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 back in actual 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……..
In less than 2 weeks, spring training starts. The Tigers have invited 62 players with 22 of those being non-roster invites. Here is how they break down:
9 LHP (4 new players)
22 RHP (11 new players)
For a maximum of 14 pitchers on the roster.
8 catchers (6 new players)
For 2 open positions.
16 infielders (10 new players)
For app. 7 open positions.
7 outfielders (2 new players)
For app. 4-5 open positions.
Do you like that Scott Harris has added so many potential candidates? Are more options better than fewer?
Do you feel he’s also addressing depth and using spring training to assess talent to a better degree?
Or do you believe this is more of a statement about the previous regime’s failure to build a competitive roster?
Is this more about the holes that exist and the search to fill them?
Which of these 2 options do you feel gives a more accurate read on the purpose of all these invites?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
What does it say when so many former Tigers are moving to this team?
I generally don’t put a whole lot of stock in prospect rankings. It’s a system that rates young players who are still technically half-formed jello. Anything can happen. Anything can change.
On their own, each rating system is subjective. However, when you gather all these rankings together, the story changes.
Patterns emerge.
And you know how I love to find the pattern in anything about the Tigers and baseball in general.
Pattern are proof that there is something to what everyone is seeing.
Case in point are 3 new Top 100 prospect rankings. The 2 biggest – MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. And, of course, the analyst Tiger fans have come to mightily dislike – Keith Law.
With the release of the 2023 rankings, I decided to go back to 2016. The Tigers first year under the Avila regime, which ironically really hadn’t changed much. The same people but with bigger titles.
We knew that the Tigers hadn’t paid attention nor made an investment in their farm system in decades. Most recently, Mr. I had put his money into free agents instead of the organization’s infrastructure. It covered up the failures of developing players.
But under Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers managed to successfully draft and develop a handful of players like Justin Verlander and Curtis Granderson. Not really enough, but at least a few achievements.
But that was a looooong time ago….
I did a deep dive into both MLB Pipeline’s and Baseball America’s rankings from 2016 to the present. Comparing each from year to year and also between each other.
I only looked at Law’s list from this year (2023). And you won’t be surprised to learn that he still doesn’t love the Tigers. To clarify, he doesn’t love their outdated system.
He’s got:
#83 – Jackson Jobe
#88 – Jace Jung
That’s it. Only 2 to show despite 6 years of tanking.
But maybe we should have listened to what Law was really telling us. He was being brutally honest about what a train wreck the Tigers’ draft and player development systems have been. His yearly list is an annual reminder about how bad their player development system was.
Many of us simply didn’t want to hear the ugly truth.
So now, let’s turn to the other 2 systems. What are they saying?
In the last 8 years of rankings, only 4 positional players drafted by the Tigers made the list. Parker Meadows was the first in 2018. Riley Greene in 2020. Spencer Torkelson in 2021. And Jace Jung in 2022.
Isaac Paredes made the list in 2019 but he was not drafted by the Tigers.
Only Paredes, Jung and Greene continued to make the top 100 list after their first year on it.
Riley made the list every year he was eligible. He was the only who rocketed every year in the 3 he was eligible and overtook Torkelson in the rankings.
Spencer Torkelson made the list for both systems in 2021 but only made the cut with MLB Pipeline in 2022. (For the record, these lists are compiled before the 2022 season.)
Paredes dropped in his second year and hasn’t make the list since 2020.
Jung only made Baseball America’s lists, not MLB’s. Jung dropped dramatically from 2022 to 2023.
Out of all the positional players, only Riley Greene moved up in the rankings.
In comparison, 8 pitchers made the lists in 8 years. In 3 of those years, it was only pitchers who ranked in the top.
Matt Manning was the most dominant. He made the list for each of the 6 years he was eligible. (But one could also ask why was he stuck in the minors for a whopping 6 years?) For MLB Pipeline, it was a roller coaster ride that saw him drop considerably before regaining some status. It appears that things clicked for him starting in 2020.
One-time rankings were seen for Kyle Funkhouser and Alex Faedo. Franklin Perez made the list in 2018 but dropped significantly in 2019 and was released by the team, later re-signing. He hasn’t pitched since 2019.
