSTIN WILSON and ALEX AVILA for Isaac Paredes, Jeimer Candelario and a PTBNL

PLAYERS RELEASED (with no compensation received)

Victor Alcantara

Josh Harrison

Jose Iglesias

James McCann

Mike Pelfrey

Francisco Rodriguez

Bruce Rondon

Anibal Sanchez

Alex Wilson

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29 thoughts on “BUST A MOVE”

  1. If that list doesn’t ruin your dinner, nothing will. Tigers and Lions vying for the title of “worst team in town”. Used to be a monopoly for the Lions but given the last three Tigers’ years of bad and getting worse to becoming hopeless – there’s a new “hat in the ring”. Even as the Lions lose again in DC to possibly the worst DC team they ever faced.

    Liked by 6 people

  2. By trying to rebuild this team, Al’s done a phenomenal job of destroying it. Quite the opposite of the “Midas touch.” He’s like an incompetent handyman tackling a massive home improvement project. Better wear your hard hat Al – oops, too late.

    Liked by 3 people

  3. Holly, you forgot Mark Lowe. Avila signed him to “stabilize” the bullpen in December 2015 only to release him during spring training 2017 (after he posted a 7.11 ERA in 2016).

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Bust A Move? Clearly the Tigers need a Young MC to replace the old GM and run the show, but Young Lil’ Caesar won’t part with the dough to make it happen. So we’re stuck with a team that’s stone cold dyin’.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. The Tigers, Lions and Washington football team all have terrible owners, Chris Illitch, Fords and Dan Snyder. Living here in DC the stark reminders of the Russ Thomas years come to life with Bruce Allen running things for Dan Snyder. When syncophant GMs/club presidents constantly run interference for ownership, wave off the media and blow smoke up the fans you-know-what, you know winning will be a long time coming if ever.

    Liked by 4 people

  7. This is sure a thorough and comprehensive list, Holly. For the definition of “fleeced” all one needs to do is read the transaction details of the JV trade. How could the Tigers not get an everyday stud player in return?

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Sure Avilla has destroyed the Tigers…but who is responsible for hiring Avilla? Sure his Tiger GM history is incompetent, but can anyone blame him for taking a job that is making him rich. Chris Ilitch is the person really responsible for this team’s complete failure, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution since he is bound and determined to remain the owner, making all that profit from a continuously failing team.

    Liked by 4 people

    • If you hire someone who is incompetent, and you continue to pay him after you know he is incompetent, he will happily continue to work for you. You are right Tommy, all of the blame lies with Chris I.

      Liked by 2 people

  9. The direction changed soon after AA’s initial contract. No longer was the emphasis on rebuilding a winner. It was on rebuilding profits. I still say we don’t know how well AA could manage a rebuild. I firmly believe he is only doing Chris Illitch’s bidding. What is not know here is the constraints placed on AA – budget-wise. He never had a real chance at doing a good job under new ownership.

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    • Probably true aboutt AA but a true professional would not work under those conditions. Sparky Anderson refused to work for an owner that didnt emphasize winning. Illitch didnt put a gun to his head , Avila took this job willingly, he has to own it.

      Liked by 3 people

  10. Holly, your list forced me to look up an expression. Not surprised at all that I found a picture of Al Avila under the term “Peter Principle” in the Webster’s Dictionary!

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  12. I am only 60 and been a lifelong tiger avid fan. I think this has to be the worst period of tiger executive leadership in that time frame. What they are selling day in and day out is Bull. How they do it with a straight face is beyond comprehension. Reminds me of Justin Upton -awful for a year, and the word from management was – Be patient fans, he is trying real hard. As soon as he recovered his stroke he ran away fast. Typical lack of quality player evaluation, and cultivating a loyalty to fans.

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    • Perhaps, but I remember Justin Upton was told to leave. Chris Illitch didn’t want to pay him and Chris was tearing down the team. Of course, he could have said no.

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Holly, on the bright side, AA is no longer making trades-no one of any value left to trade, or signing any notable FA-no money to spend from CI. Now we can focus on the farm system producing all the talent we need, if only we were the Braves or Dodgers or Rays, etc. For all the hype about the current crop of minor league players, we heard the same about Turner, Schlereth, Sizemore, Crosby, Oliver, etc.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. The worst of it is that the Tigers are financially rewarded for assiduously destroying the team, thanks to MLB’s conspiracy to repress real competition. The father of capitalism, Adam Smith, summed it up perfectly more than two centuries ago when he famously remarked, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”

    Liked by 4 people

  18. Those who defend AA saying his hands are tied by CI are only seeing part of the picture. Many do think he was/is given severe limits on what to do and I would agree with them. However, did CI tell him to constantly run his mouth about certain players needing to be traded and announcing there is no market for them thus guaranteeing a poor return? Did CI tell him to make these disastrous signings? Maybe CI should not have tied only AA’s hands, but his tongue also.

    Liked by 3 people

  19. Tiger fans should chill out. AA is not to blame, he’s doing exactly what his boss CI wants. Also, blaming capitalism is a bit over the top. Perhaps we would like to make it all “fair” and “equal”. We could have MLB designate the world champions on a rotating basis, a different team “wins” every year so everyone is “happy”. Some sport that would be! I can enjoy baseball even when the Tigers suck. The last 3 playoff years were some of the best I’ve enjoyed. Folks, it’s entertainment not my life!

    Liked by 3 people

  20. In regards to AA’s track record, the declaration by Cicero over 2000 years ago says it best: “Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.”

    Liked by 3 people

  21. You can use whatever excuses you want to use for Al Avila’s record, but the bottom line is, his record is one of failure. He’s traded assets for little more than middling minor league players thus setting the “rebuild” back years. His FA signings have been outright failures except for a couple of players he quickly traded for nothing. The success, if any, for the “rebuild” is now dependent on risky draft choices and risky pitching prospects and has been pushed years down the road.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Apparently the KC Royals have been sold. They weren’t very good the past few years but they won it all just 4 years ago. And they seem to have a decent nucleus to go forward with. Yes they had to let some good players get away (they are small market) but they haven’t found it necessary to destroy the franchise to “rebuild” or sell the club.

    Liked by 2 people

  23. Since history always seems to repeat itself this seems like the 1990’s to 2003 all over again . Back in the day MI seemed to have no interest in the Tigers and put all his efforts/$ into the Red Wings the only thing that seemed to open his eyes was that 2003 season however CI appears to be clueless and doesn’t seem to care and as long as MLB continues to subsidize this mess don’t see anything changing

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