OPEN MIKE!

May 30, 2020May 31, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 9 Comments

Readers on deck to take the wheel! Again? Well, yeah, it’s the only way to end the month. Today is one of the days during the month (normally) where you get the opportunity to comment on the Tiger topic of your choosing.

This is the one day of the week where we open up the comment parameters for you, so you can really get those juices flowing. Comments on THIS DAY ONLY can be expanded to a maximum of 8 sentences. So pick a topic and let us hear from you! What’s on your minds?

Totally Tigers loves your comments! But please be aware that there are specific rules for posting and that comments may be edited in order to meet our specific requirements. Responses are only published if they address today’s topic, are respectful and do not exceed the maximum 3-4 sentence response length. Please become familiar with all of the rules at: https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/commentsrules/.

THE SATURDAY SURVEY

May 30, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 8 Comments

The Saturday Survey offers another way for readers to weigh in on a relevant topic. So here is a poll to gauge the pulse of our baseball-lovin’ and starvin’ and pleadin’ for the crack of the bat peeps.

Today, we center the discussion on proposals for length of season should the 2020 season take place.

As always, we welcome your comments, so please vote and then submit your reasons (4 sentences max!) for how you voted in the usual comment box. Don’t forget to come back later and view the results!

MLB owners and the Players Association are currently exploring the details that would bring baseball back this year. Several proposals are being offered by both sides in terms of the length of the season. All of them have advantages as well as risks. A few of them offer greater validation of a season and championship. Others, less risk of a second-wave of Covid-19 interrupting and cancelling the rest of the season.

Please participate in the poll in order to share which proposal that you support.

RAPID FIRE

May 28, 2020May 29, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 20 Comments

By: Holly Horning & Kurt Snyder

Be careful what you wish for! You, dear readers, have told us how much you like this new blog so it’s a keeper until something better – or actual baseball games – come along.

We’re taking one hot issue, 2 bloggers and 5 questions to get your Friday off to a conversation-ready start. To make it even more interesting, Kurt and Holly have a maximum of 2 sentences in which to make their points. Let’s roll with the questions!

(These questions pertain to the most recent proposals at the time of publishing, which is the owners’ proposal.)

1. What are your thoughts about the sliding pay scale proposed by MLB owners for players?

HOLLY

While it makes sense for those making the MLB minimum to keep more of their salary, owners are asking that the players cut baseball’s overall player payroll by over 75%, which seems amazingly drastic. Players making in the single-digit millions are being asked to cut their salaries by 50%-70% and those making multi-millions are reviewing a proposal in which they will only receive approximately 20% of their yearly salary.

KURT

Players are in a difficult position because if they decide not to play, an entire fan base is going to lower the boom and place the blame completely on them. People DO NOT CARE about how much they stand to lose, when they have been making so much prior to 2020.

2. Some players have been outspoken about the sacrifices, hazardous conditions and continued pay cuts being asked of them. Are they justified in their comments?

HOLLY

As an image consultant, I would have reached out to my clients Immediately (as their agents should have) and told them not to utter a peep because their words would always be misconstrued (they’re athletes, not public speakers!) and make them look bad to the public, like Blake Snell. But Max Scherzer, who sits on the MLBPA executive board, put out a thoughtful comment explaining that if so much was being asked of players, they had the right to receive documentation from owners that pertained to their “dire” financial situations necessitating these extreme cuts.

KURT

They come off as being the bad guys when they continue to post their opinions on Twitter. They could look much better by saying nothing and letting their representative, Tony Clark, speak for them.

3. Which side – the players or the owners – currently have the upper hand in negotiations?

HOLLY

Amazingly, it always seems to be the union that gets the most flack and critical analysis while the owners seem to sport that Teflon jacket. But it’s the group that makes the latest proposal that appears to be stronger because the opposing side then looks really bad and petty for criticizing it and threatening to walk away.

KURT

You won’t find ownership speaking out like the players often do and by simply keeping quiet, ownership takes the upper hand. However, no one looks good the longer this negotiation process continues, and it is beginning to appear like there is no common ground to be reached, especially when the players were so incensed with the latest proposal from ownership that they had no counter-proposal whatsoever.

4. What is most upsetting information to come out of baseball’s attempt to revive itself during this pandemic?

HOLLY

A number of teams, esp. the Oakland A’s, have started releasing some or all of their minor league players because they are cutting costs and don’t feel that dismissing 50+ players without an income is a bad thing in order to save just a few bucks. It is estimated that whole rosters are being dumped, including men with families and no income, in order to save a measly $400,000 per team.