Casey Mize made the list 3 years in a row but regressed in his last one.
Tarik Skubal made the list 2 years in a row with significant improvement in his last year. Wilmer Flores also saw a small rise in his ranking.
And finally, Jackson Jobe made the rankings for both 2022 and 2023 but he dropped from #38 to #63 for Baseball America. MLB Pipeline has him ranked as #79 to now #83.
Here now are the number of prospects ranked for each year by Baseball American (BA) and MLB Pipleline (MP) respectively.
2016 – 0 and 2
2017 – 1 and 1
2018 – 4 and 3
2019 – 3 and 3
2020 – 4 and 5
2021 – 5 and 5
2022 – 3 and 3
2023 – 3 and 1
You can see somewhat of an improvement starting in 2018 but then again, a pattern of decline starting again in 2022.
So what is typical for each team in terms of top prospects? A minimum of 5 players per organization per year. The Tigers only achieved this minimum in 2 out of 8 years.
But consistently good teams, like the Cardinals, regularly have 6 – 8 players making these cuts every year. This is what creates a sustainable team that doesn’t need to go through tear downs. They are usually joined by the Rays, Dodgers and Braves.
But the biggest difference between the Tigers and these other teams is that the latter are more successful with players they draft significantly lower in order.
This is what Chris Ilitch referenced when he said he wanted to create a sustainable team. It wasn’t simply PR. And when he saw these stats going down, he realized that it wasn’t going to happen under Avila’s watch.
Speaking of rebuilding, the team that had the most top prospects this year was Baltimore with 8. They started their rebuild 2 years after the Tigers and hired a new GM from Houston who rebuilt the organization from top to bottom. Last year, they also had an impressive haul.
But you can see that the Tigers weren’t developing enough players, especially position players, to feed a pipeline. And it got increasingly worse in 2022.
A couple infielders who were promising. But none of them 1Bers which was undoubtedly a factor in pushing Spencer Torkelson up to Detroit despite having only 1 year of minor league experience.
But we also read that after his first year as manager, A. J. Hinch was very unhappy with how players were coming up to Detroit. He indicated that they weren’t prepared and that performance once they got to Comerica was below what was expected. Even with the pitchers. There are stories about how disappointed he was in Casey Mize’s development in the minors.
So where do the Tigers stand with top prospects since Avila took over?
There have been 13 of them in 8 years. Two of them are no longer with the organization. Three of them are recovering from surgery. Another 5 are still in the minors. And 2 of those 13 are in Detroit. Three if Spencer Torkelson makes the major league roster.
Now you know why those in charge of drafting and developing under the old regime were fired.
I only question why it took so long.
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
The complete list of players reporting to Lakeland and which areas will have the most competition.
Throughout the week, there are so many smaller stories hitting the media. They may be bite-size, but often they are just as important as the headline-grabbing news. Sometimes, even more.
And that’s what brings me to today. A way to bring them out in the open and invite conversation about some of these subjects.
And that’s the plan for Mondays. Keeping track of these mighty little bits that hit my radar throughout the week and sharing them with you today because I know one or more will also resonate with you. So, let’s kick off this week’s musings…
This has been the week for whackadoodle owners to shine.
First, Orioles owner John Angelos who went nuclear on their main beat reporter in a room full of media. It had to do with the owner’s possible sale of the team and whether the Orioles would stay in Baltimore. Angelos then promised to release the financials of the Orioles so everyone could see that the team was stable but now those records aren’t available and the owner is refusing to accept any follow-up phone calls.
No report would be complete without mentioning Angels owner Arte Moreno who made a big deal about putting the team up for sale. But now he claims he’s not selling. It may have something to do with MLB adding 2 new expansion teams in the near future which would net Moreno 1/30th of a $2+ billion franchise fee.
It now appears that the whackadoodle owners may be adding another member to their group – Astros owner Jim Crane. Notorious first for the cheating scandal and now for firing his GM and Asst. GM immediately after winning the World Series.
Crane, despite having no experience with running a baseball team, became the GM (and Asst. GM) de facto at the winter meetings and oversaw all trades and transactions. And he’s taken his own sweet time in finding a new GM.
