WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY

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Today, another opportunity for readers to discuss the hottest topics in a forum where thoughtful dialog and a variety of opinions are welcomed.

Let’s create some running conversational threads.  And for those of you still going into offices, here’s a question to take with you – or use via Zoom – as you talk to your co-workers.

Here is today’s topic:
 
The Detroit Tigers are having a worse season than last year and are flirting with returning to another 100 loss season after finishing in third place with a .475 WL% in 2021.  All of this despite both Chris Ilitch and Al Avila saying the “rebuild is over.”

Ilitch spent over $243 million on free agents alone this year, none of whom have much of an impact. And over half of the roster is underperforming.  The team is on a pace to set a historical Tigers record – as well as MLB – for fewest runs ever scored.

But the Tigers have been saddled with many injuries this year, especially to the starting rotation which lost all but one of their Opening Day pitchers.

This year also saw the emergence of some highly-touted rookies acquired from the years of tanking.  All but one are either injured or have been sent back to Toledo.

From what you see this year, what do you think of the Tigers’ current rebuild?

Is it going as you expected with a slight detour?

Has the progress been derailed for the year due to situations beyond their control, such as injuries?

Or is this a sign that the rebuild is not working as planned?

What do you think?

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33 thoughts on “WATERCOOLER WEDNESDAY”

  1. I feel so discouraged. So many position players have played poorly, and despite greater promise in the pitching department, so of these young guys are unproven and coming off injuries. And what’s worse is that despite all of the tanking, minor league help is not on the way any time soon.

    Liked by 7 people

    • Players, players every where, and not a good one you’d think, players, players everywhere and the choices did shrink. ( My apologies to Samuel Coleridge.) Yes, it is depressing and there are no good solutions in sight.

      Liked by 10 people

    • So you stated the obvious. Where do you think the rebuild is? Can they get through this? What if positional players play to their potential?

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      • I think with the poor drafts during the tank, the team has slipped into purgatory. Nothing is left in AA or AAA to help the major league team and they lack assets to trade for an average MLB batting order. And with stone cold losers at the top of the organization the rebuild looks very stuck in what one might see year two of a better team’s rebuild (Orioles?).

        Liked by 4 people

  2. Injuries are contingencies that must be planned for – especially in professional sports. As an old guy sitting in my recliner I have other contingencies to plan for. Like when my favorite team is unwatchable I can read a book or take a nap.

    Liked by 9 people

    • I just ordered the Cobb biography, A Terrible Beauty. We can always read of quality baseball, even if we can’t follow it locally. That’s why this blog and it’s readership are so important.

      Liked by 10 people

  3. More aand more, these years of rebuild demonstrate a bad organization at all levels, not just the present major league roster. What is really distressing is we devoted Tigers fans have suffeted through multiple iterations of bad organizatipns through the decades.

    Liked by 5 people

  4. The seeds of this failed rebuild were sown long before this season. Avila has squandered so many assets through awful trades and poor free agent signings. The injuries are unfortunate, but also exposed how truly weak the Tigers organization is from top to bottom. Good organizations have depth and the Tigers have zero.

    Liked by 11 people

  5. Not sure I can add anything to what’s been said. Other than I take care getting out of my recliner so I don’t go on the IL.

    Liked by 5 people

  6. Strategy? Other than the changes made throughout the entire organization last year that appeared to be driven by AJ Hinch, impulsive actions seem to rule all decisions. While I can see the arguments about not changing hitting coaches during the season, not overhauling our training, conditioning & medical staffs immediately is unconscionable!

    Liked by 6 people

  7. It’s always been fascinating that the Tigers have repeatedly hit rock bottom (mid ’70s…most of the 90s …the first years of the aughts….right now) with the idea that a “rebuild” is necessary to fix things each time. Why does this never happen with the Cardinals? Saint Louis seems to has systemically figured something out. Forget about the fads. Do whatever the Cards are doing and forget about this supposedly inevitable necessity of the “rebuild”.

    Liked by 3 people

    • The Tigers don’t really need a rebuild. That takes too long. They need a restocking. That is done through FA.

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      • That’s a fallacy. Most successful teams have a core of players who were drafted and developed, or aquired in trades. Once the team is on the cusp of being competitive then you fill in any holes you have thru Free Agent signings.