KURT

My biggest concern through all of this when it comes to baseball is how it weighs on the minor leaguers, most of whom make pennies in comparison to the major leaguers. And when teams callously cast them aside to save money, they threaten the very lifeblood of the game.

5. Which side has more to lose during the current salary negotiations?

HOLLY

It’s almost a toss-up because you’ve got players who may not get paid at all this year (excluding the 6-figure stipends they received) and owners who will lose significant millions with a handful of them rumored to be forced to sell their teams. It’s a millionaires vs. billionaires battle but the side that will lose the most is the one in which the public believes killed the return of baseball – and millions of dependent jobs as a result – all because they didn’t earn their expected millions.

KURT

Again, I can’t pick a side because it’s the game of baseball that stands to lose. In the middle of an economic crisis, team ownership and players alike should be tip-toeing around these money issues as if each one is a land mine.

YOU ASKED

May 27, 2020August 3, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 8 Comments

Welcome to another edition of You Asked …

While we wait for baseball to resume, do you have questions and/or topics you’d like to see addressed? Submit them in the comments section and receive credit when Totally Tigers selects your entry. We’ll address your questions every Thursday.

Today we have chosen questions from McWatt and Greg Sanders.

Thanks for participating everyone!

McWatt:

Holly and Kurt, I can feel it coming. When will you address the “dream team” of 2008? Actually that might be an excellent discussion topic. A team is more than the sum of its parts – a WINNING team, that is.

KURT

What happened? One year removed from a trip to the World Series in 2006, the Tigers really began to inject some star power into their roster. Prior to the 2008 season, the Tigers made one of the most high-profile trades in their history, when they acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins.

You know you felt it. This was going to be the trade to put them over the top. One by one, members of the media picked the Tigers to win the Central and the World Series.

But the Tigers didn’t even sniff the playoffs much less win it all in 2008. In fact, it was much worse. They finished last in the Central.

It was the most unexpected of outcomes for the Tigers. But what went wrong?

Well, first of all, before he ever threw a pitch for the Tigers, Dave Dombrowski signed Willis to a big money extension. And from the very beginning, Willis was a bust instead of a huge addition to the starting rotation, which many expected.

How big of a bust? Willis pitched in 8 games in 2008.

Miggy on the other hand, had a huge year, so he did his part. But there was little else in that lineup to support him. Only Magglio Ordonez and Curtis Granderson cashed in with solid seasons. Gary Sheffield? He failed to hit .230 and drove in only 57 runs.

The Tigers also lost Joel Zumaya to surgery prior to the 2008 season, which limited him to only 21 games out of the pen, and only 22 strikeouts.

That’s a huge loss in the pen any way you slice it. Especially when your other late-inning arms, Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones did well to keep their ERA’s under 5. And I mean barely under 5.

What else? The Tigers acquired Edgar Renteria to play shortstop, which was intended to be a move to improve their offense. Sorry, but Renteria was a bust as well, contributing very little offense.

Another trade brought Jacque Jones to Detroit to play leftfield. The result? Right, another bust. He managed to hit .165 before he was mercifully designated for assignment in the first week of May.

Slowly but surely, you start to see what went wrong in ’08. Well, what went right?

Very little. The Tigers had more busts than a weekend pool party at the Playboy mansion. (Thank you … I’m here all week! Tip your waitresses!)

From a starting pitching standpoint, the Tigers had a 13-game winner but his name was not Justin Verlander. Here is the problem; JV had the worst year of his career as a Tiger, losing 17 games, while Armando Galarraga led the staff with those 13 wins.
Jeremy Bonderman, Kenny Rogers, Nate Robertson and Willis were a combined 19-30.

Unfortunately, if you thought the failures of 2008 were about lack of leadership or a disjointed clubhouse, well, not this time.

This was about failure.

Outside of Miggy, the Tigers suffered from poor acquisitions, poor performances from previously key contributors and key injuries.

You name it and it went wrong in 2008. In fact, given everything, they were lucky to win 74 games.

Greg Sanders:

This question is for Holly. In the 2016 draft the Tigers lost their 2nd and 3rd draft selections for signing Jordan Zimmermann and Justin Upon. If they had those two picks who was still available that they could have drafted? It would be interesting to see who would be in their farm system.

HOLLY

It’s always hard to predict selections beyond the first choice but we can get somewhat of an idea by using patterns. In 2016, the Tigers were 9th in the draft selection process and picked 5 pitchers in their first five (available) draft selections.
So let’s use that pattern to see what they potentially missed out on.