Last week it was reported that his choices had boiled down to 2 candidates. Dana Brown, an experienced baseball man, exceptional scout and VP of Scouting for the Braves. And the other?
Brad Ausmus.
Yes, the same man Tiger fans know painfully well. Also the same guy who managed for exactly 1 year with the Angels (and Arte Moreno) and got the job because he aced the written exam. The Angels actually admitted out loud that this was the reason why they hired Ausmus.
Nevermind that Brad was unsuccessful once he retired from playing. He couldn’t manage 26 men on a roster but somehow Crane thought he could take over running the entire Astros organization.
If you’re looking for some humor, check out some of the social media threads when Astro fans heard that Ausmus was a top contender for the job.
Fortunately for them, Crane ended up hiring Brown. It shouldn’t have even been a contest.
We’re starting to see some significant changes in the Tigers organization now that Scott Harris and new personnel are in charge.
Some of the more notable moments are pictures of some Tigers participating in Pilates. I had been lobbying for that to be included in the team’s training for years. Pilates not only lengthens and strengthens, but it builds the core better than any other exercise and helps to prevent injury.
A recent interview with Matt Manning was quite revealing. It mentioned that under the old leadership, he was quite stubborn and uncoachable. But now, he worships the ground under pitching coach Robin Lund who broke down his mechanics and saw what potentially was creating his injuries. Manning is now a believer and listening/practicing every bit of advice given to him.
He also let it slip that while the Tigers incorporated analytics under Al Avila, there was never a program that used them correctly. Manning said of the new staff “We’ve broken down film, broken down numbers that I didn’t even know we had. They’re starting to explain it in certain ways, and it’s all starting to really make sense. I’m really proud to be in this organization and be taking the next step forward.”
The undercurrent of the entire interview hints of frustrations created because of lack of proper resources. Iffy pitching mechanics, experimentation instead of analysis and communication issues appear to have existed for quite awhile under the old regime due to outdated coaching and the team’s hesitation to be among the last to integrate kinesiology and biomechanics.
It now sounds like the hiring of Lund has paid off even before the season starts. Manning’s mechanics have been improved, there is a pitching plan and he’s now listening to coaches. Hopefully, others to follow….
As expected, the company that owns Bally Sports is about to file for bankruptcy. Bally has been tightening its budget over the past 2 years and this probably was one factor in the departure of the Detroit Tigers’ Jack Morris.
This potentially means that the Tigers could lose significant income from tv rights. Diamond, which owns Bally, only has 1/4th the cash on hand to pay all the teams in its system what they are owed. Under the presumed restructuring laws, the debtors will become the new owners of Bally and will earn the right to cancel any tv rights contracts and renegotiate them.
It’s unclear how much revenue the Tigers will lose if contracts are terminated. Other teams like the Cardinals are expected to take huge hits.
The Tigers recently signed a 10-year contract w/Bally. The old contract paid them $50mill/year. The new one is speculated to be as much as $100mill/year.
All of that may be out the window.
So why is this important to fans? The Tigers are a business and therefore they will end up having to restructure their budget. It may impact the roster and also the costs that fans see.
Unfortunately, a streaming option per game that was discussed last year is too late to enact for Bally. And at one point, Chris Ilitch explored starting his own sports network like the Yankees YES. Names were trademarked but we heard nothing after that.
And the Red Wings also fall under the Bally debacle so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Ilitch family decides to do.
Which one of these stories resonated the most with you?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
Damning proof of the inability of the Tigers’ former player development program to properly develop their prospects.
Earlier this month, the Tigers traded Gregory Soto (and Kody Clemens) for 3 players. Soto, while a hard-thrower, had troubles with his command. His walk rate was very close to his strikeout rate. And he does not fit Scott Harris’ mantra of controlling the strike zone.
He lost 11 games for the Tigers last year and his stats were starting to trend downward. His ERA was 3.28 and his WHIP was 1.38.
For a team that desperately needs an infusion of new talent, the only viable players the Tigers had who were tradable (other than top farm system prospects and Riley Greene) were pitchers.
The Tigers now will have to find a new closer.
Did they make the right move by trading Soto? Or will he be missed?
Are there better options within the Tigers organization?