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    • You can add the Giants and TB to that list as well. A couple of clunkers along the way but even playing in a real ML Division, they somehow manage to stay relevant. The Tigers have played in a sub-.500 division for decades now.

      Liked by 6 people

    • I recall those “rock bottom” periods and there was no talk of being in “a rebuild,” which serms to be a more recent term. This is just a bad organization as you relate. The Cards and other organizations don’t descend to such depths.

      Liked by 2 people

  8. I can hear it now…”Injuries were just too much to overcome… We have the core of a great team here… “At least we battled every night… The trade market was weak…Blah, blah, blah… Just win baby.

    Liked by 7 people

  9. It is hard to determine where the rebuild is due to injuries and poor performance of veterans and FAs. If FAs played to their potential we may be in a better place. I feel Tigers should have got veteran FAs to replace injured players instead of retrying to youngsters who have proven they are not major league players.

    Liked by 2 people

    • For the most part the only veteran FA’s available during the season are castoffs from other teams due to underperformance and those who are Minor League FA’s. Guys like Hutchison, Barnes, Norris, and Chi Chi Gonzales.

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  10. Several veteran players having the worst year of their careers and virtually nobody is blaming the manager. Avila, of course, is in way over his head, and should not be the GM, but he is not the only problem by a long shot. Avila deserves the axe but pinning it all on him is a mistake.

    Liked by 2 people

    • golions1 – I agree 100%, and have been saying that all year. There has to be something the pitchers are doing with their workload (or lack thereof) and preparation that is causing this. I personally think all the “analytics” nonsense has gotten in the heads of the hitters so they are thinking too much at the plate instead of just playing the game like they have been their entire lives.

      Liked by 2 people

  11. It is extremely unlikely that being wrong pretty much 100% of the time can be written off as bad luck. This is a failed organization top-to-bottom and it will not be corrected by minor changes while keeping most of the responsible people on the payroll (See Leyland, James). We will keep politics out of this but…….

    Liked by 8 people

  12. I don’t know if the strategy was terrible but the execution of it was. Incompetent player development and free agency selections seem to be the issue. The idea of building a strong minor league pipeline supplementing with free agents is a great one. But as as far as the implementation of this plan, Bob Uecker might call it “just a bit outside”.

    Liked by 6 people

    • Thank you for this. I am still flabbergasted that they waited several years into the “rebuild” to modernize their organizations and clear out dead wood. And of course the result of this failure is several years of losing by design now followed X many years of losing while trying to win.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Right on Steve: I’ve given a long leash to Al in hopes that he was in tune where he was going. But when you scope his moves in the so-called rebuild it is dotted with moves that had way to many red flags. Pelfrey (zero credibility), diarrhea of the mouth (when he got the job), Zimmerman (covered with flags in DC) 2 relievers after career years, way to much Jimbo, JD that netted him Jose King (still in low minors) 2nd and 3rd rnd picks still struggling,

      Liked by 1 person

  13. The Tigers have a huge problem with their Strength and Conditioning Staff, Trainers, etc. How many times have they cleared an injured player to return to duty, only to see that same player reinjure himself in his first attempt at playing, pitching, etc. Look at the latest list of players going under the surgeons knife this year. The numbers are unprecedented for this team. It has reached the point of absurdity, and drastic changes are needed in these departments.

    Liked by 10 people

  14. This is all on AA, bad FA signings (for years), draft picks (guess he should have picked Singer over Maize), inept coaching/conditioning/scouting staff (except for Fetter) and now with the trade dead line coming up more disasters loom. Ownership out of touch with reality (Mr. “We’re headed in the right direction”). Ugh.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. It’s about a 10-year rebuild. Multiple players will be back from Tommy John. Meadows, Manning, Faedo Brieske, Hill, Wentz might continue to get better. Wilmer Flores will be closer to MLB. Kerry Carpenter will probably be on the team. Spencer Torkelson will be a better hitter by then.
    Jackson Jobe will be the prospect everyone talks about. In 2024, the Dombrowski debt will have been paid off.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Ya know, call me crazy…but as bad as things have been, they are only 12.5 games out..and no longer in last place! . I don’t even know where I’m going with this comment..

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