First, they picked Matt Manning. After giving up their 2nd and 3rd slots, they selected Kyle Funkhouser in the 4th round.

Let’s assume that if they had those slots back, they would have selected pitchers as well. Let’s also assume that they would have picked those pitchers also chosen from the 2nd and 3rd rounds by other teams.

After perusing the list, no name readily jumps out. A few now are recognizable as promising candidates. Maybe that’s because it’s still really early in the development process given that the draft was still fairly recent.

A better analysis of what could have been may possibly be made in a year or two when players have developed more.

From that list of pitchers selected in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, there is a sprinkling of injured arms and time off with some surgeries. Also, a couple trades of those prospects to other teams – mostly competitive teams with decent trade records.

But the biggest pattern I see is that most of those pitchers from these 2 rounds have hit the MLB level already and not just for a cup of coffee. The majority of them were promoted – and stuck – within 2-3 years.

Matt Manning, their top pick, is still technically in AA after those same 3 years. So are most of their other top prospects (1-2 are in AAA). None of the players selected 4 years ago have cracked the Detroit roster.

And you have to ask why.

Why is the process so slow for Detroit when other teams fast-track theirs? That’s the one pattern that really speaks – the ability for other teams to instruct and promote their prospects much more quickly than the Tigers.

Do the Tigers just have an outdated system of development?

Are they purposely slowing things down in the minors for some reason in order to extend the rebuild (or “rebuild”)?

Do they believe the rebuild will take much longer than expected? If so, are they purposely creating a bottleneck – slowing things down – in order to keep team control over their minor leaguers for as long as possible? Something to consider as teams are getting stingier about service time.

In summary, my main concern is not which prospects the Tigers may have lost in the 2016 draft. For me, after reviewing the stats of 15+ other pitching prospects, my real worry is about what the Tigers are doing – or not doing – to their draft picks once they join the organization.

PAGING BILL VEECK

May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 37 Comments

By: Holly Horning

Over the weekend, I heard the most fascinating interview with Sandy Alderson, a well-known executive within the MLB industry.

An interview, btw, that wouldn’t have happened if the baseball season hadn’t been postponed.

An interview that many within baseball’s Front Offices really would have preferred for fans not to hear.

An interview with a man who so clearly loves this game and is disheartened by what is happening to the sport.

For those of you not readily familiar with Sandy, he helped bring multiple titles (and several World Series trophies) to all of the teams for whom he worked – the Mets, A’s and Padres. He is currently back with the A’s as a senior advisor and was the inventor of moneyball (not to be confused with sabermetrics). He mentored Billy Beane. He also worked for the Commissioner’s Office.

He was one of the very first in the sport who did not come from a baseball background. Two Ivy League degrees and a first career as a Marine.

And he was known for consistently identifying great talent for teams with MLB’s lowest budgets.

With that said, what is consuming Alderson today is not the pandemic or whether the owners and players can reach a financial deal that will facilitate a baseball season this year.

He sadly reports that the game has ceased to be entertaining.

And he got it directly from the horse’s mouth. A team’s Front Office.

Over the winter, he had a discussion with a top executive from another team’s Front Office. When Sandy told him that baseball had become boring, he was met with (sic) “We are not in the entertainment business. Our job is to make this organization efficient and to produce as many wins as possible.”

Alderson said the guy talked to him like an accountant.

And if you need further proof, look to how the game is played today. A slow pace of play, games that run hours longer than they did before, constant pitching changes and the all-or-nothing strikeout or home run pattern.

Gone are the double steals, bunting and hitting into the gaps. Gone is the excitement of the surprise move or strategy.

It’s all now predictable. Formulaic.

Baseball has ceased to be entertainment and is now being run by super computers that tell the Front Office execs what to do.

The manager no longer manages and has become, in actuality, the middle manager. He is the conduit between the analysts and the players. He passes down the decisions from the offices to those who inhabit the dugout.

And it’s not me, or any baseball purist, saying this. It’s Sandy Alderson.

He laments that the game has become “super predictable” where the Front Offices have taken over and have consistently and methodically sapped the soul out of the game by implementing mathematical formulas that will help them save money and enhance the chances of winning.

He specifically points to strategies like the shift, video replay, spin rates and launch angles. Players told to hit home runs because the odds support it instead of trying to advance the runner. Strategic hitting is no longer a viable option.

But Sandy says it will get worse. The automated strike zone will become a reality in the very near future and will take the entertaining factor of conflict out of the game entirely.