Or, because the Tigers are thought to struggle again this coming season, how important is a closer anyway? Is a consistent closer considered to be a luxury for a team that is rarely in it towards the end of the game?
What do you think?
Today’s blog addresses this dilemma and allows readers to share their thoughts in more detail. And hopefully, to actively engage with others by responding to their posts and creating back-and-forth discussion threads. The more the merrier!
For this one blog only, you’ve got 6 sentences maxto share your thoughts. Of course, you can respond to as many other readers as you want.
TT will supply the ammunition. One thought-provoking question. Several options provided. One hard choice to be selected. One vote.
Ready?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 6 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
We’ve identified a good way to measure the skills of the new Player Development department.
The Detroit Tigers plan on having multiple tryouts for most positional slots this spring. Not only will there be 3-4 players competing for each position but the team has also said they will be looking for “defensive flexibility” in the players who end up making the roster.
Defensive flexibility goes back at least a decade and stats shows that teams who emphasize having multiple players who can play a variety of positions have a competitive edge. Most teams in MLB practice this strategy. Unsurprisingly, the Tigers are one of the last to adopt it.
Scott Harris and A. J. Hinch are believers and intend on incorporating it in Detroit. It would solve a myriad of concerns including:
Adding depth to the roster
Having stronger solutions for when players go on the IL
Providing better lineups depending upon the opposing pitchers
Given the Tigers’ current status as they try to right the ship, what are your feelings about the switch to defensive flexibility?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
Where do the Tigers rank in the top 100 prospect list?
Scott Harris continues to dig and address all of the many issues surrounding the Tigers. Some of them more visible than others.
But the problems don’t stop once the 2023 season starts. In fact, many of them will become even more glaring and increasingly in need of a fix.
There have always been stories and examples of some of the problems they’ve never been able to address properly.
Until maybe now.
And that is today’s theme.
If we exclude discussion of the roster, what problems does Scott Harris need to solve that impact the roster the most?
I’ve got my top 5.
CORPORATE CULTURE – I wrote about it earlier this week but it needs to be applied to the entire team. Setting the bar high, inspiring players to constantly want to be better and creating a culture of learning. Making players coachable and not resistant to change. Already reading how a young pitcher has accepted a new coach’s advice and is no longer considered “stubborn.”
DEPTH – Despite the supposed benefits of tanking, the team has little positional depth. Injuries, a weak development program and failure at the MLB level tax that. The new player development program appears promising and while waiver wire claims aren’t exciting, the team is starting to add much needed depth. Trades and the new player development system should also create additional options.
IDENTICAL HITTERS – Al Avila collected the identical type of hitter (no command of strike zone and low rate of getting on base) which was the primary reason why the Tigers have been at the bottom offensively since 2018. It meant that each player had a style that never set up the next hitter for success. Changing the hitting profiles of each will create a lineup that works more counts, wears down a pitcher more quickly and puts men on base.
INJURIES – One needs a road map to count the number of injuries that happened to the pitching staff last year. But rather than question what the pitching coaches are doing, it’s more likely due to what the outdated training and conditioning weren’t doing and the lack of specialists trained in biomechanics and kinesiology. There are already statements from Matt Manning, who was injured for much of last year, that Robin Lund has already dissected his mechanics and found a number of issues to correct that will promote healthier throwing.
LEADERSHIP – We find out now that Al Avila was only concerned with the physical skills of building a roster, not the intangible ones. Scott Harris has now told us there was a significant lack of leadership in the clubhouse last year that created problems. It’s one reason why he signed Matthew Boyd. But more leaders will be needed.
Can you add to the list? A major concern that is not roster-related but definitely impacts it?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
What does the bankruptcy of Bally Sports’ parent company mean for the Tigers?
Oooh, there are some unhappy Tiger fans out there. A recent article on payroll got them all churned up.
Why?
Because the Tigers’ payroll is going to drop a little if we compare what may be the Opening Day payroll this year with last year’s.
According to them, payroll and players with recognizable names are the only ways to measure intent. And if an owner doesn’t increase what he spent in the previous year, he’s cheap and hates baseball. Oh, and he’s the worst owner in MLB and should sell the team.
I wish I had a nickel for every time I read this in the comment sections.
