Teams have been in a frenzy this week as they complete their rosters. Three and a half months of work compressed into 1 week. Some call it Hot Stove II.
I call it Incendiary Stove.
It’s more than hot.
And because of all the negotiating and offers, this season of signings has allowed us to come full circle on the last 30 years of the Tigers.
Two stories, two owners. One GM.
Two changing of the guard.
What they all have in common is the ability to disrupt and alter our memories and beliefs of what happened in the past. A new interpretation if you will.
And maybe not for the last time.
All because of time, distance and new regimes taking over.
I’ve written about this before. How the passing of time and the ability to compare the old with the new can alter our beliefs. History has a way of illuminating the past and making it more clear.
The latest is a story of a team, approximately a decade ago, that was filled with expensive stars. Five straight years of October baseball with only 1 World Series to show for it. Followed by 8 years of a tear down, tanking and waiting for albatross contracts to expire.
An aging owner who died, a new GM and 3 managers since their last playoff appearance.
And now? The team is rebuilding.
Any of this sound familiar?
But they are now receiving criticism from the baseball world for how they are rebuilding. The roster is once again being filled with expensive players on longer contracts. Mashers mostly. Too many guys who can’t run fast and are defensively below average.
Still sound familiar?
It should. The guy who is building this roster is Dave Dombrowski.
But he’s doing it for the Phillies, not the Tigers.
It’s déjà-vu all over again.
Has our opinion of Dombrowski changed? Have we gone from thinking of him as a genius when he was with the Tigers and see him now as an outdated “one trick pony” ? Especially when he’s continuing the same formula of building a roster that he did with the Marlins, Tigers, Red Sox – and now Phillies?
Analysts have not been kind to Dave. They speak of methods that are no longer being used by most baseball teams. They talk about the focus on hitting – and not much else. They whisper that the Phillies will eventually return to that same hole they dug for themselves 8 years ago.
It’s the same hole, as it now turns out, that he helped dig for the Tigers. Filling Detroit’s roster with big mashers who had trouble fielding and couldn’t run. And a contradictory move considering that Comerica is best suited to athletic guys who could run and be plus defenders.
A roster that for years under Dombrowski was so bad defensively that a number of pitchers wouldn’t sign with Detroit. Not to mention the infamous meltdown of David Price at the end of his first season with Detroit when he demanded that Dave do something about the fielding behind him.
Meanwhile, it’s not just our opinion of Dombrowski that is changing.
Ownership, too.
Ask many fans and they will tell you that Mike Ilitch was a terrific owner. He invested millions in the team and the Tigers played October baseball regularly. They no longer remember the 14 years previous to 2006 when Ilitch did not invest in the team and the Tigers only finished above .500 once during that time.
But is his status as beloved owner starting to change with fans?
Yes.
As the team started their tear down and tanking in 2017, most fans still thought fondly of Mr. I and placed the blame on his son, Chris. But things really started changing last year. Fans fed up with the tear down and impatient for their team to get out of last place.
They started to realize that all those long expensive contracts greenlighted by Mr. I for Miggy, JV, VMart, Fielder and others were bad moves for the most part.
Meanwhile, Chris Ilitch was absorbing all the blame since 2017 for the tear down and tanking. Blamed for the fire sale that saw many beloved players leave – and for peanuts.
Blame that has lasted 5 years.
Fans now are seeing that the tear down, as ugly as it was, had to happen or the Tigers would spend years trying to get out of the cellar. (As for the bad trades, that blame lies elsewhere and with someone else. And it’s a topic we won’t address in this blog.)
But the fog of fan fury seems to be lifting after last year. A new manager, coaches and promoted prospects have helped.
But ironically it was a move Chris didn’t make that won over a majority of fans.
His refusal to sign off on a deal to offer Carlos Correa a 10-year contract over $300 million even though both Al Avila and A. J. Hinch wanted him.
Been there, done that.
It’s good when one learns lessons from the past.
And it was an interesting reaction from fans. The most recent report that TT tweeted last weekend set Twitter afire. Fans, both casual and more dedicated, were either strongly for or against the move.
But this week’s TT poll, comprised of mostly very knowledgeable fans was overwhelmingly supportive of Chris. Over 89% believed Ilitch made the right move in refusing to add a long-term contract that would probably hamstring Detroit down the road.
Can it be that Tigers fans are finally seeing signs that things are going in the right direction?
Is their vote an affirmation that those long, expensive contracts don’t work in the end?
Are fans finally seeing new pieces and better strategies falling into place?
Have they realized that trying to buy a championship doesn’t work?
Do they see Chris attempting to take this organization into the 21st Century?
Do fans like what they’re currently seeing? Do they believe that this new system is viable and superior to the ways of the past?
It appears to be heading that way.
However, it’s too soon to come to that conclusion.
The Tigers are only going in their 2nd year of rebuilding.