Gone will be the days when managers could erupt at the umps and fire up their players and fans. Alderson even said that sometimes the arguments between umps and managers was done for show. Screaming that often was done for crowd entertainment – and in reality was an act where the two “adversaries” were asking about each other’s families while they acted out a scene.

Imagine how boring this sport would be without the likes of Billy Martin and Earl Weaver. Even my mother, a casual baseball fan, would watch the games when Billy was managing the Tigers because she was waiting for him to come storming out of the dugout. I remember her giggling uncontrollably when Ernie Harwell described Martin’s bulging veins in his face and neck during a typical tirade.

According to MLB, this is all about to go away. The game is being turned into a methodical product. A predictable product in which emotion no longer has a place.

Alderson’s interview sounded more like a plea. He says that baseball needs color, which it currently lacks.

This from the first man who attempted to sign Michael Jordan because he felt that there was a high level of talent and a great human interest story that would play well in baseball. A signing that would bring non-baseball fans into the fold and help raise the sport’s profile. And it didn’t hurt that Jordan had tremendous leadership skills that would work very well in the clubhouse.

Sandy also expressed his praise for owners like Charley Finley and Bill Veeck. Owners who knew that fans wanted to be entertained as well as see a good baseball game.

And sadly, he believes the bean counters have taken over.

So who will be the first to recognize and act upon baseball’s ever-diminishing fan base before it’s too late?

The opportunity is being handed to owners on a silver platter this year. Will any of them be smart enough to make the necessary changes?

It’s there for the taking, owners…………..

REMEMBER WHEN …

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 11 Comments

Well, folks, it’s time to take another look back. We want your take on another key moment in Tiger baseball history. Do you remember?

The year was 2014. November to be exact. Coming off a career 2014 season, the Tigers designated hitter returned to Detroit for another 4 years, for a cool $68M.

So, we have a simple request. Feel free to jump right in with your memories on the topic. But please remember, responses are limited to 4 sentences or less.

Victor Martinez had the best offensive year of his career in 2014, finishing 2nd behind Mike Trout for American League MVP. Describe your reaction and your opinion upon hearing that VMart had re-signed with the Tigers for 4 years at age 35.

OPEN MIKE!

May 23, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 14 Comments

Readers on deck to take the wheel! Today is the one day during the month (normally) where you get the opportunity to comment on the Tiger topic of your choosing.

THE SATURDAY SURVEY

May 22, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 5 Comments

Today, we center the discussion on the minor leagues and how best to handle their development going forward with the uncertainty of the 2020 season.

With the cancellation of the Cape Cod Baseball League’s season, there is fear that MLB’s minor league season is also in jeopardy. If this happens, teams will need to figure out whether to shelve their minor leaguers or keep them active in another format. MLB is currently kicking around several proposals as listed in the survey below.

Please participate in the poll in order to share which proposal that you support.

RAPID FIRE

May 21, 2020May 21, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 16 Comments

By: Kurt Snyder & Holly Horning

Welcome to our newest blog! Take one hot issue, 2 bloggers and 5 questions to get your Friday off to a conversation-ready start. To make it even more interesting, Kurt and Holly have a maximum of 2 sentences in which to make their points. Let’s roll with the questions!

1. Should baseball be played this year?

KURT

I want both sides to drop the money talk and dedicate the season to virus relief, turning money loss into a money raising effort; run a phone number along the bottom of the screen for every game they play and let’s raise some damn money. It’s real important for this sport, our sport, to take the lead and be the one to get out on the field for the fans; it’d be an important cause and would help grow the game.

HOLLY

If health and safety standards are met, then absolutely, because this $11-billion-dollar industry is responsible for the employment of not just the players and organizations, but also the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of those who work for radio, tv, print/online media, manufacturers, food services and so many other job categories dependent upon baseball to help put food on their tables. It’s not just about the game but also the need to return to normal, to rebuild economic stability, keep talent from declining and maintain the development of minor league talent.

2. Should players take a further pay reduction in order for baseball to be played this year?

KURT

When it comes to the players, the ones who really concern me are the minor leaguers, who will get hurt the most over all of this. The major leaguers stand to lose a lot, but you know, they are making a lot and will come out the other end just fine – suck it up and let’s go.

HOLLY

It’s hard to argue with players who have already taken a 50% (and maybe more) pay cut and will be working under stressful and restrictive conditions that many would consider meeting hazard pay standards. But if it’s the only way a season gets played, then, yes, they should with the hope that owners would offer them another form of financial reward such as revenue sharing or partially-deferred salaries instead of salary reductions.