Even when Chris Ilitch guaranteed $243 mill last year in contracts, that wasn’t enough for some. He should have spent more according to them.
It appears that when the Tigers lost 96 games last year, some even said it was Ilitch’s fault for not spending enough.
How much an owner spends seems to be their only measuring stick.
Even when the Tigers have substantially revamped an aging and outdated organization, they don’t see it.
When millions were spent on infrastructure, entire departments broomed, a new President of Baseball Operations was incorporated, a coaching staff doubled and layers of minor league coaches/evaluators were added, that’s not enough.
And never mind that old retired coaches who were horrible at what they did were released and replaced by top talent with all the tools. Supposedly, that doesn’t count either.
Neither does replacing the training and conditioning staff, hiring nutritionists and caterers for every major and minor team or adding very expensive high tech equipment to every part of the organization.
They just want a ba-zillion dollars thrown at the roster. As if that will solve all the problems.
They don’t even consider what the organization had been doing – or not – that created this dysfunctional mess.
According to them, money solves everything.
It didn’t solve the problems when the Tigers were winning division titles and playoffs 10-16 years ago. It provided a number of thrills but not the ultimate prize. And it also became the fuel that resulted in the last excruciating 7 years.
Was that trade off worth it? Seven years of good for 6 years of bad and counting?
So why has Chris Ilitch spent so much on the organization’s infrastructure but stopped short of pouring millions more into the roster this year?
Two big reasons.
First, he’s a smart man. An extremely wealthy man and they rarely make bad financial decisions.
He spent the third most of all MLB owners last year. And what did it get him?
A whopping 96 losses and an epic failure of a team.
Do you think he’d do the same thing again the very next year?
Especially with a brand new man in charge who has yet to prove his worth to the Tigers?
Of course not. Would you?
Now, everything in life is not due to 1 single factor. There are usually a number of elements involved.
And one of the other major influences has to be the analysis and report that Scott Harris gave him.
Harris is not going to paint a rosy picture. Doing that, you set yourself up for failure and firing.
What you are going to do is to give an honest assessment.
And that evaluation probably told Ilitch that Avila set this rebuild back. That the former GM built little if anything.
That it’s going to take more than a couple months to dig through the debris, develop a plan, implement a strategy and see how it goes.
That putting more millions into the roster payroll isn’t going to accomplish much. Afterall, doing that is what got Avila fired.
That this team has so many holes – a couple new free agents aren’t going to make much of a difference.
That he and his group have to sift through the debris and uncover what is valuable so they know where to properly and accurately invest going forward.
All you have to do is look at the roster currently.
You haven’t seen your #1 catcher in a year and he’s coming off major surgery.
First base is a question mark.
Your 2Ber can’t hit but he can field and this is his last year. You have no one waiting in the wings to take over.
Your hot corner has a “for rent” sign on it.
Your SS committed more errors than any other one in MLB last year and he swings at over 50% of pitches outside the strike zone.
Your outfield has 1 certain player – Riley Greene. There are question marks about your former Rule 5 player and whether Austin Meadows has finally overcome both his physical and mental challenges and last the year.
Your DH can only play 1-2 games each week and even then injuries prevent him from using his former power to hit.
And you’ve got 6 pitchers who are recovering from injuries/surgeries.
You’ve got at least 5 positional slots up for grabs. Countless pitching roles still needing to be determined.
More holes in this roster than Swiss cheese so how can a team, before they have yet to see how certain players will perform, determine which holes to fill from free agency?
And your top prospects are still 1-3 years away from reaching Detroit. There’s no help coming this year.
Where would you even begin in determining where to spend significant roster payroll?
And if you do, would spending on 1-2 players even make any difference?
Would a free agent want to come for a couple years? Conveniently just for the same amount of time as he is needed by the team? We know the answer to that one.
We also know that long-term contracts have not worked out well for the Tigers. There is not a single Tiger who left Detroit after his expensive contract expired and we felt sad.
Does the team really want to go down that rabbit hole again and get hamstrung with a player when they may have better options in a year or two?
Is it better to spend some big bucks this year for maybe marginal results? Simply to be able to say that you bumped up payroll? With the potential of wasting it as we saw what happened last year?
Or is it better to save that money for next year when you will have a much better idea about what you need? Money that will be better spent?
