WHERE I STAND

by Holly Horning

The Tigers right now are an enigma.  They are bad but they are still an enigma in so many ways that don’t include performance. 

We should learn much more about where this team is headed after the 2023 season.

But in the meantime, they have a “newish” owner and manager, a brand new President of Baseball Operations, tons of new coaches and a mostly new Front Office.

And we can attach question marks to each and every one of them.

For now.

Despite all of this, so many fans are making proclamations about this team after only 2 months and before the season’s first pitch has yet to be thrown.

I also find it interesting that so many fans find that because I don’t rip Chris Ilitch 24/7, that I’m a fan of his. Or that I am completely sold on Scott Harris.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I am not a fan of absolutes.  I find that the truth is much more likely to be somewhere in the middle and that it is often contained within both sides of opinion.

I don’t believe in nice tidy little bows where I either have to completely agree or disagree on any topic Tigers-related.

But now that it appears the team is starting a new chapter, it’s time to set the record straight on how I’ve seen the team – both past, present and future.

First of all, the only absolute belief I have is how horrible Al Avila and his long-term clique of buddies were. They all set this team back terribly and it will take more than a year or two to mitigate the damage done.

As for Chris Ilitch, the jury is still out – but time is also running out. Parking lots are one thing, baseball teams are another. 

I believe there were a number of issues that complicated the process of running the team.  The fact that his father left a complete mess of the team that was hemorrhaging money with MLB’s highest (by far) operating expenses.  The team became completely unsustainable. 

Covid didn’t help either.  A year of no fans followed by a year of limited attendance created significant uncertainty.  Those 2 years were not the time to make big changes when you have no idea what’s coming down the road.

I do fully question Chris’ retention of Al Avila beyond that last Covid year of 2021. 

No owner is going to hire a new GM to tear down a team and no capable candidate is going to take that job which is why Al was kept during those years of salary dumping. And you’re certainly not going to decide that the 2 Covid seasons is the right time to broom your team of its GM and Front Office.

Ideally, Ilitch should have made the change when he hired A. J. Hinch if it weren’t for Covid complications.  And yes, it was Ilitch who pushed for Hinch to be hired.  He gets props for finally hiring a competent and modern manager with no ties to the Tigers.

But I do wonder whether Avila’s status with the Ilitch family is what kept him around past his expiration date.  It was well known that he was a “favorite son” to Mr. I and preferred over Dave Dombrowski.  Mike had promised the GM job to Al years ago.  The family, which comprises the trust that runs the team, may have been reluctant to banish someone so close to them or to go against their father’s last wishes until it became crystal clear that he had to go.

We will never know.

I see promise in Chris’ significant investment in the infrastructure of the Tigers.  He’s the first owner since ??? to do that.  It’s a very good sign and shows his intent towards this team.

I’ll be holding any further decision on the owner until the end of the 2023 season.  I want to see what happens this year.  I want to see if he invests in better players in the next off-season.

I will also give Chris credit for going outside the organization (unlike his dad) and finding the team’s first PoBO.  For hiring someone who would shake up the corporate culture and bring in new faces and fresh voices.  He is the first owner in decades to do this.

Turning now to Scott Harris, I’m not yet giving him any credit for what he has done.  I will – hopefully – at the end of the year.  Everyone deserves to establish a work history in a new job before they are judged. It’s ridiculous to judge him on a handful of initial moves made within his first weeks on the job.

But he appears to be promising.  He appears to be in control in both action and voice.  He is poised and professional unlike his predecessor. And that’s a refreshing change.

He’s got impeccable credentials and is highly touted by the best in baseball. We’re talking Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Farhan Zaidi. The biggest names in the biz.

And no, I’m not doing a Randy Smith comparison.  That was 27 years ago – and things have changed dramatically in the hiring process.  Back then, jobs were handed out primarily because of who you knew.  In this case, Smith advanced primarily because of his father’s reputation in the game.

Harris is quite the opposite.  An education and advanced degree in economics and sports with a resume that boasts employment with MLB, 2 internships with teams and helping the Cubs wins a ring before moving onto the Giants.

I like the hiring.  Harris is the first head of the Tigers who has the bona fide credentials to build a sustainable team.  Hiring him was a solid move.

We’ll see just how solid it was after this coming season.

But I’m also happy with all of the new hires for scouting, drafting and player development.  No one got the job because they were former Tigers.  It’s a complex mix of guys with a variety of degrees, experiences and backgrounds.  It is the first time the Tigers have forsaken the strategy of hiring based upon friendships and loyalty.

Again, these are the initial first impressions.  Formal evaluations will commence after the draft, new farm system rankings and prospect promotions.

Last, but not least, is A. J. Hinch.  First, I hold no grudge against the former Astro manager given the evidence that his former boss was encouraging the cheating and keeping Hinch out of the loop.

He’s a solid hire but has been handcuffed due to Al Avila’s incompetency.  We haven’t seen the real manager yet.  I’m hoping we will this year.

Last year was a failure but the lion’s share of blame needs to go to Avila.  One can only manage the talent one is given.  And A. J. got very little.  The proof is in the fact that out of 16 players cut, only 2 of them got new contracts.  The rest are returning to the minors or unemployed.  And the farm system is ranked dead last once again with only a handful of prospects making the top 100 lists.

This will be the first legitimate year in which to evaluate Hinch.  I’ve wiped the slate clean and the new analysis starts on Opening Day. It will be a much more honest and accurate assessment.

Overall, the Tigers, even during their best years a decade ago, have remained outdated and antiquated.  The excessive money spent on free agents only covered up the multitude of problems.

But this team has never had a sense of urgency.  Always among the last to change or adopt competitive strategies. And they watched their window close every year in the end yet failed to make any significant changes.

It appears, at least now, that this habit has been kicked to the curb.  I see the widespread brooming of personnel and the hiring of a completely different type of executive as overdue welcome signs.

I haven’t been this positive about the team in years.  But I am also being cautiously optimistic.

Things are headed in the right direction, it appears at first glance.  But I’m not etching anything in stone until the last pitch of the 2023 season has been thrown.

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