3. If having a season hinges on finances, which side – MLB or players – would you support in their argument?

KURT

Sorry, I can’t take a side because no one on the outside, meaning fans of this game and people new to the game, want to hear multi-millionaire players and owners talk about what they stand to lose in this environment. No one wants to hear it, so I can’t possibly take a side.

HOLLY

Whichever side shuts down the season because of money will look really bad. One would hope that both sides would do the right thing to make a season happen, but if owners, who keep crying about financial ruin, don’t open their books (as requested) to support their argument, it will be very telling and, as a result, channel my support to the players.

4. How big a deal are the proposed rules – no spitting, safe distances, players spread out, no clubhouse showering, curfews, etc. – that are intended to keep teams healthy and playing?

KURT

If they make these things a big deal given how good the sport will look having pushed through and salvaged a sports season in 2020, then they don’t want to do it bad enough. This is a year of sacrifice for so many, a year of total upheaval and drastic changes; these are minor in retrospect.

HOLLY

Change is hard for almost everyone, but these new rules pale in comparison to the changes and hardships much of the world is taking on now. These are guys who are extremely lucky to not only have jobs, but to also be paid in the high 6- and 7 figures so they should be thankful, roll with the punches and hope to take from this some lessons for personal and professional growth.

5. If there is no minor league season, what should the Tigers do with their top prospects?

KURT

They need to have a season in some capacity, whether it is in Toledo or through an expanded roster at the major league level. The top prospects are who gets hurt the most by losing a season of development and it should be close to the top priority to consider them when teams decide whether or not to buy into a 2020 baseball season.

HOLLY

If MLB doesn’t approve the suggested larger roster in order to accommodate the top minor leaguers, it becomes “use it or lose it” time for players like Mize (who will otherwise become MLB’s oldest #1 draft pick when he finally debuts), Manning and others. If it’s determined that they are mentally strong to withstand the expected struggles of making an earlier jump, then there’s absolutely no reason to hang onto players like Jordan Zimmermann (now earning half his salary) in a shortened season that will mean relatively nothing to the majority of teams.

YOU ASKED…

May 20, 2020May 21, 2020 / totallytigersblog / 7 Comments

By: Kurt Snyder

Welcome to another edition of You Asked. You could say it is Part 3 of a question from Toledo Bandito on the Hall of Fame merits of 2 Tiger greats.

Parts 1 and 2 addressed Hall of Fame pitchers and Part 3 addressed catchers. Hope you have enjoyed what Kurt has discovered.

Thanks for the topic TBand!

ToledoBandito:

Can we talk Holly or Kurt into an article or two on HOF credentials for Bill Freehan and Mickey Lolich? Both deserving of the honor in my opinion.

KURT

He was one of the greatest catchers in Tiger history. His number 11, unretired, of course, serves to remind us of his 11 All-Star seasons, with 10 of them coming consecutively. Bill Freehan was truly one of the best catchers of his era.

Defensively, he led the league as many of those Al- Star seasons were coupled with a Gold Glove, earned in 5 of those 11 years.

But Freehan isn’t a Hall of Famer. What held him back?

With only 19 catchers in the Hall of Fame, the competition is tough. And with 3 of them playing in the highly-regarded and talent-rich Negro Leagues (4 with the addition of Roy Campanella), Freehan really needed to post some good numbers.

But think of the catchers who played in and around his era. Johnny Bench won 2 MVPs during Freehan’s career and is commonly known as one of the best catchers to ever play the game.

Carlton Fisk starred in Boston towards the end of Freehan’s career and was among the best the American League had to offer.

Ted Simmons played over 20 years in the big leagues and was just beginning his great career in the middle to the end of Freehan’s 16 years.

It’s just tough sledding for catchers in the Hall. Anyone close? Well…

Rick Ferrell, a former executive in the Tiger organization, held the American League record for most games caught, 1,806, when he retired. He was inducted into the Hall in ’84 via the Veterans Committee; four years later, that record was broken by Carlton Fisk.

The Hall of Fame holds that record in high esteem, because Ferrell’s trumps Freehan’s by any means. But it’s that record that did it for Ferrell.

That’s as close as we get for big Bill. But don’t be misled, he ranks highly in Detroit and deserves the greatest of accolades in the city where he spent his entire career.

Totally Tigers

Unique Analysis–Timely Topics–Better Baseball

Month: May 2020

OPEN MIKE!

THE SATURDAY SURVEY

RAPID FIRE

YOU ASKED

PAGING BILL VEECK

REMEMBER WHEN …

OPEN MIKE!

THE SATURDAY SURVEY

RAPID FIRE

YOU ASKED…

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