Quite frankly, I think the Tigers are trying to downplay their current situation. I believe that Al Avila created a much bigger mess than anyone is willing to share publicly.
And because of that – and looking at those roster holes listed above – this team would need an owner along the likes of the Mets’ Steve Cohen. Someone who is willing to buy an entire starting lineup. Because that is what it would take.
This is what those fans who are fixated on payroll need to consider. There are still a lot of them who believe that the Tigers can be fixed with a big splash or two. A Pudge signing redux.
But this organization was allowed to decay for too many years. A time that allowed so much of the infrastructure to decay and wither and fall further and further behind the rest of MLB.
It’s not going to be an exciting year. But maybe an interesting one for entirely different reasons.
But at least the investment in the organization will be money well spent. The same can’t be said about trying to put a bandage on the roster with a shot of cash when the roster is actually hemorrhaging.
Fans should have learned from past history that money doesn’t always solve problems. It can, however, mask them.
The best money spent is all about where you put it.
And sometimes, it’s not in the roster.
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
The Tigers sign yet another infielder in what is believed to be a backup move in case a certain player doesn’t work out.
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 back in actual 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……..
Under the Tigers’ old regime, the organization focused almost all of their attention on developing pitchers, not positional players. This resulted in a lack of depth throughout the team’s minor league system, especially with infielders.
Going into the 2023 season, there are more question marks than solutions for each position.
It remains to be seen if Jake Rogers can recapture his defensive form at catcher.
It is yet unknown if Spencer Torkelson will be able to hit enough in order to keep his job at 1B.
Jonathan Schoop had the best defensive stats in all of MLB at 2B but he had a horrible year offensively. His contract runs out after the 2023 season and potentially he may be traded before that.
After the non-tender of Jeimer Candelario, there is no heir apparent at 3B.
Javy Baez has 5 more years and $117 mill on his contract at SS. Last year, he led all of MLB with the most errors as a SS.
All of this is why such a large percentage of the players acquired by the Tigers this off-season were positional players.
Several of them are catchers. Most of them have experience at 2B, 3B and SS. One or two have just a smidge of experience at 1B.
A. J. Hinch has said that there will be tryouts for almost all positions this spring. And there are multiple candidates for almost every position.
Depending upon what they see, should the team focus on working around the 2B and SS positions held by Schoop and Baez or should they focus on creating the strongest infield possible? That may mean that Schoop plays 1B and 2B while Baez potentially moves to either 2B or 3B. That is if there are new players who have strong spring trainings working 2B and/or SS.
What do you think?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
Guess who’s on the short list for the Astros new GM?
As we get closer to spring training, we start to think about all those loose ends from last year. The question marks. The concerns.
The hot topics.
And there is nothing hotter than continued speculation about Spencer Torkelson’s future.
Afterall, he was the #1 draft pick and poster child who would help validate the rationale for why the Tigers decided to tank.
But should we blame Tork for what happened – or didn’t happen – last year? Did he burst our bubble?
The answer is no.
Many fans forget that Spencer had exactly 1 year of minor league experience before being called up to Detroit. (In contrast, Riley Greene had almost 2.5 years.) He was nowhere near ready to face the demands of professional baseball.
He unfortunately was the solution for an increasingly desperate GM who needed to solve a long-term problem at 1B and prove to ownership and fans that the rebuild was going well as he faced increasing scrutiny.
So no one should be surprised that Tork struggled all year at the plate and was sent down to Toledo.
He should never have been put in that situation.
But it’s the interview that was done at the end of last year that raised eyebrows among the fans – and the Tigers’ new leadership.
Potentially, Spencer interviews horribly but he came across as not particularly concerned about his first year in the majors. He did not address his struggles nor did he outline a plan for his off-season strategy.
We did instead hear about the quality time he was going to spend with his new puppy.
But it was the statement about his hitting that caught everyone’s attention. That there was nothing wrong with his swing, thank you very much. It’s just fine and there are no plans to change it.
Two days later, the Tigers announced that AAA hitting coach Adam Melhuse would be spending the winter in AZ working with Tork.
Not a coincidence.
And now several other reports in both the local and national media recently that Spencer is still refusing to change his swing.