We’re seeing some good signs. Prospects coming up with more on the way. The first multi-year contract given out for 2021. The first big free agent signing. Several other smart multi-year moves this year.
Add to that one of MLB’s best managers and a new set of coaches to replace the old and outdated clique.
Best of all? The brooming of Player Development. Loads of new personnel with little to no significant ties to the Tigers. Detroit poaching from the top teams in MLB instead of hiring the unemployed or their buddies.
But more chapters of the Chris Ilitch story remain to be written. There are more hurdles to jump.
Specifically, as this team gets closer to contention, will Ilitch open his wallet to get the needed pieces? Will he continue to invest in the Tigers?
Does Chris want to take this team to the top? Or is his goal to make them just good enough?
That’s a story we’ll continue to follow.
But the one thing we know for sure?
The reputations and efforts of Chris, Mr. I and Dave Dombrowski will continue to change throughout time.
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the page.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
- Al Avila’s statements about Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene potentially making the Opening Day roster.
Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?
- We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
- Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?
Totally Tigers 
CI is a businessman, but smart ones improve their product and production, which I think Chris is responsible for in some kinda way. Whether building analytics, revamping scouting, or hiring quality, he has provided means for building the Tiger Way. It’s gettin’ excitin’ in Tiger Town.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Clearly Dombrowski has not “evolved” as a baseball executive, and Illitch the elder only was passionate about baseball for his last few years. But hindsight is 20-20 and it should not be forgotten how totally exciting and proud it was to be a Tiger fan for a few years. If junior Illitch and loyal companion Avila can thrill us with the modern game, bring it on.
LikeLiked by 6 people
The twist and turn in your story that included Dave Dombrowski was brilliant! Didn’t see that coming. But everything you covered is painfully true and I can’t help but wonder what Phillies fans are thinking. I’m also curious what Trader Dave’s doing re: player development, training & conditioning (& analytics), given his “trade the prospect” for established star predilection. So glad that the Tigers learned from past mistakes!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Before we blacken Dave’s name too much let’s recall that he fleeced teams for Miguel Cabrera and Mad Max. He also has put together two World Series Champion teams Miami and Boston). But hey, Al Avila.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Absolutely correct Hughie. Drombowski has been a winner at every stop in his career. His GM skills are among the highest in the MLB according to several sources who examined each trade he has made. Having said that, the team owner provides the mandate, not the GM.
LikeLiked by 2 people
CI didn’t need to go to the bottom of the barrel for years at end just to make money and work on revamping the Tiger Way. He also didn’t need to continue spending wildly like his father did. He should have cut back on the spending but field a more competitive team – similar to what he is doing now. There was a lot of pain for the fans for how he did the tear down.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Long expensive contracts are fine. Long expensive contracts for Carlos Correa are not fine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree that CI made the right decision about Corea, although more from the refusal to spend rather than from intentional strategy. In my opinion however, he hasn’t done much else right. It’s he who is responsible for factors that have torn this team apart, and prevented it from success i.e. keeping Leland around to spread his bad influence to the team, hiring poor management personnel like Al Avilla, Brad Ausmus & Gardy, etc.,
LikeLiked by 4 people
Think CI made right move on CC. By the time coreas back gives out AA will be retired and his manager will be moved or moving on. Only Chris and the tigers fans will remain. I worked for both Detroit pizza giants. One was always looking how the dice will roll down the road tomorrow and beyond. The other never seemed to look beond next marketing cycle.
LikeLike
It’s not reputations that change, it’s our perceptions. First fans loved Leyland and the Pirate connection but then complained about it. Now they praise the growing Dodger connection, a team that is shelling out for high price, long-term contracts. One truism: the rebuild should not be going into its seventh year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d like to point out that CI didn’t hire Brad but did extend him. It was Holly that convinced me that based on the condition of the club, extending him was almost the only move that made sense at the time. Holly did a superb job of pointing out just how much the club had declined.
LikeLike
While this off-season AA made what appears to be good signings he certainly didn’t learn anything from all those years as DD assistant, given he frequently blurted out his plans publicly, signed Mike Pelfrey, JZ and other bottom of the barrel free agents and didn’t start doing significantly better until AJ came along. Still can’t believe he got that contract that no one knows when it will end and to this day no details.
LikeLike
T: One thing you must realize is that no matter what your job title or position is that the one thing that guarantees your job security above most is doing exactly what the person that hired you (or can fire you) wants you to do. I honestly believe that is what AA has done since CI took over. Seems to have worked for him.
LikeLike
In the nine year period between 2006 and 2014, the Tigers won the American League pennant in 2006 and in 2012, and they won the Central Division titles in 2011, 2013, and 2014. Dave Dombrowski was the Tigers’ GM for those pennants and the division titles. Name a more successful GM in the history of the Tiger franchise.
LikeLiked by 2 people