MONDAY MUSINGS

by Holly Horning

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…

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Evan Drellich just released a book on the Houston Astros called Winning Fixes Everything and it’s about how the franchise was built and their management culture.  It took years to write and it’s obvious that MLB tried to cover up as much as possible about the cheating scandal, sweeping many of the guilty parties under the rug.

There were stories and rumors circulating for quite awhile.  And there’s increasing evidence that A. J. Hinch was fighting an uphill battle against the cheating that was being green-lighted by people above him, including his immediate boss, Jeff Luhnow. 

When the scandal first broke, MLB told the Astros that they would be collecting everyone’s cell phones to review.  Luhnow went to a number of people to warn them before he wiped his phone clean.  Hinch was not one of the people given a head’s up because he was not taking part in the cheating.

But one of the biggest stories is about A. J.’s bench coach, Alex Cora.  After being hired to manage the Red Sox, he wasn’t quiet about what he and his teammates had done.  He said “We stole that f____ World Series.”  And he wasn’t shy about telling his players in Boston what they did.

Cora and Carlos Beltran were widely considered to be the ring leaders of the cheating scandal that was condoned by higher ups in the organization.  Once this book debuts, expect even more controversy to break out.

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When Dave Dombrowski departs an organization, he never leaves it in good shape.  First, the Marlins followed by the Tigers.  Now, the Red Sox.

And the comparison between Detroit and Boston are eerily similar.

The Red Sox fired Dave less than 1 year after winning the World Series and they have been struggling to recover ever since.

They still have one of MLB’s largest payrolls at $225+ mill and are dangerously close to the luxury tax ceiling.  They have the 3^rd highest payroll in the AL yet they are expected to once again finish under .500.

A new report details the problems his successor, Chaim Bloom, has had to address.  It is still ongoing after 3 years.

Dombrowski left the team with a number of ridiculous long term contracts.  Three years later, those contracts are down to $74 mill/year.  That is 1/3^rd of their entire payroll.

They have an incredible amount of dead money on the books – paying the salaries of players they traded away and big bucks to a pitcher who hasn’t thrown in 3 years.  They are still paying off David Price’s $217 mill/7 year contract despite him not being a member since 2019.

His contract and Dustin Pedroia’s (who hasn’t played in 4 years) add up to $30 mill/year.

Their 2 biggest contracts take up over a quarter of the entire payroll.  And 10% of their yearly payroll goes to guys who are no longer with the Red Sox and were signed by Dombrowski.

Doesn’t this all sound familiar? 

But where Detroit and Boston differ is who they each selected to succeed Dombrowski.  A difference of night and day.

Unlike Detroit, the Red Sox chose not to take the tanking approach.  Their fans would not have tolerated it.

So now Chaim Bloom is spending even more money in an attempt to keep the team merely average as they try to wait out more contracts and dead money.

It’s not an ideal situation but it’s definitely better than the path that the Tigers chose.

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I recently blogged about Keith Law’s brutal assessment of the Tigers farm system, ranking them 30^th out of 30.  Several days ago, he wrote about the Tigers top 20 prospects.  His overall summary was:

“My 30th-ranked farm system this year isn’t without some potential, as the Tigers have some starter depth on the way and a couple of position players who project as possible regulars, but other than that their depth is largely nonexistent and only Jackson Jobe has any real potential to be a major-league 60 (a borderline star or more).”

His statement explains what Scott Harris is currently doing.

We saw the issues more last year – the scramble to find players to replace those struggling or who had to go in the IL.  Partially because of the Tigers’ poor scouting, drafting and development.  A good chunk of it due to Al Avila constantly drafting pitchers instead of adding more positional players. 

It got so bad that the Tigers went without a full-time 1Ber for 3 years and got so desperate that they promoted Spencer Torkelson after only 1 year in the minors.

It’s also a major reason why the Tigers did not pursue any solid free agents this year.  If you’ve got a boat full of holes, 1 or 2 pieces of gum to plug them isn’t going to help.

Thus, Harris’ main focus this off-season has been to try to build as much depth as possible.  Depth for Detroit as well as Toledo.  A chance to stabilize the ship that will then offer a chance to build a more solid roster.

Since October, Scott has added 2 free agents and 17 new players.  He’s invited 22 non-roster players to spring training – 10 pitchers and 12 positional players.  And every infield position will see 5-9 players trying to earn a position at each slot.

It will be interesting to see who earns the chance to play at Comerica on Opening Day.  As well as how many players sent down to Toledo will be promoted this year.

But this team is in such desperate need of talent and depth that Harris isn’t going to stop looking for better players.  Watching the waiver wire isn’t sexy or exciting but it may mean the difference between unwatchable and intriguing games that show a bit of promise.

Which one of these stories resonated the most with you?

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