That was followed by an announcement that the 4 new hitting coaches went to AZ last week to meet – and presumably work – with Torkelson.
Again, not a coincidence.
So is this an issue of attitude?
Maybe.
But I think there’s more going on. That there’s more than 1 factor.
Yes, highly-talented players, esp. those who end up at the #1 draft pick, are maybe a little more prone to having an attitude or inflated sense of one’s self.
But also, there are those who have historically breezed through those hurdles who start to struggle. Then they have a hard time accepting that changes have to be made to what initially got them to the top. That potentially, there is a sense of denial.
And there is always the issue of youth/naiveté that can keep someone from advancing at first.
But I also think that the Tigers corporate culture is to blame.
There have always been rumors that the former player development system didn’t create a strong one that put responsibility on the players.
We also saw it in Detroit. Players who didn’t return their manager’s phone calls. Management that appeared shocked when players showed up for spring training significantly overweight and out of shape. Off-seasons when players were left on their own to train.
And we also saw it in other young players like Kody Clemens who hit .145 last year and was asked by A. J. Hinch to play winter ball. Clemens said he’d think about it but he had 3 big weddings planned for the winter that probably wouldn’t allow it.
And guess who isn’t with the Tigers anymore? More on that in a minute.
There was, simply, no system of accountability or emphasis on personal responsibility and growth being taught in the minors.
Could Torkelson have been caught up in that? When that culture is prevalent throughout an organization, everyone can get lazy.
But we’re starting to see changes now that Scott Harris is in charge.
And undoubtedly he saw that there were issues as he did his deep dive into the organization and also talked with A. J. Hinch and Ryan Garko.
How do I know?
Because Harris included the corporate culture issues into 2 of his 3 tenants:
Acquire, develop and retain young players.
Create a culture of development. Players should think they can come to DET and get better.
This, too, is not a coincidence.
It’s also a major reason why Kody Clemens is no longer with the team. He did not pass the requirement test presented to him that would continue his tenure with the team.
So now Torkelson is being tested and the Tigers will spend more time trying to shape him because of the skills that got him drafted at #1. And it’s also going to take some time to undo the culture mentality that dominated before the new regime took over.
And then there’s undoubtedly some mental damage done by promoting him too early last year that needs to be repaired.
Contrary to the erroneous headline in one of the papers, Torkelson is not being handed the 1B job in Detroit next year. The Tigers are expecting that he will meet the criteria. By saying this, they are putting the ball in his court. It is, really, his job to lose.
It’s a strategy that both offers confidence to the player while also setting goals for him to reach.
And Harris diplomatically said that the Tigers have not filled the 1B position, adding that they could find another way to fill it from inside if need be. But it’s not what they want to do.
It’s letting Tork know it’s there for the taking – if he works at getting better.
Instead of a push, it’s a carrot-and-stick strategy. Motivation instead of intimidation.
Meanwhile, I’m certain that Michael Brdar, Keith Beauregard, James Rowson and Robin Lund are compiling extensive reports, analysis, video and advanced summaries right now in AZ. And having some sit downs with Tork. Sometimes you have to present hard evidence in the form of stats and video to help inspire change.
It may be a year late in coming but hopefully they keep Torkelson from falling through the cracks as others before him have undoubtedly done.
The changes won’t be immediate. They may not even be visible to most of us.
But let’s hope we hear and read comments about how Spencer has embraced change, accepted advice and tweaked things.
That’s the first step.
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
Top 10 prospect lists are out for all positions. How many Tigers are on it?
The list of potential candidates to earn the 3B job for the Tigers.
Throughout the week, there are so many smaller stories hitting the media. They may be bite-size, but often they are just as important as the headline-grabbing news. Sometimes, even more.
And that’s what brings me to today. A way to bring them out in the open and invite conversation about some of these subjects.
And that’s the plan for Mondays. Keeping track of these mighty little bits that hit my radar throughout the week and sharing them with you today because I know one or more will also resonate with you. So, let’s kick off this week’s musings…
Several new reports appear to confirm that the Scott Coolbaugh and Mike Hessman hires were pushed by Al Avila. As was Ramon Santiago who directly credits Jim Leyland with getting him the job and Josh Paul who was also an Avila hire. All 4 are now gone from Detroit with Hessman and Santiago taking demotions to work within the minor league system. Coolbaugh also took a demotion with the Padres as 1 of multiple assistant hitting coaches. Paul appears to not yet have landed another job.
The hitting coaches in particular were singled out as part of Avila’s “swing and miss crowd” by the national media that included both coaches and players who contributed significantly to the team’s horrible record-setting offense in 2022. All 18 of them released by Scott Harris as he pushes for this team to “dominate the strike zone on both sides of the ball.”
Now it appears that every coach under Hinch has been hired by him with some networking help by Scott Harris.
The Tigers have gone from 7 coaches to 10 for the 2023 season. Half of Hinch’s coaches are new to the organization with expanded hitting and pitching coaches (3 each) and 2 new positions.
It’s one of those topics that most fans don’t see but it is increasingly evident that Chris Ilitch is showing his commitment to this team. He is investing and in a completely different way than his dad.
Mr. I threw money at the roster only and ignored the increasing problems within the organization, esp. the farm system and outdated methods and departments. His son, by contrast, is pouring money into the infrastructure of the team, modernizing the entire organization and building from within instead of going outside to buy talent.
As the old saying goes, Mr. I was focused solely on the tree’s fruit but Chris appears to be intent on feeding the roots so that the tree is always producing fruit.
We see it in the hiring of top talent instead of tapping retired and unemployed personnel. The hiring of a new top position – President of Baseball Operations – with a commitment to also hire a GM. Ten coaches instead of the usual 5-6. And multiple layers of specialists put in charge of crafting and overseeing the minor league system.
But what many may not know is that Ilitch has put millions into high tech equipment for all levels of the Tigers organization – super computers, tablets, high speed video, Rapsodo machines and more. At least 5 major departments within the organization have expanded significantly. And the Tigers have dozens of job postings.
And now, nutritionists have been hired for every level of both the major league level and the minors. Each player will be getting personalized attention with nutrition plans developed for them. And catering companies will now be preparing that food for players.
There are multiple quotes from Scott Harris, Ryan Garko, A. J. Hinch and others who mention that Chris Ilitch is giving them all the money to do what they need.
Think what you will about Ilitch but let’s give credit where credit is due.
Remember the years when the Tigers did TigerFest at Comerica that sold out in minutes and had queues a mile long? Well, that disappeared awhile ago and now so are other special events that feature the Tigers. For the first time in decades, the Detroit economics event will not have any Tigers or brass there to speak. Scott Harris said the team is too busy preparing for the season.
But also, it conveniently keeps the questions about the changes in leadership, Al Avila’s bungling, less-than-exciting roster moves and Miggy’s lineup presence at bay.
Additionally, would the organization want to publicize the current lack of interest in the team? Having an event and then not having anyone show up? Trying to hold a special event at Comerica and having no takers?
And who exactly would be promoted as a “must see” player?
What I am seeing are players doing more public service events and volunteer work which really is the best thing to come out of this situation.
The ticket sales department has to be having a tough time this year. There were a flurry of push sales around the holidays and now a special 10 tickets/$99 offer. And, of course, certain writers are routinely pushing ticket sales on their Twitter feeds. When I’m not thinking how totally inappropriate this relationship is, I’m hoping that at least they get a commission for all their work.
As a former Lakeland regular, you always had to get your tickets well in advance (esp. if you wanted to sit in the shade). As I look now, with less than 1 month to go, you can have your pick of just about any seat you want.
The Tigers are going to have to get super creative this year in selling tickets. I think most fans are taking a wait-and-see approach before going. They’re certainly not going to buy any packages, let alone season tickets, now. A lot of them got burned after last year.
But count on them really pushing Miggy’s farewell season and don’t be surprised if there are blast tweets sent out on days in which he’ll be playing. And of course, an extended series of special events towards the end of the year. Miggy will the ticket sales department’s meal ticket this season.
Otherwise, expect many of the promos to feature pictures of Riley Greene who is the only other player who could draw interest in going to a game.
Which one of these stories resonated the most with you?
Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to a maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the pagein order for your comments to be published.
What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?
Another “top” former Tiger player signs a minor league contract.
Totally Tigers 